SOUTH HADLEY — An early power surge and a strong starting pitching performance paved the way to a 9-3 victory for No. 1 seed South Hadley High School over eighth-seeded Greenfield High School Monday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Western Mass. Division III Baseball Tournament at Landers Diamond.
After South Hadley starter Ryan Mooney set down the side in order in the top of the first, it did not take the Tigers long to flex their muscles. The Wave (12-10) recorded two quick outs before Ted Doyle smacked a line-drive single to left. Cleanup hitter Evan Levrault then stepped to the dish, and after working the count to 2-0, launched a massive two-run home run to left-center field. Greenfield starter Tyler Miner was then able to limit the damage, as he set down Tigers center fielder Nehemiah Wilson on a ground ball to third.
After a scoreless top of the second for the Green Wave, the Tigers (16-5) again got things rolling after two were out. Kyle Gemme worked a walk and promptly stole second base, and No. 9 hitter Drew Foley made the Wave pay, driving a solid single to left for the RBI. This set the stage for Mooney to help his own cause, which he did by pulling a 3-2 Miner offering over the left-field fence for the Tigers second two-run home run in as many innings, and South Hadley was up 5-0.
“When you’re down 5-0 right off the bat, it’s hard to dig out of a hole like that,” reflected Greenfield head coach Tom Suchanek.
Mooney set the side down in order in the third and looked virtually unhittable up to that point. The Tigers added another in the bottom of the inning to go up 6-0, once more rallying after two were out. A catcher’s-interference call put David Adams on first, and a base on balls to Nate Poirer put runners on first and second. Gemme then stung a solid base hit to center to knock in Adams.
The top of the fourth saw the Wave’s offense spring to life. With one out, Colin Cloutier picked up Greenfield’s first hit of the day, a hard single to left. Miner then worked a walk to put runners on first and second, bringing up right fielder Zack Avery. Avery didn’t wait around long, and took a 1-0 pitch deep into the left-center field gap, scoring both runners and ending up on third with a triple. Hunter Campbell then drove in Avery on a fielder’s choice to shortstop, cutting the South Hadley advantage to 6-3. Joel Peabody, who had relieved Miner on the hill to start the third, then drew a walk, and a Jake Suhl infield hit kept the threat alive, putting runners on the corners with two down. Tyler Boissoneault took a free pass to load up the bases for leadoff hitter Arlo Larange, but the Wave could do no further damage as a deep fly ball to right was tracked down to end the threat.
South Hadley added a single run in the bottom of the frame on a scalded RBI single from Wilson on a ball that took a nasty hop and hit third baseman Larange in the nose, forcing him from the game. The Tigers tacked on two more in the sixth on a pair of sacrifice flies to get the score to 9-3, which held up as the final.
“We had a long layoff, our last game was Saturday a week ago,” said South Hadley head coach Matt Foley. “We did a lot of hitting during that time, but not game-time hitting, and it was good to see them come out swinging. That home run by Levrault went a long way for a high school kid, and it was nice to see Mooney turn on one. It’s hard to focus on hitting when you’re thinking about pitching.”
Seniors who played in their final game for Greenfield were Miner, Avery, Larange, Boissoneault, Colin Kosuda, Adam Phelps and Tyler Townsley.
South Hadley advanced to the semifinal round, where it will play the winner of the Mohawk Trail Regional School/Mt. Greylock High School game. The Tigers will have to wait at least another day to find out which it will be, as that game was suspended in the seventh inning with the score tied, 6-6.