ADAMS — Two years ago Lenox upset Hoosac Valley in the state tournament. Last season Lenox beat Hoosac again in the regular season and in a grudge match in the second round of the state tournament, Hoosac defeated Lenox.
That was the first of three straight wins for Hoosac over its Berkshire rival, as the Hurricanes swept the regular season series this year.
Still, Lenox went across the state and pulled off the 9v8 upset over Bristol County Agricultural to reach the MIAA Division V State quarterfinal round for the first time and get a third shot this season against top-seeded Hoosac.
It wasn’t easy and it assuredly had fans of both teams suffering from heart palpitations throughout.
But Lilly MacDonald is Lenox’s second baseman and she’s one of the best fielders the team has to offer. Down a run in the bottom of the seventh with its season on the line, Hoosac sent two offerings MacDonald’s way. She happily grabbed both.
When Gracelyn Wright’s pop up curved toward first base, MacDonald waved off Lexi Witherell, ranged over and grabbed it.
Having squeezed the final out of No. 9 Lenox’s 3-2 upset win, MacDonald immediately jumped for joy.
“Yes, a lot actually,” MacDonald admitted with a grin about having nerves on the final fly out. “I was scared of dropping it but it could’ve been Grace’s last game and we’ve all been saying we need to play for Grace and this game is just for her.
“We all gave our all and I just ran and I got lucky.”
Lenox moves to the Final Four for the first time in program history.
“It feels absolutely amazing. People didn’t think we were gonna make it this far and we have so much confidence in ourselves,” said Grace Julieano. The team's lone senior was still holding the Final Four trophy, her second after helping the Lenox volleyball team to one in the fall. “It is really special. I think all three of my seasons this year have been really fun and I wouldn’t ask for it to be with a better group of girls.
“We wanted to get our revenge. They knocked us out last year. Beat us two times this year and we wanted it.”
Lenox came out swinging. Evelyn Julieano singled on a hard grounder to begin the game and Grace followed with a line drive to put both sisters on. Starting pitcher Cassidy Flynn ripped a ball that was just fair along the first-base line to score the first Julieano, while the second moved to third.
Up next was Witherell who blasted a ball that one-hopped to the fence for a two-run double to put Lenox up 3-0 and give the Millionaires all the offense they’d need on a day where their defense was everywhere.
“Amazing, we’ve never made it to [the Round of 8] before so making it for Grace and the team and the school means a lot,” said Flynn, with a big smile. “The first couple innings I was really nervous, but once my pitches settled in I [knew] we would be OK.”
Not that Hoosac made it easy. The undefeated Hurricanes stranded two Millionaires in the second and then responded in the third. Genevieve Lagess crushed a ball down the third-base line for a double and Rachael Wnuk reached on a fielder’s choice.
Hannah Lord blooped a single to plate Lagess and make it 3-1 with no outs and runners on the corners. Then, Hoosac went for a steal play, sending Lord to second. Lenox catcher Evelyn Julieano made the throw to shortstop Grace Julieano, who tagged out Lord but Mackenzie Biros — running for Wnuk — went from third to home on the throw to make it 3-2.
That’s as close as it got.
Flynn was in control for Lenox, throwing 1-2-3 innings in the first, fourth and seventh. Most critically, the Lenox infield kept everything in front of it and just made the plays it needed to. The Hurricanes left five on and two in scoring position, none more dishearteningly than in the home sixth.
Lord smoked a two-out triple to put the game in the balance. But Flynn got Ashlyn Lamke to ground out to Grace Julieano at shortstop and Lenox ended the threat.
“I didn’t expect to score two runs, other than that, I did expect a close game. They know us, they’re not intimidated by us like some of the other teams are,” said Hoosac coach Mike Ameen. “We just didn’t do what we normally do. They were the better team today and they deserve it.
“The team we are, someone told me I only gave up three runs I would think we would’ve won. Credit to them, their pitcher threw really well… my kids, maybe they had an off-day, I hate to say that, maybe their pitcher had a great day. Just one of those things. That’s life.”
Hoosac entered the game as the No. 1 overall seed in D-V with a record of 21-0. Alas for the Hurricanes, they are now 0-3 in the state quarterfinal round. Known for their offense all season, Hoosac’s bats were in a slump at the most inopportune time on Saturday.
Hoosac has been down in games before, but usually a big defensive play will be turned into offensive output and once the team gets a couple of hits, the runs follow. The former happened on Saturday, but the offense never clicked.
Lord was spectacular, five balls were hit to center field, all five landed safely in her glove. That includes the sixth inning when Lenox loaded the bases with two outs and she robbed Grace Julieano of a grand slam that would have put the game away. Not to mention a sliding catch she made in the seventh with a knee brace on.
“Hannah Lord was tremendous out there. It would’ve been 8-2 if not for Hannah. She played a great game,” said Ameen. “She sprained her knee and sucked it up and played, slid into second and hurt it again and went back out there.
“I told [the six senior starters] we won 45 of our last 50 games and that’s nothing to sneeze at… they’re a great bunch of kids and unfortunately there’s no tomorrow.”
On the other side, while Lenox’s offense couldn’t find any more runs after the first inning, it got critical plays when it needed them most. Evelyn Julieano and Witherell each caught pop ups in foul territory, while right fielder Tessa Soules had a massive catch in the fourth. On a shallow fly ball, she darted forward and managed to just snag the ball, almost looking surprised when it was safely in her glove.
“Those catches are like game-winning catches and they mean a lot to me because every out means everything,” said Flynn, who finished having given up just five hits and no walks.
“We really needed Evelyn’s defense behind the plate,” said Lenox coach Amy Pires, who added with a chuckle about the idea of holding Hoosac to two runs, “absolutely not. They are such a well-coached team, players on the team, I know so many of them, phenomenal players.
“This was just an amazing game, so proud of these girls. We’ve worked really hard, ever since losing in Western Mass. [Finals] we just kind of looked at our season stats and we were just drilling the girls on the infield plays.”
After falling in the Western Mass. Class C Final, Lenox has now become just the third Berkshire County softball team to reach the semifinals in the statewide era and the first since Pittsfield High — coached by MacDonald’s father, PHS head coach Brian MacDonald — did so in 2024.
The Millionaires will face No. 4 Maynard in the Final Four on neutral ground at a date and time to be determined. Maynard beat No. 12 Franklin Tech 4-1, the team that beat Lenox in the Class C Final.