WESTHAMPTON – The No. 1 Hampshire Regional softball team’s senior duo of CC Thayer and Teagan Charles combined for five of the Raiders’ nine hits in their 10-1 win over No. 8 Frontier Regional in the MIAA Division 4 state tournament Round of 8 on Sunday afternoon.

Thayer thwacked three hits for one RBI while Charles crushed two triples and brought home four runs for Hampshire, which advanced to the Div. 4 semifinals for the first time since 2023.

“We knew it was going to be a battle, but I knew we were going to get our bats on at one point and we would break through,” Charles said.

The Raiders pushed across three runs through the first four innings, but stayed patient against the Redhawks’ talented arm in Raine Wonsey, then pounced during innings five and six with seven total runs. Both of Charles’ three-baggers came in that late-game stretch, which broke the game open after a relatively even start to the contest.

“I think we all hit really good and played defense when we had to,” Thayer said. 

Kalin Dubay posted a pair of hits for the Raiders in the leadoff spot, while Raegan Dubay and Lucy Trombley each recorded base knocks to supplement Hampshire’s potent offense. The victory also counted as the Raiders’ 10th straight.

“We knew that team was going to be good, so we had to prepare for it and these kids just came out swinging the bats,” Hampshire head coach Brian McGan said.

Raiders pitcher Ryanne Dubay didn’t need to be the star in this one as the sophomore hurler allowed one run on six hits. She struck out six Frontier batters and walked one in the complete-game win.

On the other side of the diamond, the Redhawks just could not match the Raiders’ consistency in the batter’s box as Skyler Steele was their only batter to notch multiple hits, including a double. Frontier mustered six altogether and scored its lone run during the fifth inning.

“We were ready to play,” Redhawks head coach Gary Deane said. “The kids left nothing behind. We didn’t play our best game and you can beat yourself up wondering about how that was, but as soon as the game was over we went out to right field and just talked about the whole season. All the wins we had, great comeback wins, with a couple of walk-off wins at home against top teams.

“When Hampshire was taking pictures with the Final Four banner at home plate, I said ‘take a look around and be motivated by that.’ It’s an awesome feeling when you get there. We were that close,” Deane said.

Seniors Ashley Taylor, Olivia Machon, Delaney Fifield and Sophia Pinardi had their high school careers come to a close on Sunday and Deane said half of them have starred for the Redhawks (14-9) since before they even reached high school. Wonsey highlights the returners Deane will have to work with in future years, and she still has four years of eligibility remaining as an eighth-grader.

“She was leading us last year into the tournament as well as a seventh grader,” Deane said on Wonsey. “Before even getting into high school, she’s got experience, not only pitching much of the year and being the No. 1 pitcher for her team, but getting all the way into the state tournament. She works on it in the offseason and she’s going to come back with fire next year, we all know it.”

Hampshire (22-1) will meet a familiar opponent in the state semifinals in fourth-seeded Joseph Case. The Cardinals are the two-time defending state champions and have eliminated the Raiders the past two seasons in the Div. 4 tournament, including in the 2023 state final.

Case (17-6) beat East Bridgewater, 5-1, during the Round of 8 last Friday and will look to punch its ticket to the state championship for the fourth consecutive season. The semifinal is set for Thursday at Worcester State University, with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.

“It seems like everybody we play is always the same ones,” McGan said. “We’ll pick the bat and balls up, go at it again and see what happens. We don’t know anything about them, we didn’t get a chance to scout them, but we’ll see what happens.”

During last year’s 2024 state tournament, the Cardinals clipped Hampshire, 11-3, during the Round of 8 en route to the state title.

“The chemistry is better, we all want it,” Charles said on any differences with this year’s Raiders team. “I love all the girls, they’re all great. We’re just a big family and we’re ready to take it home.”

Case is paced by senior Breanna Fontes and junior Cailyn Durand and freshman Izzy Carvara. The Cardinals trio all have batting averages above .500 in more than 20 games played. Lila Alvarez is Case’s top arm as the sophomore has a 1.65 ERA with 140 strikeouts to boot.

Both Thayer and Charles have been on hand during each of the last two postseason losses to the Cardinals and don’t want to make three straight.

“I’m ready for revenge,” Thayer said.