We’ve cut the field from 64 to 32, and now we’re powering ahead with Round of 32 matchups over the next two days in our Recorder’s Greatest Teams Bracket.
From here on out, there are no easy wins. Most of the remaining 32 teams in our field won state titles, or at least sectional championships en route to spots in state titles games. No matter which teams get through, there will be programs more than deserving that are ousted. That’s just the nature of the beast.
Again, the Recorder sports department has been thrilled with the response to our fun bracket challenge. We’ve heard from people all over the country, folks who have had this idea spark trips down memory road. One thing has been for certain — there’s a passion for different schools and eras that is particularly strong throughout Franklin County and the North Quabbin region. So thank you so much for your friendly and good-natured ribbing. We’ve certainly enjoyed it and are glad you have as well.
Today, we’ve got winners in two different regions — Vi Goodnow and Gary Mullins. Tuesday’s edition of the Recorder will finish off the Round of 32 games in the other two regions, until we are down to the Sweet 16.
• No. 1 Turners Falls baseball (1942) def. No. 9 Greenfield XC (1964)
• No. 4 Greenfield field hockey (1999) def. No. 5 Frontier boys soccer (2015)
• No. 3 Greenfield baseball (1984) def. No. 11 Athol girls basketball (1987)
• No. 2 Frontier baseball (1978) def. No. 7 Athol field hockey (1986)
Artie Burke’s 3-for-4 outing, coupled with three runs scored by Fran Bourdeau were more than enough to keep the overall No. 1 seed in our bracket rolling into the Round of 32. Turners baseball punched a ticket into the Sweet 16 with a victory over the 1964 Greenfield cross country team.
It was a strong run from the state champion Green Wave cross country team, which took home a title under first-year head coach Pete Conway.
• Elsewhere, Kelly Doton’s individual skill was again on display in leading No. 4 Greenfield field hockey (1999) into the Sweet 16 with a victory over the 2015 Frontier boys soccer team.
It was the end of the line for the Red Hawks, a team that still stands in a class all its own. Frontier’s 2015 team was the first — and remain’s the only — WMass champion in the Recorder area’s soccer history.
Goalkeeper Dylan Husted, who made two game-saving stops in penalty kicks to lift Frontier past Palmer for the 2015 crown, was again on top of his game to lead the way for the Hawks in defeat.
• In other action, a loaded 1984 Greenfield baseball team stayed in the running behind a victory over the upstart 1987 Athol girls basketball team, seeded 11th in the Goodnow Region.
The Green Wave, celebrating the 35-year anniversary of their WMass Division 2 title, are in the conversation for best area baseball teams of all time.
Athol was another 1980s team that enjoyed tremendous success. Their 1987 basketball season saw the Red Raiders reach the state final, falling to North Attleboro, 70-61, in the Division 2 championship game. Their period of excellence still has them as one of just two area teams that have played in a girls basketball state title game.
• In the region’s final Round of 32 game, the 1978 Frontier baseball team stayed the course on a potential collision course with the 1942 Turners squad in a baseball dream matchup thanks to a victory over the 1986 Athol field hockey team.
Frontier’s MIAA Division 3 state championship broke a 36-year drought for baseball state titles in the area. The club was the first Recorder baseball team to capture a state championship since the very ’42 Turners team it could see in a potential Elite 8 game.
On the other side, the Red Raiders were deserving of a deep run in this bracket. The ’86 Division 2 state champions highlighted an impressive mid-to-late 1980s span in girls athletics at AHS.
• No. 1 Turners Falls softball (2005) def. No. 9 Athol football (1962)
• No. 4 Greenfield football (1979) def. No. 5 Frontier boys basketball (2008)
• No. 3 Greenfield football (1987) def. No. 6 Mahar football (1976)
• No. 2 Pioneer boys basketball (1997) def. No. 7 Frontier field hockey (1976)
Make it two top-seeded Turners Falls squads into our Sweet 16.
Following the 1942 baseball team’s lead, the 2005 softball team is also through after its Round of 32 victory over ninth-seeded Athol football (1962).
Turners and hurler Julie Girard continued their dominance over area competition. Her two-hitter in the pitching circle was enough to send the Athol football team home after a solid performance in our bracket.
Despite the loss, the 1962 Athol football team will always have that little 50-0 win over rival Mahar on Thanksgiving some 57 years ago to keep in their back pocket.
• Elsewhere, standout 1979 Greenfield football is also into our Sweet 16 thanks to a tight victory over state champion Frontier boys basketball (2008) in a No. 4 vs. 5 matchup.
Bill Decker again had a big day under center for the Green Wave, one of three Greenfield football teams remaining in our Greatest Teams bracket.
While Frontier bowed out from our competition, the ’08 state title still provides plenty of consolation. The Red Hawks, and their standout twin duo of Dan and Brian Clark, continued a proud legacy of basketball programs at the South Deerfield school.
• In other Round of 32 action, Ken Suhl joined Decker as big-time quarterback performers in helping the 1987 Greenfield football team into our Sweet 16.
Could both Greenfield teams see each other in the Elite 8? Stay tuned.
The Wave got past the 1976 Mahar football team in an all-gridiron battle in the Gary Mullins Region.
That Senators team won the program’s first-ever Super Bowl, beating Grafton by a 26-20 margin in the WMass/CMass Division 3 title game.
• Rounding things out was a tight battle in the Round of 32 as No. 2 seed Pioneer boys basketball (1997) edged No. 7 Frontier field hockey (1976) in a contest of state championship-winning programs.
Adam Harrington & Co. lived to play at least one more day, though the Panthers are going to find themselves in for a long day against the 1987 Greenfield football team with a spot in the Elite 8 up for grabs.
Frontier’s ’76 field hockey team very easily could’ve advanced. That team was the second in a back-to-back state title run by the program, though their win over Nashoba in the final was a far more dominant victory than the one enjoyed by the ’75 squad. That team was powered by offensive standouts Laurie Farrick and Mary Pike.