Strong Apponequet softball season comes to end with loss
Apponequet softball gave their best effort but fell short of the state title. Photo by Nick Mossman
Apponequet softball gave their best effort but fell short of the state title. Photo by Nick Mossman
WORCESTER -- The Apponequet Regional High School softball team fell short of the Division 3 state championship title after a 5-1 loss to Joseph Case High School on Friday, June 12.
The matchup, which was held at Worcester State University, was close for most of the game.
The Apponequet Lakers and Joseph Case Cardinals were well-matched for the first five innings.
From the top of the second inning through the top of the fifth inning, the Lakers and Cardinals were tied 1-1.
In the fifth inning, Joseph Case broke the scoring drought, getting one run and establishing a 2-1 lead. Soon after, a Case player hit a home run, scoring three runs and growing that lead to 5-1, which the team held through the seventh inning and won the game with.
Despite the loss, Apponequet softball coach Nate Farrington said that he’s proud of what the team accomplished this year.
“It happens, it doesn’t take away what we did this year,” Farrington said about the game. “And I’m still proud of the group.”
Third baseman Mya Bissonnette said that the season went well for Apponequet leading into the championship game.
“Everyone tried really hard,” she said. “So that’s all we could ask for.”
Farrington said that the team’s performance this season exceeded expectations.
“A lot of people said we were gonna be rebuilding, last year and this year,” Farrington said. “And I think they proved them wrong.”
Apponequet’s softball team hasn’t won a state championship in 27 years, since the team last won in 1999. The team had softball alumni in the crowd cheering them on, like Apponequet principal Kahlan Dessert and elementary school physical education teacher Jill L’Heureux, who were on the championship-winning Apponequet softball team in the 1980s.
Both Dessert and L’Heureux chaperoned to help bus students and supporters out to the game in Worcester.
During the game, L’Heureux spoke about the talent of this year’s team, saying she knew they were “going to go far” from early on.
“I remember these girls when they were in third grade and they’d play soccer out on the field and they just obliterated the boys,” she said.
Dessert said that Apponequet has had a historically strong softball program.
“We have a great history of sports,” Dessert said. “And we’re very proud of those many years that softball really excelled.”
While the Apponequet team did not finish its 2025-2026 season with a victory, coach Farrington said that the team will keep taking steps toward the championship.
“I think Apponequet softball’s here to stay,” Farrington said.
