DALTON - South Hadley found itself down three runs against Wahconah Regional almost when the Tigers got off the bus.

Kyle Kasala hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning which helped his own cause as he went the distance as the third-seeded Warriors eliminated No. 11 and defending champion South Hadley 9-4 on Monday afternoon at the Wahconah High School.

The hosts, who advanced out of their first-round game for the first time in four years, only had six hits. Wahconah scored three runs in the first inning, three in the third and three in the fourth.

"They are a good hitting team," South Hadley coach Matt Foley said. "Even their outs were hard hit. I tip my cap to the way that they hit the ball. It really didn't stop the whole game."

Kasala gave up four runs on six hits in going the distance.

Offensively, he had three of Wahconah's six hits, he scored three runs and drove in four.

With the win, Wahconah (14-7) advances to its first Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament semifinal since 2007, the year the Warriors won the title. Wahconah will face second-seeded Drury, the top remaining seed in the tourney. Drury advanced with a 13-5 win over Belchertown on Sunday.

The Warriors never trailed in the game and never led by fewer than two runs. The Tigers (5-16), who knocked off Monument Mountain in a semifinal last year, used a triple by losing pitcher Eric Pouliot and a sacrifice fly by Nate Bergeron to get within 3-1 after the top of the third. Wahconah answered with three more runs in the bottom of the frame.

But it wasn't like the Tigers didn't have their chances. At one point, South Hadley hitters were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and ended up 1 for 8.

"We didn't feel like it was one of those games where we were going to strike out 15 times," Foley said. "It was also one of those games - I told the guys one or two big hits and it's a totally different game. They deserved all their runs."

The Wahconah left-hander set the tone for the game with a 13-pitch first inning, retiring the side on two ground outs and a pop-up to first baseman Ryan Forfa.

South Hadley started lefty Eric Pouliot and he was in trouble from the start. Johnny Lavinio hit a 1-1 pitch for a one-out double down the right-field line. Hunter Crine walked on four pitches and then Kasala hit an 0-1 pitch over the fence in right for his first homer of the season.

"He threw a fastball. I was looking to drive a pitch," the Wahconah pitcher said. "I was a little unsure. I thought it might get out just because we have a short porch in right."

South Hadley threatened in the second inning as the Tigers had runners on first and second with one out. Kasala got Conor Fenton to pop out to Shaun Folan and struck out Derek Heady to end the threat.

"That pitcher did a really nice job," Foley said. "In the first inning, he settled in nicely.

"We did not approach him very well. We swung at a lot of his first pitches. A lot of his pitches that were low in the strike zone, we were anxious to get," he continued. "He did a great job of keeping it right in that spot."

Kasala didn't make many mistakes He retired seven consecutive batters in the middle innings and only gave up two runs before the Tigers got two more in the seventh inning on Alex Dizek's two-run single. But with the bases loaded and two outs, Connor Abert struck out swinging to end the game.

The Wahconah lefty scattered six hits and three walks, striking out four.

"I was definitely running out of gas. I threw a lot of pitches and I was tired," said Kasala.

Not too tired to get a complete-game victory, and get the Warriors their first tournament win in four years.