Fun is key for Haley Boudreau as Johnston softball shows it's title ready

But the second they ended, Johnston locked in.

Boudreau opened the game with two Ks and then after giving up two singles, ended Portsmouth’s first trip to the plate with another strikeout. She then led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, took third on a single by sister Bella, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Samaya Imondi. Kendall Duguay followed with an RBI double and the Panthers led 2-0 after one.

The lead was great, but the confidence gained from the first-inning success changed everything. Having Boudreau has allowed Johnston to overcome a lot of its offensive inefficiencies over the years, but Tuesday the Panthers strung together hits.

Imondi was especially huge, coming up with an RBI single in the third that was followed by a Jayden Giroux RBI double. In the fourth, Imondi drove in another run on a groundout that put the Panthers up 6-1.

“We came together,” Imondi said. “We as a team, we started hyping each other up and just being there for each other even when we struck out.

“Just picking our teammates up, that’s what woke up our bats over the innings.”

With Boudreau in the circle, the five-run lead seemed plenty safe, but Portsmouth didn’t take the long drive west just to take an easy L. The Patriots started doing some hitting of their own and after scoring two runs, got two-out doubles by Barbara Rainey and Mia Ruggieri to make it 6-5.

With the tying run on second and the go-ahead run at the plate, Boudreau hardly looked fazed. There have been times, in tough situations, where she tries to make the perfect pitch instead of the right pitch. It’s a self-admitted desire to chase stats, but Boudreau has noticed when she does that, things don’t go right.

So now, with the game on the line, Boudreau’s focus was getting the out. Four pitches later, Boudreau did just that, getting a swinging strikeout to close out the win.

“I was a little scared, but I knew our team would pull through,” Imondi said. “And I knew with Haley pitching we’d be fine.”

“I was like ‘we’ve got two outs, let’s just get this out,’” Boudreau said. “I knew how to pitch to her and I wasn’t nervous at that point.”

While Boudreau showed emotion in the pregame, the final strikeout didn’t elicit a smile. She got in line, shook hands with Portsmouth, and then ran out to left field to enjoy a quick postgame huddle before handling media obligations and then hitting the postgame party, complete with a Kona Ice truck.

There have been big wins and tougher losses, but these are the moments Boudreau chases. Family. Friendship. She wants to win a title, badly, but wants to make sure to enjoy every minute of high school softball before heading to play at Division II Assumption College.

“I have so much fun with these girls. That’s why I’m so sad it’s over,” Boudreau said. “[Higher level] softball is different from high school softball because all I do is have fun here. Who cares if we win, who cares if we lose, I’ve been with these girls since we were babies.

“I stayed in Johnston forever. I didn’t go to prep school or anything like that. We grew up together, we all love each other and it’s amazing.”

Portsmouth dropped to 9-5 overall, remaining in third place in the Division II RPI. The Patriots play BNS on Friday before closing the regular season at Division-III Tiverton on Saturday.

Johnston is now 13-3, sits in third in the D-II RPI standings and has a chance to crawl back to the No. 1 spot. The Panthers play Division-I Moses Brown Thursday before traveling to take on first-place Lincoln Monday in what could be a preview of what’s to come at Rhode Island College in June.

“We’re all definitely excited to play and make it there,” Imondi said. “We all know we can do it.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score from Portsmouth at Johnston softball on Tuesday May 12 2026