TURNERS FALLS — A pair of Western Mass. softball powers met at Gary Mullins Field Wednesday night. 

Turners Falls — the No. 1 ranked team in the Div. 5 power rankings — hosted Hampshire — the No. 2 ranked team in the Div. 4 power rankings — and it lived up to the hype, as the Thunder got on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game heading into the final inning. 

With two outs in the top of the seventh, the Raiders got going. Rachael Hickox walked and Kalin Dubay followed with a single to put runners on first and third. A wild pitch allowed Hickox to score and the throw to get Dubay at third was off target, allowing her to come home and give Hampshire a 3-1 lead. 

CC Thayer singled, Teagan Charles walked and Raegan Dubay blasted a double into the gap to bring in both runs and give the Raiders a 5-1 edge going into the bottom of the frame. 

Ryanne Dubay struck out a pair and forced a fly out to close out the game and send Hampshire home with a 5-1 victory. 

“We knew we were going to run into a good pitcher,” Raiders coach Brain McGan said. “[Madi Liimatainen] threw the ball really well. We battled in the beginning and started to get on it toward the end. I try telling the kids that if you keep the game close, you have a chance. It was 0-0 through pretty much the whole game. We made a few blunders but the kids stayed on the ball well, we hit it when we had to.”

It was Ryanne Dubay who kept the Thunder bats at bay throughout as the sophomore struck out 12 and allowed just two hits, a double to Mia Marigliano in the third and a bunt single in the sixth. 

“Hampshire is a good team," Turners coach Gary Mullins said. “Their pitcher handled us pretty well. We made too many mistakes defensively against a team like that.”

The game was scoreless going into the fourth when the Raiders (14-1) finally struck. Rallying with two outs, Caroline Payson reached on an error, Hickox walked and Kalin Dubay cracked a single up the middle to score Payson from second and give Hampshire a 1-0 lead. 

“KK came up with two big hits with runners in scoring position,” McGan said. “That’s what good teams do. When you get a runner in scoring position, you have to capitalize on it.” 

Turners responded in the sixth. Madi Liimatainen and Maddie Dietz walked, and Marilyn Abarua put down a bunt. The throw was just off line, allowing Liimatainen to score and tie the game. 

Janelle Massey was intentionally walked to load the bases with no outs but Ryanne Dubay struck out the next two batters she faced before the Raiders defense caught the Thunder in a rundown and threw Abarua out at second to end the inning and keep it tied going into the seventh. 

Madi Liimatainen was also quite impressive in the circle for Turners (11-4), striking out 11 while giving up just five hits. 

With the postseason right around the corner, both teams felt this was a game that will help in the playoffs by getting to see tough competition late in the regular season. 

“That’s why we play all these teams,” McGan said. “She’s a good pitcher and we knew we were going to get a battle. That’s what we wanted going into the postseason.” 

Hampshire will take on Minnechaug on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in Westhampton while Turners heads out east to face Blackstone Valley on Monday at 4:30.