Johnston softball takes down undefeated Westerly. Here are five things we learned from the win

JOHNSTON — If Johnston is going to win the Division II softball title, Monday night's game showed exactly how that’s going to happen,

There are no secrets about what the Panthers have and, against undefeated Westerly, they showed what happens when they do the things they do best all at the same time. Haley Boudreau threw a gem, the defense made every play it needed and while the offense didn’t manage much, it took advantage of the Bulldogs’ miscues for a 2-0 win that changed the race for the top seed in the Division II playoffs.

“We’re feeling really good because last year we kind of lost to them in bad ways and had the game taken away from us,” Boudreau said. “This year we locked in and we won, finally.”

“We’re pumped. This just builds us up,” Johnston’s Arianna Velasquez said. “It’s only up from here. We’re excited.”

Johnston’s win was the first big game of some pretty big games in D-II this week. Here are five things that stood out on Monday night:

Haley Boudreau is at her best in big games

Boudreau put on a show in her freshman year, but now her stuff in the circle is getting even nastier.

Pound-for-pound Boudreau might be the hardest thrower in the state. While she doesn’t cast an imposing shadow, she makes up for lack of size with impressive power drawn from textbook technique.

On Monday, Boudreau flat out overpowered Westerly. She has more than a few pitches in her arsenal, but Boudreau isn’t afraid of just throwing gas and daring the other team to hit it.

The Bulldogs didn’t. Boudreau finished with 13 strikeouts, including four of the last five batters she faced. With Westerly’s Sophia Valentini also managing to be unhittable, Boudreau looked very comfortable in the high-pressure situation.

“I know they’re a really good team and last year they didn’t have any trouble hitting off me so I was kind of nervous going into the game,” Boudreau said. “[Pitching this year] is a lot less hard. I feel more comfortable pitching because I know the teams and know not to be nervous on the mound.”

Westerly had scoring chances — just not many. In the second inning, Boudreau gave up a two-out walk to Tori Gabriele that put a runner in scoring position. But Boudreau got out of it with a K. She gave up a one-out single to Alexandra Stoehr and walked Ella Keegan, then got a lineout and a strikeout to end the threat.

“It helps my adrenaline keep going, so I throw harder,” Boudreau said. “So I love games like this.”

Defense might be Johnston's secret weapon

When a pitcher has 13 strikeouts, there’s not much work for the defense — but the work that is available is very important.

Johnston’s defense made plays. Bella Boudreau gunned out Keegan trying to steal second on a strike-her-out, throw-her-out double play to end the first. Johnston third baseman Mariah Fleury made all three plays on balls hit in her direction, first baseman Kalyn Foster caught a pop fly, Haley Boudreau made a play on a ground ball and Velasquez caught two popups in the sixth.

The plays were rather ordinary but in this type of game they were very necessary.

Johnston’s isn’t going to win postseason games by outslugging teams. The play of the defense is incredibly important and Monday's game was a championship effort.

“It feels good because you don’t feel so much stress, especially for Haley,” Velasquez said. “We’re just trying to help Haley out. She’s doing her job and we should be doing our jobs, too.”

Capitalizing is key for Panthers' offense

Boudreau was overpowering, but Valentini was in control the entire night.

Johnston is at its best playing small ball and to do that, it needs baserunners. Bella Boudreau gave the Panthers one with a single to start the second and turned into a run when Madison’s Campano’s routine fielder’s choice turned into the game’s first run. Westerly made two errors on the play, bringing Boudreau home with the game’s first run. The Bulldogs conceded the run on an RBI groundout by Foster that made it 2-0.

It wasn’t a lot of offense — Valentini didn’t give up a hit the rest of the way —  but it was enough.

“They’re a good team,” Velasquez said. “In the past, we’ve had errors and it has cost us the whole game, so one little error can cost you the whole game like it did for them.”

Westerly isn’t going anywhere

Losing isn’t what upset the Bulldogs. It was how the game was lost that did because it was completely avoidable.

“It was a really big game for us. We know Johnston is good and we were undefeated,” Valentini said. “We tried our hardest. It's just that one mistake sometimes costs us the game and that’s what happened tonight.”

The good news for Westerly is if it can win its final three regular-season games — at home vs. South Kingstown on Tuesday, at one-loss Ponaganset on Thursday and home next week vs. Mt. Hope — it will be the No. 1 seed for the Division II tournament.

Getting the seed would be nice, but the Bulldogs are more interested in proving they can rebound and continue to play in a manner than allows them to win games rather than have results like Monday’s.

“We get to see what we have to do better and we get to see what they have,” Valentini said. “It’s good before the playoffs to see what we can do and what we can do better.”

Johnston might end up in first place, but it wants more

Westerly wasn’t the only undefeated D-II team that lost on Monday. Ponaganset was upset by Portsmouth, 7-3, in a game that has turned the rest of the week into a playoff before the playoffs as the Bulldogs, Chieftains and Panthers fight for the No. 1 seed.

On Thursday, Westerly is set to play Ponaganset. If the Bulldogs win, they should end up No. 1. If the Chieftains win and beat Johnston on Friday, they’ll be the top seed.

But if Ponaganset beats Westerly and the Panthers beat the Chieftains, they will be the No. 1 seed for the D-II tournament.

“We want to win the whole thing,” Boudreau said. “We’re ready to play Ponaganset on Friday.

“We need to make sure we make the plays because I feel like our hitting is a lot better than it was last year but we have trouble making plays sometimes.”

“It’s not scary. We’re pumped and we want it really badly this year,” Velasquez said. “This is just building us up with confidence and not so much nerves.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Johnston beats undefeated Westerly in Division II softball