Burlington senior Cece Imbimbo grabbed the ball and took a deep breath. A 9-4 lead entering the bottom half of the seventh inning was now a tie game with a runner on second and two outs. Imbimbo fired a pitch to her best friend from travel softball, Tewksbury ace Sam Ryan.
Imbimbo forced a lineout to second baseman Madison King to end the inning. And in the eighth, the Red Devils seized the momentum for good, with King, a sophomore, delivering a go-ahead run-scoring single, propelling fourth-seeded Burlington to a wild 10-9 victory over third-seeded Tewksbury at Sortino Field on the UMass campus.
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It is the first championship for the Red Devils (21-4), while Tewksbury (19-6) was denied in the final for the second straight year.
“The eighth inning felt different when we went out there,” said Burlington Kristen Farrell. “Even before we threw out that first pitch, it felt different.”
The Red Devils transitioned to extra innings with a renewed focus. Junior Charlotte Willey doubled to the gap in left-center, and King (3 for 5, 3 RBIs).
“I know that [Ryan] was throwing low and in most of the game, so I decided to move up in the box,” said King. “The last pitch was low and in, so I drove it up the line.”
Imbimbo, retired the side in order in the eighth, the third out a groundout to third. . After the game, she hugged Ryan, an acknowledgement of their friendship and how much they meant to their respective programs.
“Words can’t even explain how much this means to me . . . ,” said Imbimbo. “My teammates came through with the hits, the plays in the field, it was honestly a huge team effort. My teammates had my back and I couldn’t be any prouder.”
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Division 1 State
Taunton 6, Central Catholic 1 — Sam Lincoln and Ava Venturelli live down the street from one another. The cousins also played travel ball together for the Louisville Lady Sluggers, a national team.
In the finale of their lone high school season together, the pair powered the third-seeded Tigers (24-1) to their third straight title.
Lincoln, a hard-throwing junior lefthander, tossed a one-hitter and Venturelli, a senior shortstop, crushed a three-run homer as Taunton topped No. 1 Central Catholic as Sortino Field on the UMass campus for the program’s eight championship.
Lincoln was in control all afternoon, striking out six. She generated plenty of soft contact with a strong mix of backdoor curveballs and screwballs.
Venturelli destroyed a 3-2 pitch at the belt in the third inning with a 250-foot drive well over the center field fence to break the game open. In the fifth, senior Hayley Krockta plated Venturelli and senior Kaysie Demoura with a two-run single.
“We grew up together, we’ve done everything together,” said Lincoln, on her connection with Venturelli. “She’s the reason that I play softball, to begin with.”
“It’s been a long time coming for [Venturelli],” said first-year Taunton coach Michelle Raposo. “I knew that in her last game, she was going to do something spectacular. To come in right then and there, it really gave us a little bit of a notch up and gave Sam some more confidence.”
Raposo, who played third base on the Tigers’ title teams in 2002 and 2003, shared the special moment with her daughter, senior right fielder Mia Torres.
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“To be a part of this as a head coach is just impeccable,” said Raposo. “I can’t even describe it in words. It’s an amazing feeling that I get to share this with my daughter, I get to coach her.”
Sophomore Amelia Ovalles recorded the lone hit for the Raiders (23-2) with an RBI single in the sixth.
Division 3 State
Middleborough 15, Norton 3 — Alex Welch had hit a home run in each game of the tournament, headlined by a pair of grand slams in the second round.
The Sachem senior was walked in her first two at-bats Sunday, but continued her hot streak, crushing a towering two-run shot over the center field fence in the fourth inning at Sortino Field on the UMass campus.
Her ninth home run of the season, and seventh of the postseason, was the catalyst as the sixth-seeded Sachems (21-4) socked No. 4 Norton for the first state championship in program history and the first for any female sport in school history.
“That kid’s got home run power,” said Middleborough coach Dan Sylvia of Welch (1 for 1, 5 runs, 4 walks), who finished the season with 37 RBIs. “We know it, we’ve seen it. She’s hit a home run in every game in the states this year. She’s our best player, that’s why she’s our three [hitter].”
Senior Melody Rees (3 for 5, 2 doubles, 4 runs, 1 RBI), senior Madison Ryder (3 for 5, 2 runs, 3 RBIs), and junior Rina Chane (2-5, 2 doubles, 2 runs, 3 RBIs) provided clutch at-bats in the middle of the order.
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The Sachems broke the record for most runs in a state championship (13), set by Taunton in 2018 and Apponequet in 1992.
“I’m going to remember how we came together as a team, how badly we really wanted this,” said Welch.
For Norton (22-3), senior Sandra Fairbairn supplied a pair of hits and runs.
Middleborough senior Cassidy Machado struck out eight, capping off an impeccable high school career.
“We’re all so close right now and we’re such a tight knit group,” said Machado. “The bottom of the seventh, when we do our little circle, we usually say some crazy phrases. The last phrase we did was ‘family on three’, because that’s what it truly means to us. To win this game is just amazing.”
Division 4 State
Joseph Case 7, Hampshire 2 — Pitcher Hailey Berube, catcher Olivia Silva, second baseman Lexi Yost, third baseman Brooke Orton, and right fielder Jamie Moniz teamed up for the first time as eighth graders on the Case varsity.
As seniors, the five players powered the top-seeded Cardinals (24-1) to their first state championship since 2001, contributing to all seven runs in the win over No. 5 Hampshire (20-5) at Worcester State. On Friday night, the game was suspended in the first inning in Amherst after torrential rain, and then resumed Sunday.
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After two scoreless innings, the seniors sparked a four-run third.
Junior center fielder Megan Smith singled and stole second, advancing to second on a bunt by Yost. Silva was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Orton then blasted a grand slam for a 4-0 bulge.
Hampshire answered with two runs in the fourth, but the Cardinals put the game away in the sixth.
After sophomore Skye Dupre doubled to left field and Berube walked, the two advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Lily Picard. Moniz then powered a double to center field to score Dupre and Berube, before scoring on a single by Yost.
“I knew we were going to score runs today,” said Shannon Silva, Case coach and Olivia’s mother. “It was a matter of waiting for our pitch, driving it hard, and playing solid defense, and we did all that today.”
Since she pitched the Cardinals to back-to-back state titles in 1995 and 1996, elder Silva has been eyeing another championship. After falling to Amesbury, 1-0, last season, the Cardinals were determined to make this campaign a winning one.
“This has been five years in the making, and every year, we’ve gotten a little bit closer. This was our year,” said the coach. “The seniors weren’t accepting anything less than a state championship trophy today.”
Julia Yohe reported on the Division 4 final from Worcester State.
Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.