Frontier Regional School left no doubt about clinching its second straight Hampshire League West Division title.
The Red Hawks plated five runs over the first two innings and went on to knock off Hopkins Academy, 10-1, Thursday at Valiton Field in South Deerfield.
Frontier (15-3, 8-2) finished one game ahead of both Hopkins and Greenfield for the HL West title. Hopkins and Frontier entered the day tied atop the division.
“Winning the Hampshire West was our first priority when it came to establishing goals for the season,” Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “Winning the league in back-to-back years is a significant accomplishment and something we are very proud of.”
Hopkins got its lone run of the game in the top of the first inning as Kouji Ishida reached on an error and later scored on a Jack Feltovic RBI single. Frontier responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame and then added two more runs in the second. The Hawks added two more in the fourth and three in the sixth to spread out the scoring.
“Something we’ve preached is consistency, staying disciplined at the plate and we spread out those 10 runs today,” Williams said. “We had different guys throughout the order contribute. I’m proud that their efforts have paid off and now it’s on to the next goal.”
Williams pointed out the play of Corbin Blight, who has moved into the cleanup spot in the order and finished with three hits including a double and two RBIs.
“We were down a man on the roster and needed somebody to step up and he answered the call,” Williams said. “He is someone who was always doing the right things, staying after to get in extra work, hitting the weights, etc. Regardless of the lack of playing time. He got his shot and he has crushed it.”
Kalen Evans earned the win on the mound, striking out four and walking one in six innings. Bryan Baumann had two hits and one RBI, Jacob Bryant had one hit and two RBIs, Dillon Polan had a hit and one RBI, and Matt Hildreth had two hits.
Pioneer 20, Smith Academy 5 — Pioneer Valley Regional School has been working hard to get into the postseason over the past three weeks but turns out they’ve been in the postseason the entire time.
The Panthers qualified via the Sullivan Rule with a 1-0 win over Hopkins Academy on May 3 and on Thursday they solidified their position in the WMass Division 4 tournament with 20-5 victory over Smith Academy in Hampshire League East Division action in Hatfield.
Pioneer (9-10) could still qualify the old-fashioned way of having a .500 record if it can beat Franklin Tech in the season finale next week. That game started two weeks ago but was halted due to rain with Franklin Tech holding a 9-3 lead after two innings.
It matters little, however, as Pioneer plays in the six-team HL East, which has four Division 3 squads, meaning that Pioneer qualifies for the Sullivan Rule, which states that a team only needs to win 50 percent of its games against Division 4 opponents. With eight games against Division 4 squads this season, Pioneer currently sits at 5-2.
Against the Falcons, junior Jacob Quinn had a huge game with four hits including a double and five RBIs. He also came on in relief to earn the win, striking out two and walking one in 2⅔ innings. Younger brother Jason Quinn closed out the win, striking out four and walking none in the final two innings.
Pioneer led 12-0 early on and was never threatened. Ryan Potter had three hits including a double and three RBIs, and Troy Emond singled, doubled and drove in four runs. Jason Quinn had three hits and two RBIs, Jack Loud had three hits and one RBI, Cam Dresser and Jared Hubbard each had two hits and one RBI, Robbie Kenyon doubled and drove in a run, Nate Mousseau had two hits, and Sam Glazier drove in a run.
FC Tech 8, Smith Voke 7 — Sim Maniatty singled home the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to lead Franklin Tech past Smith Voke, 8-7, in a Tri-County League South Division baseball game Thursday in Turners Falls.
Shawn Telega reached base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh on a single to right and then stole second. Maniatty followed with a single to plate the game-winning run.
The game started as a pitcher’s duel, as the score was 1-1 after three, but in the fourth Smith Voke scored once, before the Eagles plated three runs in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. The Vikings came back with three in the fifth and one in the sixth for a 6-4 advantage, but the Eagles plated three in the sixth to reclaim the lead. In the seventh, Dylan Fil hit an RBI double to tie the game, setting up Maniatty’s heroics in the bottom of the frame for the walk-off win.
“The kids buckled down and they played good baseball,” Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol said. “It was good seeing us not have a letdown after a big win against Turners.”
Garret Cole earned the win in relief. Manaitty had three hits and one RBI, while Telega had three hits. Nate Sciandra had two hits and two RBIs, and Mike Patnode and Max Leh each had two hits and one RBI.
Quabbin 8, Mahar 4 — A five-run sixth inning lifted Quabbin Regional High School to a 8-4 win over Mahar in an independent baseball game in Orange.
Croix Jenkins struck out nine and walked three in seven innings to earn the win. He allowed four hits, including a two-run single by Mahar’s Joey Brozell. Logan Dodge added an RBI single.
Aidan Herk suffered the loss, striking out three and walking two.
Frontier 10, Hopkins 1
Hopkins ……………… 100 000 0 — 1 3 4
Frontier ……………… 320 203 x — 10 12 2
Hits: (H) Feltovic 2, Scanlon-Deane. (F) Waitkus, Baumann 2, Blight 3, Bryant, Polan, Hildreth 2, Evans, Barnes.
2B: (F) Waitkus, Blight, Barnes.
RBI: (H) Feltovic. (F) Baumann, Blight 2, Bryant 2, Polan.
WP: Evans (6ip, 4k, 1bb), Santiago (1ip, 1k, 0bb).
LP: Ciaglo (5ip, 4k, 5bb), Scanlon-Deane (1ip, 1k, 1bb).
Pioneer 20, Smith Acad. 5 (6)
Pioneer ………………. 570 521 — 20 22 3
Smith Acad ………… 030 020 — 5 3 3
Hits: (P) Mousseau 2, Jas. Quinn 3, Loud 3, Jac. Quinn 4, Emond 2, Hubbard 2, Potter 3, Kenyon, Glazier, Dresser 2. (SA) Dobson, Cavanaugh, Moynihan.
2B: (P) Jac. Quinn, Emond, Potter, Kenyon.
RBI: (P) Jas. Quinn 2, Loud, Jac. Quinn 5, Emond 4, Hubbard, Potter 3, Kenyon, Glazier, Dresser. (SA) n/a.
WP: Jac. Quinn (2 2/3ip, 2k, 1bb), Hubbard (1 1/3ip, 0k, 4bb), Jas. Quinn (2ip, 4k, 0bb).
LP: Cavanaugh (1 1/3ip, 0k, 2bb).
Quabbin 8, Mahar 4
Quabbin ………………. 101 015 0 — 8 9 2
Mahar ………………… 000 004 0 — 4 4 2
Hits: (Q) Rohan 2, Shepard 3, Marcinkiewicz, Tortora, Jenkins, Leroux. (M) Tenney, Peredina, Dodge, Brozell.
RBI: (Q) Marcinkiewicz 2, Gaumond. (M) Brozell 2, Dodge.
WP: Jenkis (7ip, 9k, 3bb).
LP: Herk (3ip, 3k, 2bb), O’Donnell (2ip, 0k, 3bb), Barnes (2ip, 0k, 0bb).
FC Tech 8, Smith Voke 7
Smith Voke …………… 100 131 1 — 7 7 1
FC Tech………………… 100 303 1 — 8 16 2
Hits: (SV) Fil 2, Drobiak, Zatowski, Pike, Doyle, Boisvert. (FT) Maniatty 3, Sciandra 2, Pelletier, Cole, Patnode 2, Charest, Leh 2, Vielmetti-Perusse, Telega 3.
2B: (SV) Pike, Fil. (FT) Charest.
RBI: (SV) Doyle, Pike, Zatowski, Fil 2, Dobiak, Scott. (FT) Maniatty, Sciandra 2, Pelletier, Cole, Patnode, Leh, Vielmetti-Perusse.
WP: Cole (2 ⅓ip, 2k, 2bb), Leh (4⅔ip, 5k, 4bb).
LP: Pike (3⅔ip, 2k, 1bb), Mollison (3ip, 2k, 0bb).