SOUTH DEERFIELD — The current No. 2 and No. 3 ranked softball teams in the Western Mass. Class B tournament met at Zabek Field on Monday to close out the regular season. 

South Hadley made the trip to take on Frontier for the first of what could possibly be two matchups this week between the two. With Raine Wonsey pitching for the Redhawks and Ella Schaeffer in the circle for the Tigers, hits and runs were expected to be hard to come by and that’s exactly how the contest played out. 

Schaeffer gave up just six hits but Wonsey and Delaney Fifield were able to put two of them over the fence. Wonsey held South Hadley to just two hits while the eighth grader struck out 18 to lead Frontier to a 4-2 independent victory.

“Raine was great today,” Redhawk coach Gary Deane said. “Sometimes she gets in a little trouble with her control but our defense played well enough today. We stranded a lot of runners on third and our infield was in a lot. We got out of jams because Raine was throwing strikes.”

For the Tigers (11-6), coach Ari Williams said she hopes to see more energy when her team kicks off the Western Mass. Tournament later in the week. 

“Coming into the game we weren’t as ready as I would have liked,” Williams said. “For next game, we’ll be ready to go and much more amped and excited so we can play right from the start.” 

South Hadley took the opening lead of the game in the second inning. Samantha LaFlesh walked, Grace Matyszewski bunted and LaFlesh was able to score on a wild pitch to give the Tigers the lead. Karli Carmody later singled to drive Matyszewski in to give South Hadley a 2-0 lead. 

Wonsey helped herself in the bottom of the frame, drilling a solo home run to left field that cut the lead to 2-1. 

The middle of the Frontier lineup came through in the fourth. Olivia Machon and Wonsey cracked back-to-back singles and Sophia Pinardi smashed a ball to deep right field to score both to give the Redhawks a 3-2 lead. 

“We put together some pretty good at bats,” Deane said. “The middle part 0f our order — Machon, Raine and Sophia — were great. They came through for us today but it can be anybody on any given day with this team. We’re a good hitting team. That’s an outstanding pitcher we went up against.”

Fifield hit a solo home run in the sixth to add to the Redhawks (11-7) lead. 

It was Wonsey who got herself out of multiple jams in the circle. South Hadley loaded the bases with one out in the fifth but the eighth grader recorded consecutive strikeouts to get out of the inning unscathed. 

South Hadley put a pair of runners on in the sixth after Matyszewski walked and Sienna LaFlesh singled with no outs. A bunt moved the two over a base but Wonsey once again recorded a pair of strikeouts to get out of the inning. 

Schaeffer finished with 11 strikeouts and six hits allowed for the Tigers. 

Seeds for the Western Mass. Tournament will be available Tuesday, and if the seeds hold true to the last rankings, Frontier and South Hadley would play again in the semifinals if the two are able to win their quarterfinal matchups. 

After a grind of a regular season, Williams said she and the Tigers are ready for the postseason to be here. 

 “I’m excited to have the chance to possibly play them again,” Williams said. “Everyone is ready to get into the next part of the season. After a while, the excitement goes down. I had to remind them that the season is really just getting started. We can’t carry this energy over into next game.” 

Frontier is no stranger to making tournament runs, having reached the MIAA Div. 5 semifinals in 2022. With a senior-led team, Deane is hoping his team can create some magic as the Redhawks now have a win over South Hadley and a close game against Hampshire, the top seed in Class B, on its resume. 

“We played Hampshire the first game and it was a 6-4 loss,” Deane said. “We’re there and we just want another opportunity. We’ve got this far to get this chance and what we do with it is up to us. The seniors have been great all year.” 

Athol 26, Gateway 13 — The Bears scored 13 runs in the bottom of the fifth to take down the Gators in Athol Monday. 

Ally Robertson homered to drive in three, Ava Adams finished with four hits — two doubles — and drove in three, Jaylynn Chapalonis (two singles, double), Gianna Vaillancourt (single, double) and Ella Reed (single, double) each drove in three runs, Kaya Stinehart tallied three hits and two RBIs, Madi Hermes doubled and drove in three while Tapanga Chapalonis singled, doubled and drove in one for the Bears. 

Boys tennis

Western Mass. Class C Tournament 

No. 1 Lenox 3, No. 4 Frontier 2 — The Redhawks gave the top-seeded Millionaires all they could handle on Monday. The match came down to No. 1 doubles, but a strong comeback from Frontier’s Xavier Fripp and Noah Nichols fell just short, as Lenox took the set 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to earn a 3-2 victory in Lenox. 

Casey Bestler earned a 6-3, 6-1 victory in No. 1 singles while Oliver Brown came back from a 3-5 deficit in the third set to win 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 in his singles match for Frontier. 

Non-playoff

Greenfield 4, SICS 1 — Palmer King (7-5, 5-7, 6-0), Shane Toomey (6-1, 6-0) and Devonne Brown (4-6, 6-3, 7-5) swept singles for the Green Wave, which defeated the Bulldogs in Springfield Monday. 

Sawyer Thurber and Landon Clark closed out the victory with a 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 triumph in No. 1 doubles for Greenfield. 

Girls tennis

Greenfield 3, PV Christian 2 
PV Christian 4, Greenfield 1 — The Green Wave closed out their season with a split against the Eagles in Springfield Monday. 

Greenfield finishes its regular season with a 7-10 record. 

Frontier 5, Renaissance 0 — It was a clean sweep for the Redhawks, who finish the regular season with a 13-5 record with the win in Springfield Monday. 

Frontier hosts St. Mary’s on Tuesday in a Western Mass. Class B contest. 

Ella Sibley won in No. 1 singles (6-1, 7-6), Esther Ehle took No. 2 singles (6-0, 6-0), Eleanor Wade won in No. 3 singles (6-0, 6-0), Brooke Charest and Hailey Fernandez took No. 1 doubles (6-4, 5-7, 14-12) and Aimee Talbot and Jimin Ahn closed things out with a win in No. 2 doubles (6-3, 6-0) for the Redhawks.