Johnston caps big week with a win over Ponaganset; here are 5 things that stood out Friday.

JOHNSTON — One week ago, the question in Division II softball was if anyone was going to be able to challenge Ponaganset or Westerly.

The question today is who’s going to stop Johnston.

The Panthers started their week by ending the Bulldogs’ hopes for an undefeated season and they ended it on Friday with a tone-setting 1-0 win over Ponaganset. Teams want to be playing their best when the playoffs arrive and right now, in Division II, no one is playing better than Johnston.

“At first we weren’t confident, but now we’re confident and it’s making us perform better,” Johnston pitcher Haley Boudreau said. “It’s really good we beat these two teams.”

“It’s crazy. I had so much adrenaline coming into this game, this is all I wanted,” Johnston’s Arianna Velasquez said. “All week, this is all I thought of. Just to come out with the win is rewarding.”

The game was a pitchers’ duel between Boudreau and Ponaganset’s Chloe Barber and took a little over one hour to finish. It was more than enough time to find five things that stood out in a game that very much felt like something you’d see in the postseason.

Velasquez made plays when it mattered

The state is loaded with talent at shortstop and on Friday, Velasquez showed why she’s among the best at the position.

First, Velasquez did it with defense. Ponaganset’s Alayna Medina drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on a sac bunt and looked like she was going to score on Ava DiFiore’s bloop to center field.

More: NK boys volleyball has swept every D-I team in the state; what else can the Skippers do?

More: La Salle boys lacrosse topples Moses Brown to remain perfect

Velasquez was on her horse the second the ball was hit. While she couldn’t make the catch, she got to the ball in a hurry, grabbed it, turned and whipped it home, throwing a perfect strike to Bella Boudreau to get Medina at the plate.

“I saw the little hit and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get it and our outfield was [playing deep],” Velasquez said. “I heard the third-base coach say ‘go four go four’ and I said ‘I’m getting this girl.’ ”

“I play travel with her, so as soon as she got the ball I knew [Medina] was out,” Boudreau said. “I’m so confident in her.”

In the fourth inning, Velasquez got the job done with her bat.

Alexia DiLorenzo led the inning off with a double — Johnston’s first hit of the game — and Velasquez was supposed to bunt her over to third. Problem was Velasquez couldn’t get the bunt down.

Turned out to be the best thing that happened because with two strikes, Velasquez roped a ball to center that one-hopped the fence and brough DiLorenzo in with the game’s lone run.

“Obviously I didn’t get it down so I knew I had to get a hit to get Lexi over,” Velasquez said. “That was the winning run and one run can make a difference.”

No one in D-II is pitching better than Boudreau

Considering what Ponaganset has done to Division II pitching, Friday’s game might have been Boudreau’s best outing of the season.

Boudreau was dominant from the start and got better as the game went on. She made Ponaganset’s back-half of the order a nonfactor, as the Nos. 5-9 hitters went a combined 0-10 with nine strikeouts. The top half didn’t fare much better, as Boudreau gave up three hits — the bloop by DiFiore that Velasquez turned into an out; a bunt single by Barber in the fourth and a one-out single by Maia Salvo that put the tying run on second base with one out.

That’s where Boudreau locked in, getting back to back strikeouts to end the game, throwing perhaps as hard as she’s thrown all game.

“When I get mad, I throw harder,” Boudreau said.

Boudreau final line was impressive — seven innings, three hits, two walks and 11 strikeouts. It capped an even better week, where Boudreau threw 21 innings, gave up 10 hits, walked five and struck out 38 without giving up an earned run.

The playoffs are drawing near and it's clear Boudreau is ready.

“Now that I know my team is backing me up and I know how good I am, my confidence is higher and I’m pitching a lot better.

What Johnston’s win over Ponaganset means

The race for the No. 1 seed for the Division II playoffs got crazy on Monday when Portsmouth upset then-undefeated Ponaganset and Johnston took down then-undefeated Westerly.

Provided they take care of business vs. South Kingstown next week, Friday’s win means the Panthers cannot finish worse than the No. 2 seed.

Friday’s loss all-but ended the Chieftains’ hopes for the No. 1 seed. If Ponaganset takes care of Scituate on Sunday, a win over Westerly (11-1) on Tuesday would create a three-way tie between the two and Johnston. With their wins over both this week, the Panthers would be the No. 1 seed.

“We want to be the No. 1 seed so we get the bye,” Boudreau said. “But I don’t think it matters because with our confidence right now I think we can beat anyone.”

In that scenario, Ponaganset would be the No. 2 seed. If the Chieftains lose to Westerly — with a in over Scituate in the equation here — they would become the No. 3 seed.

“As much as we wanted to be the No. 1 seed, to us it’s just a game,” Barber said. “We’re going to get through it. ... I don’t think seeding to us matters. We’re just here to play the game.”

What Ponaganset needs

The Chieftains didn’t want to lose to Portsmouth on Monday, but how they lost on Friday was a little more palpable.

Barber said Ponaganset was a little overconfident in its game against the Patriots, but the defeat was the eye-opener the team needed. The Chieftains played well on Friday, but sometimes you just get beat.

“Our mindset is just keep going because we know what we can do and we know we can bounce back at any time,” Barber said. “We know we have a powerful offense, defense and pitching so we just have to relax and know we’ll be OK.”

Ponaganset, which started the season 11-0, is now in desperate need of a win. The Chieftains travel to Scituate on Sunday and a victory over the scrappy Spartans would get them moving in the right direction before they host Westerly on Tuesday in a game that has huge playoff ramifications.

“This is what we need before the playoffs,” Barber said. “I think it’s better that we’re playing these harder teams toward the end because it will get us prepared to go into the playoffs.”

Next up for Johnston

The Panthers are in a strange position of rooting for the team they just beat, but that’s exactly what they’ll be doing Tuesday when Ponaganset plays Westerly.

If Westerly wins, Johnston will have to lock in because a loss to South Kingstown next Wednesday would drop the Panthers to the No. 4 seed.

Johnston isn’t worried about probabilities. All the Panthers want to do is continue to play the way they did this week – because that’s what championship softball looks like.

“I’m not surprised,” Velasquez said. “I always believed in my team and I’m proud of them for how far we’ve come from the beginning and it’s only up from here.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Johnston caps big week with a win over Ponaganset; here are 5 things that stood out Friday.