The Frontier softball team had a magical run to the MIAA Div. 5 final four a season ago as the No. 21 seed. 

The Redhawks are trying to repeat that this spring as the No. 15 seed and got the tournament off to a good start on Sunday against Monson in the Round of 32. 

Frontier put four runs on the board in the first and tacked three on in the second after Skyler Steele blasted a three-run shot to give the Redhawks an 8-1 lead going into the third. The No. 18 Mustangs didn’t quit, however, scoring five in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-7 going into the sixth. 

Frontier got its bats going in that sixth inning, putting seven runs up to put the game away and cruise into the Round of 16 with a 15-7 victory in South Deerfield. 

“One year of that in a row isn’t a pattern but now it’s two years in a row we seem to play well in these tournament games,” Redhawk coach Gary Deane said. “People have settled into their defensive spots and we’ve settled in on offense. We’re a young team. Monson is young like us. Our strength is we play together as a team. They like each other and get along. We seem to have a different hero every game we play.” 

Frontier moves on to face No. 2 Mount Greylock in the Round of 16 at a date and time to be determined. The two teams are familiar with one another, both playing in the Franklin County League West. The Mounties came out on top in both regular season games (17-15, 6-5) though the Redhawks went to Williamstown as the underdog and pulled off the upset in last years tournament. 

“It’s hard to beat a team three times,” Deane said. “I’m sure they remember last year and want revenge. This is the reverse for us. We want to go back to where we were last year where we played a great game.” 

Hailey Hutkoski sinlged, Delaney Fifield doubled and Abby Schreiber singled to give Frontier its lead in the first. Ashley Taylor singled and Hutkoski was hit by a pitch before Steele blasted her home run in the second to give the Redhawks a commanding lead. 

Taylor, Hutkoski, Fifield and Steele all singled in the sixth, with a series of walks allowing Frontier to put seven runs on the board. 

Fifield and Taylor each finished the game with three hits while Hutkoski and Steele both had two hits. Taylor got the win in the circle, scattering nine hits in seven innings work. 

“We put the ball in play and didn’t strike out very often,” Deane said. “Their pitcher kept us off rhythm. We took advantage when we could and put pressure on their defense. We ran the bases really well.”

Div. 4 Round of 32

No. 11 Nipmuc 8, No. 22 South Hadley 0 — Nipmuc scored two in the first, one in the third and five in the sixth while shutting the Tigers out to in the Round of 32 on Sunday. 

Isabella Schaeffer held the Warriors to six hits wile Erin Bullough knocked two hits and Sophia Butler hit safely in the loss. 

No. 2 Hampshire 14, No. 31 Wareham 0 (5)  — Joss Mettey allowed just two hits and struck out seven to lift the Raiders into the Round of 16 with a win over visiting Wareham on Sunday. 

Hampshire moves on to face the winner of Bay Path and Tri County RVT in the next round. 

Hailey Wodecki knocked a single that brought in run to go along with a two-run homer in the win. Mettey knocked three hits at the plate while CC Thayer tallied three hits and an RBI for the Raiders. 

Baseball

Div. 3 prelim

No. 31 Belchertown 5, No. 34 Norwell 4 — It took 10 innings for the Orioles to get the job done on Sunday, with Belchertown scoring in the bottom of the 10th to walk away into the Round of 32 with a 5-4 win. 

Brady Perkins homered, sinlged and brought in three runs for the Orioles. Joey Mankowski and Derek Gould each had two hits and an RBI while Ian McDonald, Josh Misiaszek, Evan Ferguson and Aiden Torna hit safely in the win. 

Misiaszek went nine innings on the mound, allowing eight hits and striking out eight. Jake Waller came in in the 10th and gave up one hit and struck out one. 

The Orioles advance to play No. 2 Medfield on Monday at 4 p.m. 

Div. 5 Round of 32

No. 14 Frontier 9, No. 19 Upper Cape Cod 3 — The Redhawks held a 3-1 lead heading into the sixth, but the No. 19 Rams put two on in the top of the frame to knot the game up. 

Miles Ferreira opened the bottom of the sixth with a hit, stole second and moved to third on a Brady Poreda bunt. Nico Fasulo came up and bombed a double to the right-center gap, scoring Ferreira to give Frontier the lead. 

The runs didn’t stop there. Alex Gochinski walked and Grayson Loos knocked a single to score Fasulo. Liam Skribiski-Banack walked, Wyatt Edes singled and Eathon Bryant crushed a double and suddenly the Redhawks had put six across in the frame to take a 9-3 lead. Skribiski-Banack came on and got the final three outs to send the No. 14 Redhawks into the Round of 16 with a win in South Deerfield on Sunday. 

“Offensively we were putting pressure on them all game,” Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “We made some base running mistakes. When the game was on the line we needed Ferreira to get on and he did. He stole second and Poreda moved him to third and we were able to knock him in to give us the lead. When it rains it pours. The guys pounded it from there on and I’m proud of them. It was a good day.”

Frontier scored one in the second and one in the fourth. Grayson Loos struck out four while holding the Upper Cape Cod lineup down for six and one-third innings. 

Gochinski and Loos each knocked two hits, Fasulo tallied two doubles while Bryant added a single. It was Ferreira who came through with big hits all day for the Redhawks, finishing with three singles. 

“Shout out to Ferreira for all those hits,” Williams said. “He came up huge for us today.” 

Frontier awaits the winner of No. 3 Oxford and No. 30 Tahanto in the Round of 16. If it is Oxford, the Redhawks have some knowledge of them, as they traveled to Northfield to play Pioneer earlier this season. 

“We’re planning on seeing Oxford,” Williams said. “We know Pioneer took care of them and they’ll see our best arm. We’re looking to make a trip to Central Mass. and pull off the upset.”

Track & field

Meet of Champions

The top track athletes in the state went out to Fitchburg State on Saturday for Day 2 of the Meet of Champions, with Frontier’s Caroline Crocker the top local finisher. 

The senior placed fifth in the 100 meter hurdles, racing through in a time of 15.28 seconds. Amherst’s Logan Alfandari took eighth in the boys shot put (50 feet, four inches), Redhawk Erich Brown tied for 12th in the boys high jump (6-0) while fellow Redhawk Aiden Dredge placed 12th in the boys javelin (151-5). 

Belchertown’s Aidan Clancy earned 20th in the boys 100 (11.25), Easthampton’s BB Tauscher took 27th in the boys 400 (52.47). Amhert’s boys 4x800 team — comprised of Nicolas Lisle, Migues Pinero-Jacome, Diego Lopez and David Pinero-Jacome — placed seventh with a time of 8:06.17. 

Hurricane freshman Angel Hernandez Castro placed first in the boys shot put para wheelchair with a toss of eight feet, 7.5 inches. 

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