NORTHFIELD — It often comes down to timely hitting during the postseason, and the Pioneer baseball team got just that on Wednesday during its MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 contest against Millis.
The No. 12 Mohawks put two runs on the board to open the game in the first inning, but the No. 5 Panthers responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame to tie the game.
Pioneer came up with a pair of clutch hits in the second to take a 4-2 lead and did the same thing in the sixth to extend its lead and allow it to pull away with a 6-3 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
“It’s a good win,” Panthers coach Kevin Luippold said. “We keep putting the ball in play and we’re staying hot at the plate. Everyone is doing their job and picking each other up. We’re not leaving too many runners on base the last couple games.”
Ethan Quinn got the win on the mound for Pioneer (20-1). The sophomore went the first five innings, striking out eight and scattering four hits. Ian Simpson came on for the final two innings and held Millis (6-16) down, giving up one hit and striking out one.
“Ethan Quinn took an inning or two to settle in but he did his job and got into some good counts,” Luippold said. “He had to get pulled in the fifth with the pitch count. He did his job to come back and shut them down after allowing the early two runs.”
It was walks that did Quinn in during that first inning. Shea Ferrantino reached on a single before Nick Hohman and Jack Catalano walked to load the bases for Talon Shepardson. Shepardson grounded to short, with Alex McClelland getting Hohman out at second but Ferrantino scored on the play to give the Mohawks the opening lead.
John Orrico then walked to load the bases back up and Andrew Morse grounded to short, with McClelland once again getting the force out at second but Hohman scored in the process to give Millis a 2-0 lead. Quinn got a strikeout to end the inning without any more damage done.
The Mohawks’ lead didn’t last long. Braeden Tsipenyuk and Quinn were each hit by a pitch before Ethan Mauthe walked to load the bases for Peter Loud, who came through with a base hit to left field that brought Tsipenyuk and Quinn home to tie the game 2-2.
“Peter Loud got us going early,” Luippold said. “When you go down 2-0 early it can take the wind out of your sails. He was able to pick us up today and show us that we could do it. Peter was a tremendous leader today.”
Quinn settled in in the second, striking out three of the four batters he faced. The Panthers came to the plate in the bottom of the second and Heath Gomez got on with a single and stole second. McClelland came to the plate and knocked a base hit up the middle, with Gomez beating the throw home to give Pioneer a 3-2 lead.
McClelland took second on the throw home and Quinn brought him home on the ensuing at bat after he blasted a double down the left field line that gave the Panthers a 4-2 cushion after two.
Millis cut the lead to one in the third. Shepardson was hit by a pitch and moved to second following a Orrico single. The two moved up a base following a wild pitch, putting runners on second and third for Morse. Morse grounded to short and following a miscommunication on the base path, Shepardson found himself in a rundown between third and home and the Panthers made him pay for it, throwing him out to keep a run off the board.
Orrico moved to third on the play and Adrian Heredia knocked him in with a base hit to make it a 4-3 game going into the bottom of the third.
Neither team produced a hit during their next two at bats, but Pioneer found life at the plate in the fifth to take command of the game. Mauthe got things started with a single and Loud was hit by a pitch. Ben Werner came up and knocked a double into the gap that scored Mauthe to give the Panthers a two-run cushion. Evan Tsipenyuk popped out into foul ground in right field, allowing Loud to tag up and score to make it a 6-3 game going into the sixth.
Pioneer loaded the bases in the sixth after Braeden Tsipenyuk walked and McClelland and Mauthe singled, but Millis got out of the jam.
Next up for the Panthers is a matchup they’ve been waiting a year for. Pioneer will face off with No. 4 Hopedale — the team that knocked them out in the Div. 5 semifinals a season ago — in the Round of 8 on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Hopedale. The Blue Raiders knocked off No. 13 Drury, 5-2, on Wednesday.
“Based on last year we know they’re a good team,” Luippold said. “They gave us a good beating and one we couldn’t come back from in that game. We’re seeing them a round sooner this year and we’re expecting it to be a good game. If we can stay hot at the plate and we continue to get strong hitting I don’t see why the kids can’t grind out a win. They just have to keep doing what they’ve been doing and keep having fun out there.”