LOWELL – Her right arm may be the most valuable in Division 5. Her left elbow deserves credit as well.
Emily Atwood struck out 11 batters Wednesday evening, but it was the contact she made in the fifth inning that commenced a decisive rally. The freshman was hit by a pitch with one out and nobody on base, her team trailing by two runs.
Atwood slammed her bat down after taking the brunt of the blow on her elbow, then left for a pinch-runner and watched her Hopedale teammates scored six game-changing runs en route to a 9-6 victory over Georgetown. The Blue Raiders advance to their first state softball title game since 1990 and will play Maynard on Saturday at noon at Worcester State.
“It was more hype mad than (being) really mad,” Atwood said after inspecting her elbow for a bruise (not yet) at River View Field at UMass-Lowell. “Just trying to get my team hyped up and usually when that stuff happens, we start rallies and we start scoring runs.”
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hopedale softball reaches first state final since 1990
