TURNERS FALLS – Less than two miles lie between the schools on the map, and in Saturday night's MIAA Division 5 softball quarterfinal, not much separated the two teams on the diamond.

All the scoring action squeezed into the sixth inning, when Franklin Tech broke up the deadlock with a run in the top half, only to watch host Turners Falls rally back with a pair in its at-bat. Sophomore Madi Liimatainen then pitched a one-two-three seventh inning, with two of her 16 strikeouts, to preserve the Thunder's 2-1 victory at Gary Mullins Field.

Turners, the No. 3 seed in Division 5, ran its record to 17-7 with an upcoming trip to Tuesday's state semifinals at Westfield State University, to face No. 7 Hopkins Academy in a rematch of the Western Mass. Class D final won by the Thunder. That game is tentatively scheduled for 3 p.m.

Franklin Tech closed out at 21-4 as the No. 11 seed in Division 5. The Eagles had already posted a 9-3 road victory at Turners Falls on May 8.

Liimatainen and fellow sophomore Hannah Gilbert of Franklin Tech (10 strikeouts) threw matching three-hitters Saturday and saw to it that scoring chances would be at a premium for both sides.

With one out in the Turners sixth, Liimatainen reached Gilbert for a ringing double to the base of the wall in left-center field. Holly Myers was walked intentionally and run for by Ivy Lopez. Morgan Dobias (two hits) then sliced a base hit down the right-field line that skidded away from the Eagles' Cordelia Guerin, bringing in Liimatainen from second with the tying run and advancing Lopez to third. Autumn Thorton ran for Dobias, and with Cady Wozniak batting next, Gilbert threw a wild pitch that allowed Lopez to come on to score, just barely beating the throw from the backstop to home plate.

Thorton moved up to third and Wozniak kept the line moving with a walk, followed by courtesy runner Lopez's steal of second. Gilbert recovered for strikeouts of Janelle Massey and Addison Talbot to get the Eagles out of the inning.

That left it to Liimatainen, who set down Gianna DiSciullo and Kyra Goodell on strikes to begin the seventh, then induced Kaitlin Trudeau to fly out to Talbot in right  field to end it.

“I said to my coaches, the game would be determined in the sixth inning,” said Thunder coach Gary Mullins. “They go out and score a run, and we came back and got two. This was a game of who gets the last break, and fortunately it happened for us. We're there.”

Liimatainen was flat-out dominant through the first three innings Saturday, striking out each of the first nine Tech hitters with no contact made.

“I felt really pumped up going into this game. I've been looking forward to it all week,” said Liimatainen. “I wanted to dominate from the beginning. Having those first (three) innings where I had three straight Ks, it was crazy. It really got the whole game moving for me, and I couldn't be happier.”

On their second time through the order, things improved for the Eagles – a line-drive out to first off Trudeau's bat, then a single from Lilly Ross, their first hit, off Liimatainen's glove. Gilbert lined sharply to center and Kylee Gamache was walked intentionally after jumping ahead in the count 2-0, but Liimatainen caught Guerin looking at a called third strike.

Franklin Tech was back at it in the fifth, getting back-to-back two-out walks to DiSciullo and Goodell, who then moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. That's how the threat ended, though, as Trudeau struck out.

In the visitors' sixth, the Eagles finally cashed in with one out on a single to left by Gilbert and a steal of second. After an out, Guerin grounded a base hit through the middle and over second base, as Gilbert scored the lead run to put Tech ahead 1-0.

Kendra Campbell then walked to put runners at first and second, and Keira Stevens lined sharply to right, where Talbot made a fine snow-cone catch, moving toward the foul line, to retire the side.

“If that ball gets down, we got at least two more runs in there,” said Eagles coach Joe Gamache. “They battled back, and unfortunately they got a great hit and that was the difference. They made one more play than we did tonight.”

Gilbert worked 3 1/3 hitless innings at the start before Dobias looped a one-out single to short center in the fourth. The sophomore then struck out the next two hitters, and set down the next six in a row overall, before Turners' decisive rally in the sixth.

“She pitched phenomenal. She kind of flies under the radar,” said Gamache of Gilbert. “I don't feel like she gets the same recognition as some of the other girls in the area, but she works just as hard as they do, and she pitches just as well as anybody else around here. She battles. She's had a great season and she's got a couple more years ahead of her.”

Turners split a pair of regular-season meetings with Mount Greylock and lost once to Hopkins, before zapping the Golden Hawks in the rematch in the Western Mass. Class D championship.

“We're a very young softball team, and we've had an awful lot of learning to do,” said Mullins. “I think, in all honesty, these kids are one of the most improved teams we've had. Are we a great team yet? No, we're not. We were horrendous early in the year, but we got better. And we have to be, because we're playing good softball teams. I'm extremely proud that they've gotten this far.”

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