NORTH DARTMOUTH - Entering the Division II state softball tournament for the second year in a row, Silver Lake Regional was desperate to get over the final hump.
The Lakers had only been to one state championship game in program history, and that came in 2015.
On Thursday at UMass Dartmouth, Silver Lake, in large part to senior pitcher Delaney Moquin who had 15 strikeouts, finally broke through.
The Lakers beat Westfield 1-0 to secure their spot in the state final.
“Honestly I feel like it hasn’t set in yet but it’s definitely going to be hard to go to bed tonight,” Moquin said. “I think we’re ready for it, that’s what we’ve been preparing for all season.”
Lakers coach Tony Pina has seen the work put in by his entire roster, and his seniors in particular to reach this moment.
“This team has worked so hard over the course of their careers, especially the seniors, and for their season to potentially end with a state championship, if I was writing a book with a fairytale ending, we’re just about there,” Pina said.
While Moquin’s magic was completely familiar to Pina and the rest of Silver Lake, the game’s most heroic moment came from a perhaps unexpected source.
After three scoreless innings, the Lakers firmly threaten the Bombers in the bottom of the fourth. Anna craft singled then stole second, and Madyson Bryan was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second.
After a but attempt with two strikes went foul, Silver Lake had two outs and still no runs on the board. Then came senior Addison Willett, batting seventh for the Lakers.
In the latter half of the regular season, Willett wasn’t even getting at bats for Silver Lake, but that all changed once the postseason came around.
“Delaney Moquin does what Delaney Moquin does but I got to give a lot of credit to senior Addie Willette,” Pina said. “Halfway through the season we made a change to the lineup and we stopped giving her at bats. Then for the playoffs, we started to give her an opportunity to be a senior, to be a captain, to be a leader, and she did what a senior captain would do in that moment.”
With the runners on first and second, Westfield pitcher Shea Hurley delivered a two-strike changeup to Willett who served it right back up the middle to plate Craft, the lone run of the game.
“That game was a one pitch game,” Pina said. “Addie stayed back on a changeup and just put it back down the middle and that was the difference.”
Aside from that one run, the Lakers conjured very little against Hurley.
“Against a pitcher like that, we have to gain experience fast,” Pina said. “We need to see a lot of pitches, we need to communicate in the dugout, and we need to take advantage of any mistake that she makes and she didn’t make many.”
The senior Bomber struck out nine in the contest and allowed just four hits in what was her final high school game.
Throughout her time in Westfield, Hurley made a name for herself as one of the top arms in the state. She also helped bring her team to four semifinals and a state championship in 2022.
“It was the usual, the kid’s awesome,” Westfield coach Tyson James said of Hurley. “Ever since she was a freshman. She keeps us in every game.
“We have to score to win, you can’t fault her for letting in one run. She kept us in this one, we had a chance to win the game, we just couldn’t put the runs across.”
Hurley is one of six seniors leading the Bombers program. All of whom leave a lasting legacy on Westfield softball.
“We lost 10 (seniors) last year and six this year,” James said. “These kids, you can’t take anything away from what they experienced over the four years. They’ve been in this game each of those four years.
“We won the Western Mass. tournament each of those four years. A lot of them were a part of the state (championship) team as freshmen. A lot of them were there last year when we lost. A lot of high school players don’t get to experience in their careers what (the seniors) have experienced each of the last four years.”
Just because Westfield is losing its senior class, does not mean they’re going away.
James knows that he has plenty of talented returners and newcomers on the horizon. He also knows that losses like Thursday’s and last year’s defeat in the state final can only add fuel to his team’s fire.
“I’m hoping it just motivates them to get better and work harder next year and just keep at it,” James said of his returners. “We’re lucky that we have a lot of good softball players in town and I know we have some coming in next year. The kids that are coming back need to take over the leadership roles of those that are leaving and we’ll be fine.”
As Westfield regroups and looks ahead at next season, Silver Lake has a game against No. 3 Bedford and Alyx Rossi to prepare for.
Rossi, recently named the Massachusetts Gatorade Softball Player of the Year, may be the most dominant force in the Commonwealth.
She’s also a player that Moquin and the Lakers are quite familiar with.
“I played against her in club and I know that she’s a wicked good pitcher so she’s definitely going to put up a good fight for us,” Moquin said of Rossi.
Pina knows all about Rossi’s bonafides, but also knows that Moquin can match her pitch for pitch.
“A team that has Delaney Moquin in the circle always has a chance to win,” Pina said. “We know Bedford and Rossi, we know what we’re up against. We’ve got to beat Rossi but they’ve got to beat Delaney Moquin.
“I’m putting my money on Delaney because I know her heart, I know how hard she works at this game. I’m taking Delaney Moquin all day just because of the blood sweat and tears she puts into the game.”
Throughout her high school career Moquin has gone from a freshman shortstop who seldom pitched to one of the most feared arms in the state. Now, she has a chance to put the cherry on top of her stellar story.
“Obviously to end it, it would be great to win a state championship,” Moquin said. “It’s a really good feeling to be able to do it with this team, we’re such a close knit team.
“We hung out all day today, honestly we’re inseparable. To be able to do it with them just feels really good.”
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit Sazua.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
