GREENFIELD — Four runs in the first inning proved plenty of cushion for the Greenfield baseball team Tuesday as the Green Wave blanked McCann Tech, 5-0, in the quarterfinals of the PVIAC Western Mass. Class C baseball tournament at Veterans Memorial Field.
Luca Siano and Arthur Fitzpatrick came through with RBI doubles in the Wave’s first-inning uprising, while Fitzpatrick allowed six hits through five innings of work on the mound and combined with Caleb Kimberly on a seven-hit shutout. The pair struck out seven and walked only one batter.
Greenfield, the No. 2 seed in Class C, improved to 13-5 and earned a home semifinal game against third-seeded Westfield Tech (15-3) Thursday at 4 p.m.
“It was a win, our pitching got it done,” said Greenfield coach Tom Suchanek. “We kept Arthur on a pitch count in case we need him, and Caleb came in and pitched OK. After the first inning, we kind of sat back for four or five innings. We could have hit the ball a little better than we did.”
McCann actually recorded seven hits to Greenfield’s six. The seventh-seeded Hornets from North Adams fell to 5-10.
With one out in the home first, Urijah Jenness reached second on a throwing error and Chase Zraunig also got aboard on a second McCann error, putting men at the corners. Conner Bergeron hit a ground ball up the middle on which the Hornets couldn’t make a play at second, allowing Jenness to score the first run. Siano doubled to deep center, bringing in Zraunig and moving Bergeron to third, and Bergeron promptly scored on a wild pitch by McCann’s Mason Rondeau. Fitzpatrick then lashed a double into the right-field corner to plate Siano for a 4-0 lead, before Rondeau bore down and retired the next two hitters.
McCann’s first best chance came with one out in the second when Nolan Booth doubled to right and Aidan Tremblay blooped a base hit just behind second base, between three converging Wave fielders. Rondeau’s groundout advanced the runner to second and third. Andrew Meaney then drove a ball into the right-center alley on which center fielder Malik Moore, on a dead sprint to his left and a headfirst dive, made the sprawling catch to deny the Hornets.
“A great catch. From where I was, I couldn’t tell,” laughed Suchanek. “They had guys on second and third, so that could be a game-changer. You never know in high school.”
In the top of the fifth, McCann recorded three hits against Fitzpatrick but couldn’t crack the scoreboard. Tremblay and Rondeau led off with singles and Meaney’s ground ball forced Rondeau at second. Cole Stentiford then grounded to third, where Zraunig made the play and threw to catcher Siano, who applied the tag on Tremblay for the second out. Hunter Lancto kept it going for the Hornets with a base hit to load the bases, but Fitzpatrick induced a popup to second by Zach Howland to get the Green Wave out of the inning.
Greenfield then tacked on its last run in the sixth when Moore reached on an infield hit and moved up on Casey Burke’s single to left. Kimberly bunted the runners along to second and third and Bodie Burke sent a ground ball to shortstop on which Moore scored.
Kimberly then struck out the side in the top of the seventh, working around Stentiford’s two-out base hit.
Rondeau went the distance on the hill for McCann, giving up six hits with a pair of strikeouts and a walk.
