High school softball players from Western Massachusetts have been waiting for this week for years; they will never again have to step into the batter’s box and see Greenfield’s MacKenzie Paulin, Turners Falls’ Madi Liimatainen or Franklin Tech’s Hannah Gilbert standing in the pitching circle.

The three seniors have been dominating the area in the circle throughout their high school tenures. Paulin led the Green Wave to back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023, while Liimatainen was part of the Thunder’s 2021 state title winning squad and pitched Turners to a second state championship last spring before making it three over the weekend. Gilbert has led Franklin Tech to consecutive Western Mass. Class C title games. 

Liimatainen and Paulin both joined the exclusive list of high school pitchers to eclipse the 1,000 strikeout mark for their careers this spring, Liimatainen doing so in an early season contest against Frontier while Paulin reached the milestone the final week of the regular season in a game against Mount Greylock. 

Gilbert, who didn’t start pitching full time until her sophomore year at Tech, completed her career with over 700 strikeouts.

With this being the last year all three were playing for their schools, Paulin noted how the Western Mass. championship games at Westfield State this spring that featured all three players was likely the last time they’d be on the field together. 

“Today felt nostalgic,” Paulin said last month. “We’re all seniors and we’ve all been here, especially us and Tech. It feels like it’s been us in the finals and Turners is always playing before us. It’s nostalgic with this being our last year.” 

Playing at small high schools, it’s always notable when a player gets a look at the collegiate level. All three of those pitchers will continue their softball careers at the next level: Paulin will play at Merrimack, Liimatianen is committed to play at Saint Michael’s and Gilbert will be playing at MCLA next spring. 

“I recognize they're both really good athletes and both of them are going to play college softball,” Liimatainen said of Paulin and Gilbert. “That’s a big thing around here. You don’t see people going and playing in college so that’s great to see. It’s another victory for them. I’m focused on my team but having other good pitchers in the area makes me want to work even harder. Especially going against each other. Every time we face each other it’s a hard game because it’s a duel. That’s how I take it.” 

Liimatainen and Paulin had one more chance to square off on the diamond, as Turners and Greenfield met in the state title game on Saturday at UMass. Both coaches know the type of pitchers they have. 

Turners coach Gary Mullins has been coaching softball for a long time and understands how important his star pitcher has been to his team. 

“We can pretend all we want but we have Madison Liimatainen and other teams don't,” Mullins said recently. “It’s no secret. She’s a great hitter, she keeps us in ballgames by throwing well. Right now we have her for a few more games and I’m going to enjoy her as long as we have her. She’s a great player. She’s worked hard at it and she’s done it her way.” 

Greenfield coach Ray Dodge had similar praise for his star pitcher, noting Paulin’s been the catalyst for the Wave’s success these past four years. 

“She’s the face of this program,” Dodge said. “She earned every bit of it. She’s been that pitcher all year. She’s been pretty dominant all year. She’s only had one game where she had less than double-digit strikeouts. It’s kind of nuts.” 

While the pitchers steal the headlines, they each had talented teams around them. Franklin Tech’s Kylee Gamache will be heading to Western New England for softball and Frontier’s Delaney Fifield will be playing softball at Mitchell College next spring. 

Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache has seen this class develop thoughout Franklin County since their youth playing days and said it’s a special group that will be hard to replace in the coming years. 

“This senior class is a very talented group,” Joe Gamache said. “They started taking the game seriously at a young age and they’ve played a lot of softball. A lot of them started when they were playing tournament softball at the U10 level. It’s a testament to their will, commitment, improvement and love of the game that they’re all where they are right now. A lot of people have invested in them and they’ve invested in themselves. That speaks volumes.”