Ayrhill Farms Powers Its Way to 8th Straight Torchia Title
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Britt Breault went 4-for-4 with two home runs and two doubles on Thursday to lead Ayrhill Farms to a 17-2 win over Chris’ Girls in the championship game of the Pat Torchia Women’s Softball League.
Beault drove in six runs, and Jackie LaRochelle hit a solo home run for Ayrhill, which finished the league’s double-elimination playoff tournament without a loss.
Early on, it looked like Chris’ Girls, which survived the tourney’s loser’s bracket with a 6-2 win over Club Wyndham on Wednesday, would be able to give the top seed a run for its money.
The designated visitors rallied for a run in the top of the second to tie the game, 1-1.
But Ayrhill Farms hung seven runs on the board in the bottom of the inning and never looked back.
Breault and LaRochelle hit back-to-back home runs to cap that rally.
“[Chris’ Girls] is a really good hitting team,” said Ayrhill Farms pitcher Sarah Sweet. “They’re patient at the plate. And we knew we had to get a lot and we had to get a lot quick. We couldn’t let them hang around. They’re that good of a hitting team.
“So we just beared down and got some home runs and base runners, and that’s how you have to win every inning.”
Ayrhill Farms tacked on seven more runs in the fourth and ended the game in the bottom of the fifth by scoring twice to earn a 15-run margin.
In the fourth, Mary Malloy (3-for-4) started the rally with a leadoff double. She came home when Breault crushed a line drive over the fence in right center.
Then a two-out error opened the flood gates to five more runs. Morgan Shavfer, Melissa Girard and Morgan Kierstead each delivered a hit to make it 14-2. Kierstead ended up coming home on Sweet’s RBI single to give their team a 13-run cushion.
One inning later, Breault led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, moved up on a single by Erika Valenzuela (2-for-4) and scored on Shafer’s single to left. Valenzuela scored the game’s final run on Girard’s RBI groundout to end it.
Chris’ Girls had their best inning in the second, when Gina Gaspardi hit a two-out single, moved to third on Beth Lorge’s double and scored on a single by Kim Wall.
In the third, Chris’ Girls answered Ayrhill Farm’s first seven-run inning with one run. Laura Feder reached on a leadoff error and eventually scored on a ground ball from Kelley O’Brien.
Sweet earned the game’s only strikeout in the circle and scattered four hits to earn the win … something that is a habit for her and her teammates, who won their eighth straight league title for different sponsors.
“We’ve been playing a long time together,” Sweet said. “We have one of the oldest players in the league on our team. We work hard. We have fun. And we just love playing together.
“Eight years means a lot. We stopped because of COVID, but we’ve kept it going, and most of the group stayed together.”
