The epicenter for softball excellence in Massachusetts has annually been the southeastern part of the state.
This year proved to be no different as three of the five state champions reside there.
Start with Division 1 state champion Taunton, a program which has richly earned the moniker of dynasty. The Tigers rolled to their fourth straight title, defeating five opponents by a 46-3. Central Catholic was the only team able to stay within five runs of Taunton, losing a 1-0 contest in the state semifinals.
The South Coast Conference has always possessed a proven track record in postseason play and this year was no different once again. Both Dighton-Rehoboth and Case reaped the benefits of day-in and day-out spirited competition during the regular season and cashed in to the tune of state titles.
Dighton-Rehoboth had the reputation as one of the best hitting teams in the state and that continued in the postseason as Falcons averaged more than 10 runs a game. They also showed a flair for the dramatic in the Div. 3 state final as Lucy Latour’s double in the last of the seventh plated Haleigh Kelley with the winning run in a 4-3 triumph over Hudson.
Over in Div. 4, defending champion Case rolled through its first three opponents, outscoring them by a whopping 46-3 margin. The Cardinals, however, proved they were equally adept at winning the close ones as evidenced by a 2-0 win over AMSA and a 1-0 decision over Tyngsboro in the state final.
If pitching is 90 percent of the game in softball, then they surely underestimated Walpole ace Sharlotte Stazinski. The two-time All-Scholastic shut out all five postseason opponents, including back-to-back 1-0 wins in the final two games to claim the school’s first state softball title.
Another team who can lay claim to being a dynasty is Turners Falls. The Western Mass. power became the first MIAA school to win 11 state titles, taking down Georgetown 5-0 in the Div. 5 state final.
One of the best stories of the baseball season was English. The Boston City League power struck a blow for inner-city baseball by becoming the first BCL school in more than four decades to win a state title. They certainly didn’t back into this as they defeated an excellent Georgetown team 7-1 in the Div. 5 state final.
Pitching and defense were the hallmarks of successful title defenses by Oakmont in Div. 3 and Seekonk in Div. 4. Oakmont made a living out of keeping the opponents off the scoreboard as they allowed just two runs in five games. If you think that was impressive, Seekonk did them one better by permitting one opposing run to score in the tournament.
The never-Catholics certainly were not happy when they saw the Final Four dance card in the Div. 1 state baseball tournament and three of the remaining four teams resided in the Catholic Conference (BC High, Xaverian and St. John’s Shrewsbury). As it turned out, BC High was the last team standing as the Eagles defeated Leominster in the semifinal and St. John’s (Shrewsbury) in the championship game to bring the trophy back to Dorchester.
Plymouth North saved its best for last in the Div. 2 state tournament. The Eagles capped off a fantastic season by rolling past top-seeded Walpole 9-2 to give coach Dwayne Follette another state championship.
Parting shot
I know the MIAA constantly loves to float the narrative that they will look at data before making decisions down the road.
One statistic which bears watching is the lack of success teams ranked outside the top 32 achieved this past season. Yes I am fully aware that one of the key reasons why the statewide tournament was eventually passed a few years back was the fact there was a concession made to allow teams who didn’t finish ranked among the top 32, but possessed a record of .500 or better were allowed into the field.
That being said, it’s definitely time to give this more than a cursory look starting with the 2024 softball tournament. A total of 43 teams entered the field seeded lower than 32 and just one emerged victorious — No. 34 Marlborough who defeated No. 31 Oliver Ames 13-5 in a Div. 2 preliminary round contest. The Panthers went on to lose to Tewksbury in the next round by 12 runs.
For those scoring at home, that comes out to a 1-42 record for those schools. Those teams were outscored by a margin of 498-132, certainly not what you would expect from the state tournament,
On the baseball front, things were marginally better as 38 teams entered the postseason seeded lower than 32 with eight wound up victorious. Of the eight who advanced, Belchertown was the only one to win a second game before bowing to Sandwich in the Div. 3 Round of 16.
If this trend continues, it might be a prudent course of action down the road to consider limiting the field to the best 32 teams.
