GREENFIELD — If spending as little time as possible on the softball field Wednesday figured at all in Greenfield's plan of attack, even if only incidentally, then the Green Wave accomplished that task in spades.

The host Wave avalanched on Monson with a 12-run third inning, all the offense necessary for a 12-0 whitewash of the Mustangs in an MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 game at Veterans Memorial Field.

Top-seeded Greenfield ran its record to 22-1 and kept its eyes on a potential third straight state championship prize. In a rematch of the 2023 state semifinal, the Green Wave will host the eighth seed, Tahanto Regional of Boylston, in this year's Division 5 quarterfinal Friday at 6 p.m. Tahanto (13-6) advanced Wednesday by working late for a 4-3, 11-inning victory over Maynard.

Monson, the No. 17 seed in Division 5, closed out its spring at 9-13.

Wednesday's first two innings didn't exactly hint at the fireworks to come. Greenfield pitcher MacKenzie Paulin struck out five of the first six hitters she faced, and her Monson counterpart Chelsea Hull also faced the minimum through two. Gloria McDonald came through with a one-out base hit in the Wave's second inning before she was erased trying to steal second.

Leading off the Greenfield third, Ivy Rae grounded out to second, but 15 more Wave batters paraded to the plate behind her. Grace Laurie got it started with a walk, Olivia Lemay reached on an error, and Anna Bucala blooped a single just behind second base to fill the bases. Ainslee Flynn then grounded to second and Monson attempted to throw out Laurie at home, but the ball got away wildly, allowing Laurie and Lemay to cross. Paulin helped her own cause by smacking a two-run double to left, then came home herself on a single to left-center from Carly Blanchard, opening up a 5-0 lead.

McDonald's ground ball forced Blanchard at second, but with two out, the Wave was far from done scoring. Ellis Benitez reached on an error and walks to Rae and Laurie forced in McDonald, prompting a Monson pitching change as Molly Szado took over for Hull in the circle. A wild pitch brought in Benitez, then Lemay singled in the infield to score Rae. With Bucala hitting, Laurie came home on a wild pitch, and Bucala made it all the way to second on an infield error as Lemay scored to make it a 10-0 game.

Flynn reached on an infield hit and Paulin delivered her second double of the inning, down the left-field line, to plate Bucala. With Blanchard batting, yet another wild offering allowed pinch-runner Sarah McCloud to score and made it an even dozen for the Wave in the inning.

The Mustangs' only uprising against Paulin came in the fourth, with Natalie Hull looping a leadoff single just behind second base. Flynn threw out Hull trying to steal second, and that hurt Monson when Chelsea Hull spiked a single to right field. After a strikeout, Ella Corthell reached on a grounder to the left side to put runners at first and second. Paulin then induced a ground ball to third from Carlee Meacham on which Bucala got the inning-ending forceout.

Those were the only three hits of the day allowed by Paulin, who struck out 11 and did not issue a walk.

Both teams went down in order in the bottom of the fourth and the top of the fifth to put a mercy-rule-induced halt to the action after only an hour and 18 minutes.

Wave coach Ray Dodge characterized the day's work as businesslike.

“We're a team that, for some reason, takes some time through the order to figure out a pitcher,” he said. “I told them if you're not going to get her the first time, scoring 12 runs the next time kind of makes up for it. They adjusted really well again the second time through. However we get there.

“Keeping my pitcher out of the heat, that's four innings we've saved her these last couple of games. That should play well for what's coming, to keep her fresh.”

Local softball fans are reminded that beginning with Friday's state quarterfinals, tickets for all remaining tournament games are only available online (www.gofan.co).