TURNERS FALLS — Over each of the past three years, Franklin Tech and West Boylston have both made a habit of reaching the MIAA Division 5 softball quarterfinals. But the teams never had to face each other to reach that rung on the state tournament ladder until Wednesday.

West Boylston used a middle-innings rally to build a 5-0 lead and held off a late charge by Tech to post a 6-3 Round of 16 victory at Nancy Gifford Field. The 10th-seeded Lions advanced to play at second-seeded Greenfield in the Division 5 quarterfinal on Friday at 5 p.m. at Vets Field. 

The Lions (15-6) had both their small-ball and long-ball game working to back the pitching of freshman Kheira Ashey, who didn't allow a hit until two were out in the Tech fifth inning and finished with a three-hitter, five strikeouts and one walk.

Tech bowed out at 18-5 as the seventh seed in Division 5.

“We struggled to put good contact on anything today,” said Eagles coach Joe Gamache. “We got off to not the best start, and this is not the team to do that against. They're young, but they're well coached, fundamentally sound, did a lot of really good things, and their pitcher was solid. They're going to be good for a while.”

Ashey set down the first 11 Eagle hitters before Kylee Gamache reached on an error with two out in the fourth. Tech then got a pair of runners in the fifth when Gianna DiSciullo reached on a one-out error and pinch hitter Amelia Rider singled just inside the bag at third, the Eagles' first hit, to put runners at first and second. Ashey then induced an inning-ending forceout at third off the bat of Ava Worden.

Trailing 5-0 entering the home sixth, Tech finally cracked the scoreboard on a leadoff walk by Lindsey Taylor, an infield single by Hannah Gilbert and a sharp grounder to second by Kylee Gamache that was booted, allowing Taylor to score and Gilbert to head to third. Courtesy runner Samantha Duncan swiped second base and Sandra Johnson lined hard to center for a sacrifice fly as Gilbert crossed.

DiSciullo then blooped a hit into very short right-center field to plate Duncan, pulling the Eagles within 5-3, but Ashey got the final out on a comebacker to the circle. She would then set down Tech in order to close out the game in the seventh.

“We put ourselves in a really bad spot there,” said Gamache. “It took us a little while to punch a few through. We're in a position where we usually field that OK, but we usually have runs on the board. They were able to put a little extra pressure on with the small-ball game."

Zoe Chila, a going concern all afternoon for West Boylston with an earlier double and single, then led off the Lions' seventh with an opposite-field home run, just fair, over the right-field fence. That re-established a three-run lead for the visitors. Chila finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and three runs scored.

Gilbert, who surpassed the 700-strikeout mark for her Tech career in the game, recorded 11 punchouts for a total of 710. She allowed single walks in the first and third for the Lions' only runners in that span, but West Boylston got it going in the fourth to break up the scoreless deadlock.

Isa Rivera singled to lead off, went to second on an error and scored on Chila's double to deep right field. Meg Flaherty bunted Chila to third and Emily Pitro reached on a bunt of her own, then stole second.

With Abby Falk batting, Gilbert threw a wild pitch that brought in Chila for a 2-0 Lions lead. Falk then bunted her way on, Toni Bianchini drew a walk to fill the bases, and Amelia Stevens was hit by a pitch to force in Pitro. Gilbert then bore down to strike out the next two.

West Boylston added to it in the fifth with one-out base hits by Chila and Flaherty followed by a double steal and a wild pitch with Pitro at the plate, scoring Chila. Pitro then dropped a bunt in front of the plate and Flaherty was ruled safe when the flip from Gilbert to Gamache wasn't handled.

“All in all, it's been a good group. We'll miss our (five) seniors, they've left their mark on the program for sure,” said Gamache. “For the younger ones, they have to understand that next season starts now. Hopefully they'll do some of the things that the older kids have done, preparing in the offseason and playing a little more softball to prepare them better.”

Greenfield 9, Millis 1 — Anna Bucala started the Green Wave’s Round of 16 contest against 15th-seeded Millis just how she imagined. 

The senior blasted a double during second-seeded Greenfield’s opening at bat of the game for her 100th career hit, which helped ignite a two-run first inning for the Wave. 

Greenfield kept the runs coming while MacKenzie Paulin shut down the Mohawks, striking out 16 and allowing just four hits as the Green Wave reached the quarterfinals for the fourth year in a row with a 9-1 win at Vets Field. 

“It definitely felt good to get that out of the way,” Bucala said of her 100th hit. “It feels great.”

Greenfield (17-6) will host West Boylston on Friday at 5 p.m. in a rematch of the 2022 Div. 5 state title, a game the Green Wave won, 6-2. 

After winning the 2022 and 2023 state championships, Greenfield was upset in the quarterfinals a season ago on it quest for a three-peat. Don’t expect the Green Wave to take anybody lightly this year. 

“We feel confident going into the Elite Eight,” Bucala said. “That's where we lost last year so we have to bring our ‘A’ game. Tech lost so we have to bring it. We played them three years ago in a state championship but a lot has changed. We just have to keep the bats going. Right now we're doing pretty well with it.”

After Bucala doubled to open the bottom of the first, Olivia Lemay singled and Paulin drilled an RBI single to score Bucala. Gloria McDonald then singled to bring in Lemay and make it a 2-0 game after one. 

Millis (8-12) scored in the top of the third but the Green Wave responded in the bottom of the inning as Lemay doubled and Grace Laurie knocked her in with a base hit to give Greenfield a 3-1 lead. 

In the fourth, Sophia Rotkiewicz singled and Madison Lemay crushed a double to deep center field. The throw to get Rotkiewicz at home was late and the ensuing throw to try to get Lemay at third sailed into center, allowing her to score and make it a 5-1 game. 

Paulin opened the bottom of the fifth with a double and McDonald followed with an RBI double. Laurie singled in McDonald, worked her way to third and Carson Farrell scored her on a sacrifice fly to give the Wave an 8-1 lead. 

Paulin cracked her second double of the game in the sixth and scored on a McDonald base hit to close out the scoring for Greenfield. 

“I think we're doing pretty well,” Green Wave coach Ray Dodge said. “There's some things we need to work on as always. It seemed like the deficit was more than that with how they scored their runs.”

Turners 1, Drury 0 — The 17th-seeded Blue Devils came to Gary Mullins Field looking to pull off the upset against the top-seeded Thunder in the Round of 16 and gave Turners everything it could handle. 

The Thunder plated a run in the bottom of the first inning but were kept off the scoreboard from there. Drury threatened in the top of the seventh and had the game-tying run in scoring position but Addison Talbot came up with a diving play at second base to get the out at first and keep Drury off the board. Madi Liimatainen struck out the next batter to preserve a 1-0 victory for Turners. 

The Thunder (19-4) advanced to face No. 9 Narragansett in the quarterfinals at a date and time to be determined. 

Liimatainen finished the game with 14 strikeouts, no walks and allowed just three hits in the circle. At the plate, Liimatainen had the lone two hits for Turners, cracking a double in the first and scoring on a passed ball for the lone run of the contest.