The Greenfield baseball team’s Cinderella run continues. 

The 26th-seeded Green Wave opened the MIAA Div. 5 tournament with a win over Atlantis Charter in the preliminary round and followed it up with a 3-1 upset win over No. 7 Ware on Sunday in the Round of 32. 

Greenfield faced another challenge on Wednesday by going on the road and taking on No. 10 Westport in the Round of 16. The Green Wave got on the board in the top of the first inning and tacked three runs on in the second to take a 4-0 lead. 

The Wildcats answered with two runs in the bottom of the second, but thanks to the pitching of Michael Pierce and stellar defense behind him, it was the final runs Westport would score, with Greenfield pulling off a second straight upset via a 4-2 win. 

“We’re starting to gain some confidence and experience as this has gone on,” Green Wave coach Tom Suchanek said. “We’re a young team and they’re learning. We’ll just take it one game at a time.” 

Pierce went the distance on the mound and held the Wildcats to just three hits, striking out six and walking four. 

“He’s pitching well,” Suchanek said. “He’s throwing strikes and we made some great plays behind him. The guys made some great plays out there.”

Caleb Thomas made one of those plays, knocking down a shot along the third base line and throwing the runner out at first from four feet in foul territory. 

“Caleb Thomas made a big league play at third,” Suchanek said. “Jackson Campbell and Malik Moore played well in the field as did the rest of the team. Everyone played well defensively for us today.” 

Deven Dubie finished with two hits, one a triple, for Greenfield. John Marchefka knocked two hits and drove in a run, Jackson Campbell recorded a hit and an RBI, Pierce helped himself with a single and a double while Arthur Fitzpatrick hit safely in the victory. 

The Green Wave will take on the winner of No. 2 Bourne and No. 18 Maynard in the Round of 8, with those two squads facing off on Thursday in the Round of 16.

Softball

Turners 9, Lenox 2 — The 19th-seeded Millionaires didn’t just let the Thunder cruise into the MIAA Div. 5 Round of 8 on Wednesday night. 

Turners continued to put the ball in play but Lenox continued to make tough plays in the field. Still, the Thunder were able to put three on the board in the first, one in the second, four in the third and one in the sixth to pull away with a 9-2 Round of 16 victory and advance in the tournament. 

“We hit the ball hard but they made some tremendous plays,” Turners coach Gary Mullins said. “Their shortstop made some impressive plays.” 

Madi Liimatainen got the win in the circle, striking out 13 and allowing a mere four hits. 

Cadi Wozniak got things started with a home run in the first. Madisyn Dietz tallied a pair of hits and RBIs, Morgan Dobias had a hit that brought in two runs, Marilyn Abarua cracked two hits, Liimatainen and Holly Myers each hit safely and Janelle Massey had an RBI for the Thunder. 

The win sets up a crosstown matchup with No. 11 Franklin Tech in the quarterfinals, with that game scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday at Gary Mullins Field. 

]]>