Jennifer TolandWorcester Telegram & Gazette
WORCESTER — Eight days ago, St. Paul’s Bella Mara and Nashoba Regional’s Hannah Reardon locked in one of the best pitching duels in Central Mass. this season.
Mara allowed two hits and struck out 17 in the Knights’ extra-inning 1-0 victory, while Reardon yielded three hits and fanned 16.
The opposing aces went at it again Monday in a Central Mass. Class A semifinal. Once more, Mara shut down the Wolves, and this time St. Paul’s bats came to life.
More: Pair of 200-strikeout milestones highlight the picks: Cast your vote for the Hometeam Softball Player of the Week
Freshman Ava Grant smashed a three-run homer, and freshman Ireland Shea belted an RBI triple and a double to help lift the Knights to an 11-1 victory at Bob Rousseau Field.
“Coming off that 1-0 game the last time, we knew what we had to do,” Mara said. “We had to come and hit, and we proved ourselves today by coming and smoking the ball and getting those runs and working as a team.”
Mara limited Nashoba to five hits and struck out 16.
“Beating a team twice is never easy,” St. Paul senior Izzy Tortora said, “so I think this shows who we are as a team and how we played together. Not only one person won this game for us.”
No. 2 seed St. Paul (14-4) faces top seed Wachusett Regional (17-2) in the Central Mass. final at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Worcester State’s Rockwood Field. The Mountaineers defeated the Knights twice, 6-2 and 4-0, during the regular season. This marks the fourth straight year the teams will meet in the title game.
Nashoba (14-4), which was No. 7 in the latest MIAA Division 2 power rankings, looks ahead to the state tournament.
“You have these days,” Nashoba coach Tina Seabury said. “Credit to St. Paul; they came to play. It is always a battle with them. We have to come back and show some resilience after this game. We’ve been led by five seniors this season, and we’re hoping their leadership can help us move forward after this game.”
In last week’s game between St. Paul and Nashoba, the Wolves intentionally walked Mara, the Knights’ leading hitter who entered the week batting .569, three times.
St. Paul coach Aimee Lee moved Mara from her usual No. 3 slot in the lineup to the top of the order Monday. Mara led off the bottom of the first with a sharp single to center, and the Wolves intentionally walked Mara the next three times she came to the plate. Tortora, the No. 2 batter, and senior Emma Nordahl, who batted third, each had key bunts to move Mara along, and she scored three runs.
“Going in we knew Hannah is such an amazing pitcher, and she shut us down last time,” Lee said, “and we had to change our strategy. We put more bunters behind Bella. They walked her three times in a row again, but it just shows how much respect they have for her.”
In the first inning, Mara, who advanced from first to third on a beautiful Tortora sacrifice bunt, scored on Grant’s single to center field, and Grant came home when Shea lashed a triple to right-center.
The Wolves responded with a run in the second.
With one out, sophom*ore Jenna Gale and senior Cassie Hollister reached on back-to-back singles and moved up on an infield throwing error. Gale came home on a wild pitch.
Mara calmly got out of the inning with consecutive strikeouts and retired seven straight batters. Nordahl, St. Paul’s shortstop, secyred the first out of the third with a terrific diving grab of a soft liner.
“I knew we were going to hit, and I have so much confidence in our team,” Mara said. “Being on the mound in that situation doesn’t rattle me often because of the team I have behind me in the field and at the plate.”
The Knights added two runs in the fourth, and they broke the game open with a seven-run fifth inning, during which St. Paul sent 10 batters to the plate. A terrific hustle play by Tortora to keep the inning alive, and Grant’s third homer of the season highlighted the outburst.
Mara struck out three of the last five batters she faced.
Gale had three of Nashoba’s hits. Reardon had seven strikeouts.
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.
