Chariho softball gets what it wants - a state title rematch with La Salle

PROVIDENCE, Chariho softball passed its prerequisite again.

The Chargers’ trip through the Division I losers’-bracket final was a breeze for the second straight year. Adriana Jeannenot was her usual self in the circle, and at the plate against North Kingstown. Madeline Dorgan was the perfect table-setter during a three-hit performance on a postcard night at Rhode Island College’s Dayna A. Bazar Softball Complex.

Second-ranked Chariho’s next test, the one it needs to ace after the 9-2 victory on Thursday, is No. 1 La Salle. And for the second straight spring, the Chargers need to beat the Providence school twice to earn their first softball championship. La Salle bested Chariho, 7-3, in the winners’-bracket final last Sunday to reach the title round. And the Rams handed out the same result in a 13-0 finish a year ago.

“It’s the same feeling,” Jeannenot said. “Just trying to go in there confident, and as a team, really just trying to gel and put runs on the board. If we tie together some hits, I feel like we had good hits [last game against La Salle], we just didn’t tie them together.”

Dorgan and Anna Tretton started Thursday’s game with a pair of singles before Jeannenot doubled off the right-field wall to plate the first two runs. Alana Valuk grounded into a fielder’s choice and scored Gabriella Ricci for a 3-0 advantage. That was enough run support for Jeannenot, who surrendered one earned run on six hits with 10 strikeouts.

Chariho struck for four more runs in the second frame as Dorgan tripled to the same spot in right that Jeannenot clipped in the first. A walk, another two-RBI double from Jeannenot, and an RBI from Riley Myer and the Chargers were on their way to Saturday’s championship affair.

“It's surreal,” Tretton said. “I feel like I knew from the beginning, I knew we were good. Obviously we had to work to get here, but it feels like we were destined to be here in the end.”

This season is different for the Chargers, they ditched the uneasy feeling that Rhode Island College produces. They’ve made the drive to Providence enough times over these last two seasons to learn the quirks of the championship venue. The higher outfield walls, the sun setting in right, the infield dirt, it’s all familiar. And then there is the added reality that Chariho already beat La Salle twice in the regular season.

“I think we just need to be confident,” Tretton said. “We need to know that we have the skill set to do it. I think maybe there were some nerves being here the second time, but I think now that we've played here a few times this year, we should be good.

“I know we played here a lot before, but this year it feels different. Especially today it felt like everyone was comfortable, even at warm-ups. It felt like everyone knew we were supposed to win today and keep playing.”

Those wins were important steps for the program, as is each victory the Chargers compile at RIC. But finding the next result won’t be as relaxed as La Salle is searching for a fourth straight title.

“I'm just so proud of us, no matter what,” Dorgan said. “We play for our seniors, we play for each other. Obviously we want to win, but even with a loss, I'm just going to be so proud of all of us. I've been playing with these girls since I was eight years old, and it's just a full- circle moment.”

North Kingstown’s season ends, but it was a year of improvement for the Skippers. The Skippers doubled their win total to 16 this spring and return most of their team next season. Freshman pitcher, Alexis St. Germain limited Chariho to two runs over four innings in a relief role.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score of North Kingstown vs. Chariho D-I softball playoff on June 4 2026