Softball Team Holds on to First Place with Win over Groton-Dunstable

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by Dakota Antelman

A large crowd convened on O’Donnell field Wednesday afternoon to watch the highly anticipated game between the top two softball teams in the Midland League B: Hudson and Groton-Dunstable. Timely hitting from Hudson soon earned the Hawks a win.

The game carried with it the potential for the Groton-Dunstable Crusaders to leapfrog the Hawks in the league standings. With near identical records, the two teams were playing for first place. Their eventual 8-2 win had the Hawks improve their record to 7-1. In turn, Groton falls to third place in the league. They are now 5-3 in 2015.

“She [Coach Mary Beth Ryan] said we needed to try our best and really get a win in this game,”  freshman right fielder Maddie Haufe said. “We needed to keep our heads in the game and take this really seriously. I think we did.”

The game started out deadlocked. Michelle Perry of Hudson retired the first six batters she pitched to in the game while Crusaders starting pitcher Sarah Woods racked up four strikeouts in just the first two innings of her outing.

Hudson found its mark in the third inning though. They made quick work of Woods’ pitches, accruing six hits. Powering the surge was a string of extra base hits by the meat of the Hawks batting order.

Haley Gaffney kicked things off with a two out double to left field that let Steph Hamilton score from second base. Maddie Haufe followed up with a double of her own that scored Gaffney.

“I tried my hardest to hit the ball on a 3-2 count,” Haufe said of her double after the game. “I was looking for something to hit. I did hit it; [I] got a big piece of it.”

Two batters after Haufe hit her double, Amanda Doucette drove in two more runs with the third double of the inning.

“We really had some good at bats,” Coach Ryan said. “They ended up fouling off a lot of pitches. They made the pitcher work and then ultimately won the at bat. It’s a credit to them for really wanting it at the plate.”

Though Michelle Perry did eventually allow runs in the sixth and seventh inning, the eight runs scored in the fourth and fifth innings had the team, and their coach, happy with the effort put forth.

“I was most impressed with their ability to hit with two outs today,” Ryan said. “The last time we played them we left seven runners on base. For them to today recognize a situation where we had runners on base and really come through in the clutch is something that  was really great. It really is a mark of a team that really wants to win.”

Already well into the back half of their schedule, Hudson will be fighting to hold onto the prime playoff spot they currently own. With that in mind, Ryan is grateful to chalk up wins when she can.

“This is huge; I don’t even know if they know how huge this is,” she said. “Not overlooking Fitchburg, who we play tomorrow, we play Nashoba this week, who is our only league loss and will be a tough game,” Hawks coach Mary Beth Ryan said after the game. “So, notching this one is huge so that we can really play for the title.”