ORANGE — Julianna Rode picked an excellent moment for her first ever varsity home run for the Turners Falls softball team.
Facing Mahar Regional and pitcher Megan Rich, the Thunder had only one hit going into the fifth inning.
That all changed when Rode connected on a Rich cutter and sent a laser over the center field fence.
The homer jumpstarted the Turners Falls’ offense in a 7-0 win over the Senators on Monday.
“It was good,” Rode said. “It reassured my team that we could rally and start hitting like we know how. I kind of just looked for my pitch and got it.”
Turners Falls (7-0, 3-0 Franklin) coach Gary Mullins said he’s seen the potential power in Rode’s swing this season.
“I’ve been looking for a homer run from her this year for three games,” Mullins said. “She has a really good swing. She’s going to hit some more home runs.”
Rich was dealing for the Senators (4-3, 0-2), dueling with Turners Falls’ Jade Tyler into the fifth inning.
“She (Rich) has really good spin,” Tyler said. “She has a really good changeup that worked well. It was different. It was a pitching battle at the beginning.”
Tyler got some more run support in the sixth and the seventh. In a dominant complete-game performance, Tyler had 12 strikeouts and gave up one hit.
Following Rode’s homer, Tyler struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth.
“It’s always nice to have someone start it off,” Tyler said. “We all got excited.”
Rich had four strikeouts for Mahar. The defense behind Rich played effectively with Jordyn Berry making three putouts in center field and Hannah Dupont adding three assists from shortstop.
“I couldn’t ask for a better outing for her (Rich),” Mahar coach Jerry Duguay said. “She hits her corner and works her speed.”
Sarah Graeff’s double was the only hit of the game for the Senators. Mahar’s Skylar Dodge went 0-for-2 with a walk.
“She (Tyler) threw some serious heat,” Duguay said. “We just have to get caught up on it.”
The Thunder picked up two runs in the top of the sixth inning to cushion the lead to 3-0.
“We started hitting the ball the way we are capable of hitting it,” Mullins said. “We finished strong, which is a good thing.”
Olivia Whittier hit a sacrifice fly with runners at second and third for an RBI before Olivia Stafford smacked an RBI single to add another run for the Thunder.
Four more runs scored in the seventh for Turners Falls.
Cassidhe Wozniak started the inning with a double, before an RBI double by Taylor Murphy.
Tyler helped her own cause with an RBI single that scored Murphy to make the score 5-0.
Later in the inning, Alyson Murphy singled home two more runs for Turners.
Mahar had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the second when Graeff led off with a double. After moving to third on a ground out, the Senators had a runner at third with one out.
Tyler threw consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.
Another chance for the Senators came in the following inning when Berry reached on an error before Skylar Dodge drew a walk to start Mahar with two baserunners.
Tyler struck out two and got Jordan Fournier to groundout to end the threat.
Turners 7, Mahar 0
Turners ………………… 000 012 4 — 7 10 1
Mahar …………………. 000 000 0 — 0 1 1
Hits: (TF) T. Murphy 2, A. Murphy, Tyler 2, Stafford, Wozniak 2, Whittier, Rode. (M) Graeff.
2B: (TF) Wozniak, T. Murphy. (M) Graeff.
HR: (TF) Rode.
RBI: (TF) Rode, Whittier, Stafford, Tyler, T. Murphy, A. Murphy 2 .
WP: Tyler (7ip, 12k, 2bb).
LP: Rich (7ip ,4k, 2bb).
