'First step in the right direction toward states': Wachusett softball defeats St. Paul for second straight Central Mass. Class A title

WORCESTER — As the top team in the latest MIAA Division 1 power rankings, the Wachusett Regional softball team obviously has lofty ambitions for the coming weeks.

Before the start of the state tournament, though, the Mountaineers had one last test in Wednesday night’s Central Mass. Class A final against St. Paul, the No. 7 team in Division 1, and they excelled.

Juniors Tiegan Walsh and Caitlin Ciccone homered, junior pitcher Shayna Bakun limited the Knights to six hits, and Wachusett captured its second straight CMass Class A championship with a 6-1 win at Worcester State’s Rockwood Field.

“Coming into this game every year, this is our first step in the right direction toward states,” said Walsh, the catcher who was in the middle of the best defensive play of the game in the fourth. “We prepared really hard, and this is a big win for us.”

This marked the fourth consecutive season that Wachusett and St. Paul met in the CMass Class A title game. The Knights won the 2022 crown.

Wachusett (18-2) defeated St. Paul (14-5) twice during the regular season, 6-2 and 4-0.

Walsh, the No. 2 batter, put the Mountaineers on the board with a solo homer off St. Paul ace Bella Mara in the first inning.

“We always work together as a team,” Walsh said, “so your duty at the top of the lineup is you have to work hard for your pitcher and for your team. You know stepping into the box that if you see your pitch, hit it. It’s early in the game. You have nothing to lose.”

The score remained 1-0 in the fourth inning when the Knights loaded the bases with no outs. Freshman Ava Grant reached on an error, freshman Ireland Shea singled to right, and senior Mae McGowan walked.

Bakun struck out the next batter looking, and Bakun, Walsh and junior first baseman McKenzie Caron turned a 1-2-3 double play to end the Knights’ threat.

“Playing good defense behind good pitching,” Wachusett coach Jason Lanpher said, “it pays off.”

Mara retired the first two batters she faced in the bottom of the fourth before the Mountaineers exploded for five runs.

Bakun got Wachusett going with a single to right, and with runners at first and second, Ciccone launched a homer to left-center.

Later, Caron delivered a two-run single. The Mountaineers sent 10 batters to the plate in the fourth.

In the first inning, Ciccone came close to hitting one out, sending St. Paul center fielder Mia Girardi to the base of the fence.

“We have confidence throughout the lineup,” Ciccone said. “I knew coming up and having two runners on, it was a big at bat. I was going off what I saw my first at-bat, and that really helped. (The home run) gave us good momentum, especially going off that double play. We really wanted to put our foot down and take a good lead.”

Bakun struck out five, walked one and hit a batter.

In addition to the fourth inning, the Knights left runners in scoring position in the second, third, fifth and seventh innings.

“We had our chances,” St. Paul coach Aimee Lee said.

The Knights scored in the seventh when Mara drove in Girardi with a double to center.

Mara, who was coming off her second straight gem against Nashoba Regional in the CMass Class A semifinals and had recorded double-digit strikeouts in six consecutive games, allowed seven hits and struck out seven, including the side in the fifth. She walked three and hit two batters.

“Hitting,” Lanpher said, “it’s just a matter of time before we break through. (Mara) is a good pitcher, and I tip my hat to her, but I wouldn’t want to pitch against us.”

Wachusett snapped St. Paul’s six-game winning streak.

“Going into states, we absolutely need to put this game behind us,” Lee said.

The Mountaineers have won 10 of their last 11. The loss was to Londonderry (N.H.) on May 14.

“We feel we’re in good place,” Lanpher said. “At the end of our season we faced some really good pitching, and I think that set us up for what we’re going to see (in the state tourney). I think they’re ready.”

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wachusett softball tops St. Paul for 2nd straight CMass Class A title