PLYMOUTH – In the eyes of Hopkinton softball coach Dan Meserve, this championship quest started long before the Hawks ever picked up a bat this spring.
Meserve pointed to the back of his undershirt, drawing attention to the list of names from a 2013 10U youth team that appeared in a title game of its own – many of the same names who were on the field for the Hawks on Saturday.
“I told the girls, ‘This journey started six years ago. You’ve been here before. You just have to have fun with it,’ ” Meserve said. “And they did it.”
What the Hawks lacked in experience, they more than made up for in chemistry. With a starting lineup that featured six underclassmen, including starting pitcher Megan Kimball-Rhines, No. 7 Hopkinton (16-4) capped off its magical run with its first state championship since 1994 after shutting down No. 4 Campbell, 2-0, in the Division III final at Plymouth State’s Chase Field.
“I can’t even express it. It’s one of the best feelings ever. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without (my teammates). I honestly would not have been able to do it,” said Kimball-Rhines, who held Campbell scoreless over seven innings and allowed just two hits.
“They are just such a great support system and are always there for me.”
As the rest of the Hawks piled on top of Kimball-Rhines in celebration after she recorded the final out with her eighth punchout, Meserve couldn’t help but gush about his sophomore ace and her performance on the biggest stage.
“She is a gamer,” Meserve said. “She is just one of those kids who wants the ball and she has a will to win that is awesome. She’s so much fun to be around and when she is on, she is tough.”
Facing Kimball-Rhines for the first time this season, Campbell (16-4) learned firsthand just how tough she can be.
Kimball-Rhines escaped a first-inning jam before settling in. Including the last out of the second, she retired 12 straight batters before an error in the sixth broke up the streak.
“I try my best not to think at all,” Kimball-Rhines said. “My pitch caller (Dan Blanchette) taught me how to pitch when I was like 6, so he’s been with me since day one. He just knows what to say and how to really get me to calm down, not be stressed and go pitch by pitch and out by out.”
And Campbell simply never got its timing down with the bats. The Cougars only real threat came in the first, and after that, Kimball-Rhines set the side down in order four different times, including the seventh.
“I kept asking them was there spin? Why aren’t we barrelling (the pitches) up?” Campbell coach Eric Gibbons said. “I think after that first inning where we didn’t plate those first two girls, I think we got tight.”
Hopkinton, meanwhile, despite its youth, never seemed bothered by the pressure. With Kimball-Rhines dealing from the circle, the Hawks plated their first run and took the lead in the fourth.
Campbell starter Maddie Davis surrendered three straight singles to Kimball-Rhines, Maddy Follansbee and Katie Meserve before issuing a bases-loaded walk to Brooke Carlson. Hopkinton struck again in the fifth with a two-out rally as Julia Baer singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error before coming home on Kimball-Rhines’s run-scoring triple.
“We knew if we could keep it close and get to that point in the end, we thought the pressure was on them,” coach Meserve said. “We thought they would struggle with that and that we would break through and that’s what happened.”
(Jay McAree can be reached at 369-3371, jmcaree@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JayMcAree.)