High schools: Greenfield girls tennis edged by St. Mary’s in MIAA Div. 4 tourney (PHOTOS)
Published: 06-01-2023 8:48 PM |
The Greenfield girls tennis team didn't go down easily on Thursday.
The 37th-seeded Green Wave pushed No. 28 St. Mary's of Westfield to the brink in the MIAA Division 4 preliminary round, with a spot in the Round of 32 coming down to first doubles.
But the Saints held on for a three-set victory there, securing a 3-2 win and advancement at Stanley Park in Westfield.
On a hot day, Greenfield's Kaitlyn Collins led the way at No. 1 singles with a 6-1, 6-4 victory to account for the team's first point of the day.
The second doubles pairing of Lily Duong and Jessica Mihailicenco followed, rallying from an early deficit to capture a 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 victory.
While the Saints won matches at second and third singles, it came down to a third-setter at No. 1 doubles for a spot in the Round of 32. Greenfield's Lydia Wood and Isabella Semonelli rallied from a set down to force a third, but St. Mary's Rachel Wilcox and Abigail DeFalco notched a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory.
Greenfield finished its season 8-7 overall, while the Saints advanced to play at No. 5 Lenox on Friday.
Greenfield 2, Atlantis Charter 1 (8) — It took eight innings, but the Green Wave are heading to the Round of 32 of the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament.
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Hosting No. 39 Atlantis Charter on Thursday at Vets Field, No. 26 Greenfield took the lead in the third inning but Atlantis tied the game 1-1 in the sixth which ultimately carried into extra innings.
Atlantis failed to score in the top of the eighth while John Marchefka got on with a single to open the bottom of the frame for the Green Wave. Michael Pierce then blasted a double to deep left field that put runners on second and third for Caleb Thomas.
Thomas hit a scorcher to third, but the Atlantis third baseman stabbed the ball out of the air and was able to throw Marchefka out at home. Malik Moore came to the plate and grounded to second, but Pierce beat the ensuing throw home, keeping Greenfield’s season alive with a 2-1 victory.
The Green Wave (10-11) advanced to face No. 7 Ware, the Western Mass. Class D champions, in the Round of 32 on the road Sunday night at 7 p.m.
Pierce got the win on the mound, going all eight innings, scattering seven hits and striking out four.
Deven Doubie doubled, Marchefka and Moore each tallied two hits, Pierce cracked three hits while Jackson Campbell hit safely in the win. Dubie scored the first Greenfield run, reaching on a walk, stealing second and third and making it home on an error.
O’Bryant 6, Mahar 5 — The No. 37 Senators nearly completed a comeback, scoring twice in the sixth and cutting the lead to one in the top of the seventh. But Mahar was unable to get the game-tying run across, falling 6-5 in the Div. 5 preliminary round in Roxbury on Thursday.
No. 28 O’Bryant (12-8) will head to Northfield to square off with No. 5 Pioneer on Monday at 4 p.m. in the Round of 32.
Errors did the Senators in, with five of O’Bryant’s runs unearned.
David Vitello knocked two hits and drove in a run, Lucas Isrow doubled to knock in a pair of runs, Jayden Delgado doubled and brought in a run while Will Barnes, Milo Troisi and Matt Vitello each had a hit in the loss.
Nate Danielson tossed six innings and struck out four for Mahar (10-10).
Frontier 3, East Longmeadow 0 — After winning the Western Mass. Class C title a season ago, the Redhawks were unable to win a match in the state tournament that followed.
This year, after winning a Western Mass. title once again, Frontier was determined to get an MIAA Div. 2 state tournament victory.
The Redhawks accomplished that on Thursday.
Hosting No. 21 East Longmeadow, the No. 12 Redhawks pulled away in the first set and didn’t look back, cruising to a 25-12, 25-15, 25-15 win over the Spartans at Goodnow Gymnasium.
Frontier (18-2) awaits the winner of No. 5 West Springfield and No. 28 Belchertown in the Round of 16. Those teams play on Friday.
Aleks Carey led the way with 10 kills and three aces in the win. Jesse Kurkulonis tallied five kills and three aces, Brady Burch put down four kills, Jack Carey and Owen Babb both had three kills while Tavo Vincent-Warner dished 23 assists for the Redhawks.