WESTFIELD — Make it three years in a row the Turners Falls softball team has hoisted a Western Mass. championship trophy. 

The top-seed in the Class D tournament took on second-seeded Hoosac in the title game on Wednesday at Westfield State University’s Sullivan Field, and the Thunder set the tone from the start. Madi Liimatainen got things going with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning and Turners continued to hit the ball from there, scoring two runs in the first, four in the second and five in the third to build an 11-0 lead after three. 

Liimatainen held the Hurricanes to just one run in the pitching circle, as the Thunder won their 25th Western Mass. title following an 12-1 victory. 

“It doesn’t get old,” Turners head coach Gary Mullins, now one win away from 800 career victories, said. “We’ve seen [Hoosac] play a couple times and they have some girls who hit the ball pretty good but they haven’t seen too many pitchers like Madi. I was hoping she would throw well and she did. We hit the ball well today.” 

The win avenged Turners’ loss to Hoosac in the Class D championship game in 2021. The Hurricanes were the last team to beat the Thunder in a Western Mass. title game. 

Turners (17-4) now enters the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament — where it is the defending champion — winners of 11 of its last 12 games. 

For Thunder seniors like Liimatainen — who took home the Gary Stacy MVP award — winning three Western Mass. titles in a row shows all the hard work put in through the years. 

“Every single win like this is big,” Liimatainen said. “This is what we’ve been working for all year. We worked hard in the regular season to be ready for the postseason and games like this. Some of these girls might never make it to a Western Mass. final like this again. You never know what’s going to happen and the message is that we’re gifted to be here today and playing. That’s what gives us energy: we’re eager to be here and get the taste of a good win like this. I wanted to close my senior year off with a three-peat so that feels good.”  

The Thunder took control of the game in the first inning. Liimatainen struck out two in the top of the first then blasted her solo home run over the fence in left field to give Turners the opening lead of the game. 

Marilyn Abarua walked and Janelle Massey followed by smashing a double. Abarua used her speed to score from first, giving the Thunder a 2-0 lead after one. 

“It feels better and better each year,” Turners senior Mia Marigliano said. “It never gets old. It’s always nerve wracking early but after three good outs and getting ahead early, it helps you relax.” 

Turners added to its lead in the second. Hoosac (17-3) got two outs to open the inning but the Thunder got hot from there. McKenzie Stafford reached on a single, Marigliano drew a walk and Liimatainen drove both in with a double to the left center gap to make it a 4-0 game. 

“I’ve been eager to hit,” Liimatainen said. “I was intentionally walked three times in a row [against St. Mary’s in the semifinal round]. I got in the box today and thought if they let me hit, I’m going to make it worth it. It’s one of those things where I’m swinging hard every at bat. I’m not trying to hit it over. My mindset is through the middle. If it goes over, it goes over and if it does, it feels better.” 

Abarua followed with a double to score a run and Massey singled Abarua in to make it a 6-0 game after two. 

The hitting continued in the third. Addison Talbot doubled, Ameliya Galbraith singled and Marigliano drove both in with a double to make it an 8-0 contest. 

Liimatainen was intentionally walked and after a wild pitch, Abarua drove in a pair with a single to add to the lead. Massey singled and Autumn Thornton added an RBI single of her own after to make it an 11-0 game going into the fourth. 

The Hurricanes scored their lone run of the game in the fifth. Skyana Field singled, worked her way to third and scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 11-1. 

Turners answered with a run in the sixth. Thornton doubled and later scored on a fielder’s choice that gave the Thunder their 12-1 advantage. 

Turners finished with 14 hits on Wednesday against Hoosac ace Gracelyn Wright, and Mullins said he was proud of how his team performed at the plate. 

“We hit the ball hard,” Mullins said. “Most of our hits weren’t cheap. We were hitting line drives. We see pitchers like this quite a bit. It was nothing new to us. She throws a nice riser and got us with it a few times which made me angry but we really hit the ball well.” 

Liimatainen went the distance in the circle, striking out 14 and scattering just three hits. 

“They had some good hitters but I was confident on the mound,” Liimatainen said. “Being able to hit my spots was key tonight. Being able to work around their 3, 4, 5, 6 hitters gave me momentum because they’re good hitters.” 

With the Thunder lineup heating up from top to bottom along with a locked-in Liimatainen in the circle, Turners — the top seed in Div. 5 — will be a tough out in the state tournament as it looks to defend its title. 

“We’re not going to go down,” Marigliano said. “We’re peaking and going to stay there. Seeing the bottom of the order pick up the top is important. A lot of our lower scoring games were where the bottom of the order didn’t help us out. When they do, we have our 10, 12 run games.”