GREENFIELD — After losing to Taconic High School in the final of last year’s WMass Division 3 baseball tournament, Frontier Regional School found itself staring right up at the Braves again when the seeds for the 2019 edition of the tourney were released Tuesday night at Greenfield High School.
The Red Hawks earned the No. 2 seed in the Division 3 field, behind only top-seeded Taconic, after both teams finished the regular season with 17-3 marks. While defending champion Taconic, considered by many to be the best team in WMass regardless of division, is the heavy favorite to take home the Div. 3 crown, Frontier skipper Chris Williams likes the way his team is playing entering the postseason.
“We’ve been talking about getting to this point all spring, and we’re coming into (the tournament) with a lot of confidence,” said Williams. “But we’re still taking it one step at a time. We have to go out and take care of business.”
Frontier is set to open its tournament on Friday at 2 p.m. when the Hawks will host 15th-seeded Putnam (8-12) in the preliminary round.
“Our focus turns immediately to Putnam. We’re going to go out and try and get that first win,” Williams said.
The Division 3 field is packed, with 15 teams qualifying for the postseason. Greenfield High School earned the No. 4 seed after a 15-5 regular season, and the Green Wave will have home-field advantage until the semifinals as a result. Coach Tom Suchanek’s club will play a preliminary round game against a familiar foe on Friday night (7 p.m.), when 13th-seeded Mahar Regional School (10-10) comes to town to play under the lights at Vets Field. The teams played once during the regular season, with the Green Wave capturing a 9-7 victory in a back-and-forth affair on April 24.
Athol High School (13-7) was rewarded for a fine season with the No. 7 seed in the Division 3 field, and the Red Raiders open their postseason with a home game on Thursday against 10th-seeded Easthampton (11-9). The teams split a pair of Hampshire League East games this spring, with Athol winning 4-0 on May 17 and Easthampton taking a 5-3 victory on May 9.
Mohawk Trail (8-12) rounds out the local teams in the Division 3 field, as the Warriors, which qualified for the postseason after finishing second in the HL East behind Easthampton, earned the No. 14 seed in the 15-team bracket. They’ll take to the road to play No. 3 Wahconah (11-8), in a preliminary round game set for Thursday in Dalton.
The Greenfield-Mahar game isn’t the only double-local matchup in the preliminary round, however. In the Division 4 field, No. 8 Pioneer (9-11) will host ninth-seeded Franklin Tech (13-7) in a preliminary round game on Thursday. The teams split a pair of regular-season meetings, with the Eagles winning the most-recent affair, 10-8, after Pioneer won a 17-2 decision back on April 29.
The winner of the Pioneer-Franklin Tech game will travel to play top-seeded Ware (17-3) in the quarterfinal round on Monday.
Turners Falls High School (8-10) rounded out the local contingent in the Division 4 field, and the Thunder are seeded seventh in the 13-team bracket. The Powertown earned a preliminary-round home game, set for Thursday against 10th-seeded Lee High School (9-11). The Wildcats tied for the Berkshire League South Division championship, getting them into the postseason despite an under .500 record. Turners, like Pioneer, got in via the Sullivan Rule, posting a winning record against Division 4 foes this spring.
The winner of the Turners-Lee game will travel to No. 2 Hopkins (12-6) in the quarterfinal round on Monday.
Granby High School earned the No. 3 seed in the Division 4 field, followed by Mount Everett (No. 4), Lenox (No. 5) and McCann Tech (No. 6).
For all seeds and matchups, see Page D2.