Burkett walks way to win.

WORCESTER - Kelley Plourde drew a bases-loaded walk to score Jacqueline Sharry and send Jesse Burkett to the Little League softball state championship with a 7-6 win over Westfield in the Section 1 final yesterday at Rockwood Field.

Burkett will face Wakefield in a best-of-three series at Rockwood Field to determine the state champion.

Game 1 is 5:30 p.m. Friday with Game 2 tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. Game 3, if necessary, would be next Sunday at a time to be determined.

Sharry reached on a bunt single and stole second to start the bottom of the sixth. Julie Wyman's bunt single pushed Sharry to third, and after a strikeout, Ariana Heppenstall walked to load the bases and set up Plourde's plate appearance.

"They were working on their third pitcher (Emily Paul), and we told the girls to be patient at the plate," Burkett coach Mike Plourde said. "We have not had a lot of strikeouts, (our team) is very disciplined at the plate."

Westfield won the first game, 8-7, when Maddy Atkocatis hit a walkoff, two-run double in the bottom of the seventh.

After falling behind by a run in the first, Burkett scored four runs in the third to take the lead. Sharry drove in Kathleen Bicknell with the first run and Heppenstall added a three-run homer.

Magdalen Trainor's RBI single in the fourth gave Burkett a 5-2 lead, but Westfield scored four runs to take a 6-5 lead.

Burkett fought reclaimed the lead with two runs in the fifth on consecutive singles by Heppenstall, Delaney Sylvester and Plourde.

Correspondent Kevin O'Malley contributed to this report.

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Burkett's Ariana Heppenstall, center, gets a high-five from coach Mike Plourde after hitting a two-run homer in the first game. (2) Burkett's Kathleen Bicknell applies the late tag to Westfield's Jessie Pratt, who stole third base in the first inning of Game 1.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff Photos/PAUL KAPTEYN