SOUTH DEERFIELD — The fourth-seeded Frontier Regional softball team could not get past No. 13 West Bridgewater in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 16 on Wednesday afternoon. The Redhawks lost to the Wildcats, 6-4, at warm and sunny Zabek Field.
Haly Doucette-Kaplan (right) of Frontier flips the ball to Lexi Hawkins for an out against West Bridgewater, Wednesday in South Deerfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Raine Wonsey of Frontier Regional delivers a pitch against West Bridgewater, Wednesday in South Deerfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
The Frontier Regional team huddles against West Bridgewater, Wednesday in South Deerfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo
Frontier had a three-run lead but a sixth inning rally by the Wildcats was the difference. The Redhawks had one offensive burst in the bottom of the third, highlighted by an RBI single by Lexi Hawkins. The hit scored two runs for the Redhawks, giving them a 4-1 lead.
Outside of that inning, Frontier had a hard time figuring out West Bridgewater pitcher Regan Bryant. The eighth grader had nine strikeouts for the Wildcats.
“We never figured it out,” Frontier coach Gary Deane said. “We talked about it a lot… I don’t know, they played a really good game. We had them scouted really well. We knew what they were doing, and they did it. Right in our faces.”
Bryant gave up five hits and four walks but always seemed to find the best pitch in the right moment for the Wildcats. Hawkins went 1-for-3 with two RBI against Bryant.
“She (Bryant) was fast, she had some speed,” Hawkins said. “Some of her movement too. Her wind up was kind of confusing too.”
Frontier finished 20-3 and won the Franklin East league championship. The Redhawks advanced to the Western Mass. Class B championship game against Hampshire Regional and have a promising outlook for the future, with only one senior leaving the team. Centerfielder Whitney Campbell played her final game for the program.
“This team is tight, they love each other,” Deane said. “We never had a down game all year. You are going to lose to a team that is not as good as you occasionally and we didn’t until today. That’s a pretty damn good record. That’s because they play for each and it hurts to lose. They play hard in practices, they sweat. They leave nothing behind.”
Raine Wonsey started for Frontier and took the loss in the circle. Outside of giving up a solo home run to lead off hitter Alanna Fidalgo, Wonsey found herself cruising until the sixth inning.
In that inning, the Wildcats got consecutive RBI hits from Haylee Krakowski and Alexandra Edgerly. Both hits scored two runs for the Wildcats. Hawkins ended up pitching in relief, striking out two hitters and giving up a hit.
Fidalgo’s home run came on the first at bat of the game, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. The Redhawks tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Skyler Steele in the next inning. The deep fly brought home Haly Doucette-Kaplan, who walked to open the inning.
Wonsey’s RBI single gave Frontier a 2-1 lead in the third. Krakowski singled for the Wildcats in the fifth and eventually scored on an error. The run cut the Frontier lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth.
The Wildcats await the winner of No. 12 Seekonk and No. 21 Cohasset in the Round of 8.
Hoosac Valley 14, Pioneer 0 (five innings)— The top-seeded and undefeated Hurricanes were too much for the No. 17 Panthers in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 16 in the Berkshires. Jaelyn Boliski drew a walk for Pioneer. Gracelyn Wright pitched a no -hitter for the Hurricanes.
Georgetown 5, Greenfield 0 — Olivia Lemay struck out 10 hitters, but the No. 15 Green Wave couldn’t get the bats going against second-seeded Georgetown on the road in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 16. Madison Lemay had two hits for the Green Wave. Olivia Lemay and Meghan Collins added a hit each. The Eagles took the lead in the fourth inning and then scored three times in the fifth to pull away.
Baseball
English (Boston) 11, Pioneer 1 (six innings) — The defending state champions lost to the top-seed in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 16 in Beantown. The matchup between Pioneer and English was a rematch from last year’s state championship game.
“The boys played a clean game,” Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold said. “English is the number one seed for a reason but I couldn’t be prouder of this group. They played great baseball today and gave each other a bunch of opportunities.”
Pioneer had a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but English scored seven in the bottom half to take control. Tommy Clary had two hits with an RBI for the Panther. Tad Loud, Aaron Meuse and Mauricio Hanono had hits for Pioneer.
Georgetown 9, Franklin Tech 2 — The 15th-seeded Eagles lost to No. 2 Georgetown in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 16 at Bean Park. Hunter Donahue had the lone hit for the Eagles and scored two runs. Donahue walked twice. Mason Bassett took the loss on the mound, pitching four innings.
