Meghan Winter just had a good feeling about the Class D softball championship.

Yet as Chapel Field Lions found themselves down five after three innings, the sense lingered around the senior pitcher, a complete belief in the assembled within the Lions den on the season’s first day. All it took was Winter tossing a clean third frame to get the ‘super roster’ roaring. Chapel Field sent 15 batters to the plate in the 11-run inning that followed. Each player took their piece of the 16-9 win over Eldred, giving everything they had to back their sw.

In ending Eldred’s third inning with a strikeout-throwout double play, Chapel Field’s defense began the blitz. Offense did the rest, but Winter started the torrent. She ripped a leadoff triple, first blast on an explosive run for the Lions. When Eldred got their next at-bats, Chapel Field had scored more runs than the Mount Saint Mary College scoreboard could count.

“We’ve had our ups and downs but, all in all, with every team we’ve played – whether it’s Class A, Class B – we’ve always played right with them. We knew that we had the ability to really come out today, and they did. They showed up and they picked me up, and we always have the ability just to find a way and then not break,” said Winter.

The support’s center beam was catcher Abby Spanjer. At the plate, and behind it. Spanjer got Chapel Field on the board, scoring her throwing mate with a sharp single to left field. The inning’s biggest blast was yet to come. Eldred’s defense unraveled, lead dismantled, as piece by piece the Lions built their path from the depths of a championship deficit to the soaring jubilance of Class D history. A bases-clearing triple by Spanjer surged Chapel Field to a decisive margin, 9-5. Right fielder Bella Renwick produced a pair of doubles and an RBI. Winter had 3 RBI in her own three-hit night.

For the team’s five seniors, for the team that fell just short of championship last season, the Lions came to the diamond and brought their best game. For the ones who stayed ready for their turn, and answered the call seamlessly. Some elements, according to coach Bill Spanjer, were a full-season coming. The nonstop hitting, and the pair of throwouts by Spanjer to rile the defense. Proof that Chapel Field has more in the tank than even they knew. Their cheers never ceased, players’ heads never dropping, the Lions stung the Yellowjackets for the win.

“Not many teams can come back from being down five, but it was so incredible to see us just play such a beautiful game. Everyone contributed. It was just so amazing to see how we all worked well together. Megan pitched a great game. We were here last year and it was a devastating loss, but this year we just felt it, and we came through,” said Abby Spanjer.

Spanjer sealed the Lion conquest in the fifth inning with a two-run double. The unshakeable force, Winter’s pitch mix continued freezing Eldred in its tracks, for 7 strikeouts, and one walk given to the game’s leadoff batter. Winter tossed 64 of her 86 pitches for strikes.

“I’m so proud of them. To be down five-nothing, I could tell they were hurting, but to keep the composure and keep fighting, that was awesome. You know, we got punched right in the nose, right out of the gate. 
And I thought we had momentum coming in… but I told them, ‘Hey, we keep our composure, we just get one out at a time and start hitting the ball solid and see what happens,’” said Spanjer.

His team answered with a mix of bloops and blasts that toppled Eldred’s defense all the same. “Now if we’re down in the regional game, I don’t care what we’re down. We know we’re capable of that. All those things you just build on, but this was a big deal for us,” he added.

Chapel Field advanced to play Section 4 Champion Windham-Ashland-Jewett at Monroe-Woodbury High School, 6 p.m. on June 4.