Stoughton High Softball Pulls off Upset, Downing Marshfield in Tournament Opener

The entered the as the final seed (#24) and had to travel to play ninth seeded Marshfield for a preliminary round contest. Both teams were defeated in the preliminary round of the postseason a year ago, with Marshfield being upset by the #21 seed.

Thanks to some timely hitting in the late innings, Stoughton made sure history repeated itself for Marshfield. The Black Knights came from behind twice and went on to take a thrilling extra inning victory.

Stoughton scored in the eighth inning to beat Marshfield, 5-4, Friday afternoon. Stoughton will now travel to play #8 seed Somerset-Berkley on Sunday, June 3 in a first round matchup at 1 p.m.

“It was a total team effort and a hard fought win, and hopefully it will lead to bigger and better things for us,” Stoughton coach Janet Sullivan said.

Stoughton entered the game at 8-11, earning a postseason bid as the second place team in the Hockomock League’s Davenport Division. Marshfield was 13-5.

It didn’t look good for Stoughton at the outset as Marshfield jumped out to a 2-0 advantage with single runs in the first and fourth innings. Stoughton scored all its runs from the sixth inning on with late game heroics by a host of players up and down the roster.

Stoughton tied the game in the sixth inning, despite two runners being thrown out trying to score.

Michelle Bisbee, a junior, had a single, followed by hot hitting junior Megan Flaherty’s triple that led to the first runner being cut down at the plate. Pitcher Emily Cramer, a sophomore, then helped her own cause, with a single to drive in Flaherty, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Freshman second baseman Samantha Mattie came up and hit a long shot deep into the outfield that scored pinch runner Katherine Chlus to knot the score, 2-2. With her blazing speed, Mattie rounded third on her way to a home run, but fell to the ground in pain, with an apparent hip injury and was tagged out. Mattie had to be taken off the field and was later transported to a nearby hospital.

With the score tied entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Marshfield retook the lead with a run off Cramer and Stoughton was three outs away from elimination, trailing 3-2.

Stoughton responded with two runs in the seventh inning to take its first lead of the contest. Nicole Barton, a senior, who would take on the role of hero an inning later, started the inning off with a single. Kelsey Moriarty, a senior, sacrificed Barton to second. Payton Pizzano, a freshman, followed with a single setting up a two-run single by junior Jordan Angelos, giving Stoughton a 4-3 lead.

Stoughton came close to winning and losing the game in the bottom of the seventh inning. Marshfield loaded the bases with two singles and a Stoughton error with only one out. A passed ball then tied the score and put the winning run on third base with only one out. Cramer then came through with solid pitching in a critical time, saving Stoughton’s season. Cramer got the next two batters on a ground out and a fly out to force extra innings.

In the eighth inning, Flaherty led off with a triple and remained there after the next two batters were out. Barton then came up and lined an RBI double for the eventual game-winning run.

After getting out of a jam in the seventh inning, Cramer came out in the eighth with extreme confidence and got Marshfield out in much easier fashion to preserve Stoughton’s first postseason win in over six years.

“I’m so proud of our team and how they remained focused in a very tough game and situation.” said Sullivan. “We fell behind, came back, held on, lost a player to injury, had a delay with an ambulance, we were worried about an injured teammate, and even had a baseball game to contend with that shared our outfield [Marshfield’s baseball team was also in action], but Cramer and the rest of the team kept their composure and it allowed us to beat a very good and experienced team.”

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Take a look at photos from the game and a video interview with Megan Flaherty and Jordan Angelos in the media gallery. Photos and video by Stoughton Patch editor Jeffrey Pickette.

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