GREENFIELD — The first three rounds of the MIAA Division 5 softball tournament have brought a nailbiter sandwiched between two wipeouts for Greenfield, and now it’s nothing but familiar opposition for the top-seeded Green Wave heading into next week’s state semifinals.
Greenfield punched its ticket for the last four in Division 5 by trouncing No. 9 seed Hopedale, 15-0, in quarterfinal-round action Friday at Veterans Memorial Field.
The hosts (18-6) jumped to a 1-0 lead in their first at-bat, went down in order in the second inning, and then avalanched on Hopedale with four, seven and then three runs between the third and fifth innings to leave no doubt.
“Good pitching, good hitting, good defense, it all leads to success. That’s what we had today,” said Green Wave coach John Hickey. “Definitely firing on all cylinders, and we’re looking to continue on to the next round ahead of us.
“We didn’t play our best (against Maynard in the previous round), but we still won, and that’s a good sign. There was no reason to be concerned, just stay hyper-focused, do the things we’ve been doing all year, and things will take their course.”
Carly Blanchard and Kelsey Richardson swung the biggest bats for the Wave on Friday. Blanchard mashed a three-run homer, part of Greenfield’s seven-run fourth, and finished 2-for-3 with four RBI. Richardson went 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, two singles, three runs scored and two RBI. Ainslee Flynn drove in three runs. All nine starters contributed at least one hit as the Wave totaled 13 safeties in all.
Meanwhile, freshman MacKenzie Paulin had an uneventful evening’s work in the circle. She allowed a pair of singles, to Kenzie Reynolds in the third and Liana MacDonald in the fifth, for the Blue Raiders’ only baserunners. She struck out six without issuing a walk.
Kaitlin Lavoine reached on an infield single to begin the first and was forced out on Blanchard’s grounder. Blanchard stole second, went to third on an infield out and scored the lead run when Hopedale pitcher Lizzie Brytowski threw a wild pitch.
The Green Wave expanded their lead to 5-0 in the third, thanks to an RBI base hit by Blanchard, a sacrifice fly by Paulin, Rachel Dodge’s RBI single and a run-scoring ground ball by Flynn.
In the fourth, Amber Bergeron and Ellis Benitez began with back-to-back doubles, Lavoine drew a walk and Blanchard blasted her three-run shot to the right of straightaway center for a 9-0 cushion.
“She’s clutch, she’s what I call a free swinger,” said Hickey of Blanchard. “She just gets up there and takes her hacks. She's been big for us all year, and I’m happy for her.”
Greenfield wasn’t nearly done in that fourth, when Richardson singled and came around on three wild pitches. Flynn’s groundout drove in Dodge, Anna Bucala singled and Bergeron drove her in with her second double of the evening.
Richardson had a two-run double and Flynn an RBI single in the Wave’s three-run fifth.
Hopedale finished its year at 15-9.
Now Franklin County West teams make up three-fourths of the Division 5 semifinal field. Greenfield meets 21st-seeded Frontier (8-15) in one semifinal, to be played Tuesday or Wednesday at Westfield State University, while Turners Falls (15-9) meets Central Mass. representative West Boylston (20-3) in the other semi.
“It says a lot for our league, that’s for sure,” said Hickey. “I think it’s great for our area. We’re not going to take anything for granted here. We’ve got a couple of days to prepare, and we’ll see what happens.”