DEVENS — The West softball team had to settle for a bronze medal at the 2026 Bay State Games Softball Showcase on Thursday afternoon. While the finish may not be what the team desired, the West finished their appearance in the showcase with an exhilarating climax in the bronze medal game.

Hampshire Regional’s Raegan Dubay clobbered a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to give West a 6-5 walk-off win over the Northeast softball team at Willard Field Complex.

In Bay State Games rules, a runner starts at second base in extra innings. The rule mirrors Major League Baseball’s regular season structure. Dubay stepped to the plate with one out and Jaylianie Santiago of Westfield on second base.

The team didn’t need a towering shot to left field, just a base hit would have tied the game. But Dubay had a flare for the dramatic in her final at bat at the games.

“I was really hoping I could at least get a base hit,” Dubay said. “This is my last year. I wanted to give it my all and make the girls happy. At least win something in my last year. I am really happy for this team. They are super supportive. They pumped me up so much. I had some teammates cheering me. I just took that positivity to the plate.”

Frontier Regional’s Skyler Steele played her final game for the Bay State Games squad. Steele had an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning. She finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. The rising senior won the Sportsmanship Award for the West.

“This is my favorite time of the year,” Steele said. “I love playing and coming together with all these girls from Western Mass. I think it’s great that everyone gets to know each other. We wanted the gold, but that’s not the way things go sometimes. We worked really hard, and that was the outcome we had.”

Perhaps even more memorable than the game-winning home run was the play of centerfield Kalin Dubay. The soon to be junior at Hampshire Regional tracked a hard-hit ball all the way to the fence in centerfield in the top of the third. Centerfield is not foreign to Dubay, but somewhat new.

“Normally outfield is not my position,” Dubay said. “I felt a little bit of pressure jumping into centerfield. It runs the outfield. You have to be dominant. You have to communicate. She hit the ball and I knew it was coming to me.”

There was a familiar voice in her ear the whole time.

“All I heard from coach Fred (Roach) is that I had room,” Dubay said. “I look back and see the fence and I’m like ‘I am getting really close’. I didn’t have room.”

At full speed, Dubay made the catch. Her momentum brought her face-to-face with the fence. Making the acquaintance of the unforgiving surface sent her to the ground. After a check from coach Fred Roach and teammates, Dubay jogged it in. Her sister Ryanne Dubay carried her in from the infield.

“I just made sure I had the ball in my glove,” Dubay said. “I made sure to hold it super tight. I looked up and held the ball up I yelled ‘I got it’. I ran as fast as I could to track the ball down.”

Ryanne Dubay got the win in the circle, pitching eight innings. She gave up eight hits with two strikeouts. Lexi Hawkins tripled in the bottom of the sixth inning for the West.

The West lost to the Southeast squad, 7-5, in the early game for a chance to play for a gold medal. Kalin Dubay went 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored, while Steele went 3-for-3 with three RBI. Steele had three doubles in the game.

Prior to the medal games, contests had a 90-minute limit. The lost to the Southeast came after the end of the sixth inning due to the time constraints.