TURNERS FALLS — Seven innings weren’t enough to decide a winner between the Turners Falls and Wahconah softball teams on Thursday. 

The visiting Warriors trailed 4-1 going into the fifth, but tallied four runs in the frame to take a 5-4 lead. Wahconah then scored three in the top of the sixth to extend its advantage to 8-4. 

There was no quit in the Thunder, however.

Turners rallied to score four in the bottom of the sixth to knot the game up, and after a scoreless seventh, the game went to extra innings.

The Thunder held Wahconah without a run in the top of the eighth before Cadi Wozniak came up for Turners and smashed a single to the fence that scored Madi Liimatainen from second, lifting the Thunder to a walk-off 9-8 Franklin County League West victory at the Bordeaux Fields Complex. 

“It felt good coming off the bat,” Wozniak said of the game-winning hit. “It’s been a rough start to the season, especially for me. I feel like I haven’t been hitting but I came back from a trip down south visiting colleges so this was a good way to come back. Hopefully I can keep it going the rest of the season.”

Turners improved to 4-2 on the season, winning its fourth game in the row after an uncharacteristic 0-2 start to the 2023 campaign. Wahconah dropped to 3-3 on the year.

Addison Talbot and Madisyn Dietz got the sixth inning rally going with back-to-back walks. Holly Myers knocked a ball that the Wahconah first baseman was unable to come up with, allowing Talbot to score. 

Morgan Dobias came up and smashed a double that brought Dietz home, putting Ivy Lopez, running for Myers, on third and Dobias on second. Janelle Massey cracked a double that scored both, knotting the game at eight heading into the seventh. 

After a scoreless seventh, the Warriors came out swinging in the eight, but hit consecutive balls straight to Thunder outfielders. Taylar Hickey singled but Liimatainen got a strikeout to close the inning with no damage done. 

“They came out swinging in the top of the eighth and fortunately it went right to us,” Turners coach Gary Mullins said. “We were due for a few breaks.”

Liimatainen opened the bottom of the eighth with a base hit. Myers walked and Wozniak came up and rocketed a hit that nearly made it over the fence to close out the game. 

“We got some big hits out of some kids,” Mullins said. “We got some production from young kids who haven’t done that before. We feel a little better about ourselves after today. We made some mistakes but we did a lot of good things today. Now we raised the bar for ourselves going into [Friday’s] game against Greylock.”  

It was three scoreless innings to open the game before Wahconah lit up the scoreboard in the fourth after Louis Cankuff laid down a bunt that brought Casey Wilson in to score to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.

Turners responded in the bottom of the frame. Dobias singled, Wozniak walked and Massey knocked a single to load the bases for Mia Marigliano. The sophomore came through, crushing a bases-clearing triple into the left center gap to put the Thunder up 3-1. Liimatainen drove Marigliano in with a single to add to the lead going into the fifth. 

Wahconah regained the lead in the top of the fifth. A pair of walks and a single by Elena Lovieno loaded the bases, with Wilson drawing a walk to force a run in. Dani Barry scampered home on a passed ball before Hickey singled to bring a pair of runs in that gave the Warriors a 5-4 lead. 

It was another big sixth inning at the plate for Wahconah. Ainsleigh Sullivan singled, stole second and was brought home on a double by Barry. Lovieno doubled to score Barry and Wilson cracked a single that sent Lovieno home, putting the Warriors ahead, 8-4, going into the bottom of the sixth. 

Turners hopes the late rally can provide some confidence heading into its league schedule, one where there are no easy games. 

“We’re feeling good,” Wozniak said. “We know we’re getting into a tougher part of our schedule. This win to start it off is a nice ego boost. We’re excited. Hopefully we can keep it going [Friday] against Greylock.” 

Liimatainen went the distance in the circle for the Thunder, striking out 13. Hickey also tossed a complete game for Wahconah, finishing with 10 strikeouts. 

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