NORTHFIELD — Sometimes the game-winning run comes home and it isn’t a glamour shot. Brody Welcome’s hard hit ball in the bottom of the sixth inning helped score the game-winning run for the No. 16 Pioneer Valley Regional baseball team in a 4-3 win over No. 17 Palmer in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 32 on Monday.
With runners on first and second, Welcome lined a shot to second base. After an out at second, a throwing error by the Panthers allowed Tad Loud to casually jog home.
“I was just thinking bat on ball, opposite field scores him,” Welcome said. “That’s what I was thinking the whole time. I hit a line drive and I was hauling out of the box. We do anything we can to get the winning run. If it’s bunting or a gap shot it doesn’t matter.”
Pioneer’s Aaron Meuse connects for a double vs Palmer in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer’s Aaron Meuse waits on the throw as Palmer’s Sebastian Mayberry takes second in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer’s Aaron Meuse looks to turn a double play in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer’s Evan Tsipenyuk pitches vs Palmer in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer’s Hayden Girard connects for a hit vs Palmer in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer’s Jacoby Stumpo fields a hit vs Palmer in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer meeting at the mound vs Palmer in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Pioneer’s Tad Loud connects for a single vs Palmer in Northfield on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo
The Panthers advance to the Round of 16 where a familiar face is waiting for them. Pioneer plays top-seeded English (Boston) in a rematch of last year’s state championship game. The Panthers finished up an undefeated season with an 6-5 eight inning win over English last year. Time and date to be determined.
“We faced English last year in the state championship,” Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold said. “They are well coached. They are going to be giving us their best on their home turf this time. Just have to keep playing like a team.”
Evan Tsipenyuk made his first start in a state tournament game for the Panthers. Tsipenyuk is still working his way back from an injury.
“Just throw strikes and let the field do their job,” Tsipenyuk said. “I just had to keep doing my job because they would do theirs eventually. Just keep pounding the zone. I just had to finish job. I just focused on my mechanics. How can I keep the ball in the zone and keep it going.”‘
Going into the seventh with a lead, Tsipenyuk got a groundout to open the inning but then plunked Matt Santos. With the game on the line, Tsipenyuk struck out two consecutive hitters to end the game. On the mound, Tsipenyuk only gave up two hits and no earned runs with five strikeouts.
Pioneer fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. Sebastian Mayberry led off the game with a double for Palmer. Two errors by the Panthers led to two runs in the inning.
Pioneer answered with a run in the bottom of the first. Loud walked in his first at bat before stealing a bag to advance to second base. After Welcome advanced him to third on a ground out, Loud would scored on a wild pitch.
Aaron Meuse hit an RBI double in the second inning to tie the game for Pioneer. Brandan Hess got an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the top of the third for Palmer.
Pioneer tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. Hayden Girard singled and then stole a bag, bring Mauricio Hanono to the plate. Hanono laced a double to bring home Girard to tie the game, 3-3.
Drury 20, Athol 2 (six innings) — The fourth-seeded Blue Devils cruised past the No. 29 Bears in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament Round of 32 in the Berkshires. Ethan Heuer went 3-for-4 for the Bears. Enyert Arias Cepeda added a double for Athol.
Softball
Pioneer 4, Douglas 2 — The No. 17 Panthers downed 16th-seeded Douglas on the road in the Division 5 state tournament Round of 32. Pioneer advances to play top-seeded and undefeated Hoosac Valley on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“The difference maker for us today was our mental game,” Pioneer coach Theresa Tsipenyuk said. “We’ve talked so much about working through struggles, playing together and keeping our energy positive and today they did all of those things.”
Pioneer escaped a bases loaded jam in the second inning. Hard hit balls to Lucianne Burnap and Cobi Tyminski allowed plays at the plate before Greta Lewis made a play at second base to get out of the inning. Burnap got the win in the circle for the Panthers.
Laylah Goulston led the offense with four hits and two RBI. An RBI single by Goulston in the seventh added some insurance and helped secure the win for the Panthers. Burnap, Tyminski, Maggie Tsipenyuk, Hannah Shepard and Jaelyn Boliski each had a hit for Pionner.
Tennis
Manchester Essex 5, Greenfield 0 — The No. 34 Green Wave finished their season with a loss to No. 2 Manchester Essex in the MIAA Division 4 state tournament Round of 32. The Green Wave became the second Franklin County team to advance past the preliminary round after their win over David Prouty.
