On Sunday, Williston’s Varsity Softball team defeated top-seeded and defending champion Westminster School 5-1 to win the Western New England Class A Prep School Softball Championship. The second seeded Wildcats nipped Taft School 1-0 in their semi-final match up on Saturday at Galbraith Fields in Easthampton.

The championship game was played on Westminster’s campus under cloudy skies. Williston, which hit the ball well all day, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.  Jordan Strum led off with a single and stolen base and was driven in by a Gabby Jones (E. Longmeadow) double. Jones then stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior captain Delaney Belinskas. In the fourth inning Belinskas and catcher Morgan Fisher led off with singles and executed a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. A timely two out single by A’Shaela Chaires (Springfield) plated both base runners, and Williston added an insurance run in the top of the seventh.

Strum, a sophomore from Kansas City, MO, was dominant in the circle as she struck out 14 and allowed only one ball out of the infield. She issued no walks and allowed only one hit, a seventh inning single. Jones and Belinskas were each 3-for-4 with an RBI on the day. The Wildcats finish their season with a 10-3 record and their first Western New England Class A Championship.