The Pioneer and Greenfield baseball teams took different paths to the MIAA Division 5 semifinals last spring. 

It was no shock to see the Panthers reach the semifinals, as they had done it the past two years and entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed after winning a tough Suburban League West regular season title. Pioneer was unable to get past Georgetown in the semifinals however. 

It was an upset for the Wave that got them in the Final Four, as Greenfield started the season 3-8 before getting hot down the stretch. After some upsets on their side of the bracket, the 15th-seeded Green Wave hosted games until the semis and took care of business before falling to eventual champion Boston English in the semis. 

Both teams are returning good portions of their roster and will have their eyes set on making another strong postseason push. 

For Pioneer, it’s a senior laden team with plenty of playoff experience that has reached the semifinals all three years of their high school careers. Alex McClelland, Braeden Tsipenyuk, Ethan Quinn, Ethan Mauthe, Ben Werner and Jackson Campbell are those seniors, each of them starting on last year’s squad and are returning determined to break through and reach that state championship game. 

Throw in sophomores Jackson Glazier, Evan Tsipenyuk and Hayden Girard, and the Panthers will once again be a top contender to win back the Suburban West title and take home the D5 trophy. 

“We have a lot of leaders who are seniors this year,” Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold said. “They’ve created the culture and are continuing it. They’re doing a great job. They love the game and at the end of the day, they’re having fun playing it. They’re a good group of guys.” 

After an opening day win against Hopkins Academy, Luippold said the pitching talent his team has — led by Quinn, Werner and Glazier — will be about making sure the offense is able to support them at the plate. 

“Luckily we faced a couple good pitchers [against Hopkins],” Luippold said. “We have to focus on catching barrels. If we stay strong behind our pitchers who are going to throw strikes and we keep finding barrels at the plate, the sky is the limit. These guys know the goals they’ve set for the season and with a lot of seniors, they’re going to want it all.” 

Longtime Greenfield coach Tom Suchanek is hoping his team learned that just because they are returning some talent from a deep postseason run, it doesn’t mean they will just hit the ground running the following season.

“Hopefully we get a different start,” Suchanek said. “Last year we had everybody back and they all thought since we have a lot of experience, it will just happen. Then it didn’t. We didn’t come ready to play some games and we thought just because we had a good ending to the season the year before that we would automatically be able to win games. Hopefully this year we’ll start out differently.”

Caleb Thomas returns to lead the Green Wave rotation while Arthur Fitzpatrick is another returning starter on the mound. Greenfield is co-oping with Mohawk Trail this spring but just one Warrior is joining the Greenfield squad. That would be Logan Moore, and it’s a big addition for the Green Wave as Moore can work on the mound while also providing some juice with his bat.

Luca Siano and Chase Zraunig round out the returning starters from last year’s team. Urijah Jenness comes over from Frontier and can provide pitching while competing at first base while eighth grader Conner Bergeron — son of former GHS star Peter Bergeron — will slot in at shortstop for the Wave. 

“We're in the process of getting stuff together,” Suchanek said. “We’ll be competitive. It will come down to pitching and defense. We’ll see how the hitting comes as the season goes along.”

Greenfield won’t be the only team looking to dethrone Pioneer of its Suburban West championship. Along with Hopkins, Hampshire and Easthampton, Frontier — the Suburban West winner in 2022 and 2023 — will be aiming to re-claim the league crown. The Redhawks are already off to a 3-0 start. 

“Our number one goal is to get another league championship banner on the wall,” Redhawks coach Chris Williams said. “Last year was disappointing to come up short on that but Pioneer was a very strong team. The best team won the league. That’s our main goal and something we talk about every single day. We have a target on our back as Frontier. Every game is going to be a must-win in a league with Pioneer and Greenfield. You can’t slip up.” 

Over in the Bi-County North, Turners Falls will be trying to defend its league title as the Thunder won the league for the first time in 31 years last spring. 

Athol was right on Turners’ heels last year and will be right in the mix to win it alongside a talented Franklin Tech squad. Mahar is rebuilding after losing nearly its entire roster from a year ago. 

Here’s a closer look at each team: 

Athol

COACH: Josh Talbot

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Bi-County North/5

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 11-8, D5 prelims

ROSTER:Enyert Arias Cepeda, Hayden Barrieau, Logan Cormier, Marc Gould, Ethan Heuer, Oliver Johnson, Alex Lavigne, Anthony Lopez-Hippler, Aaron Ouellet, Cooper Smith, Raydin Sousa, Dom St. Andre, Eli Wein

OUTLOOK: The Bears were just a game away from capturing the Bi-County North title a season ago and with the core of the team back this spring, Athol will be right back in the mix to take home a league title. 

Cormier is the top player to watch for the Bears, as he is dangerous at the plate, in the field and on the mound. Heuer, Gould, Johnson, Lavigne, Sousa, Wein, St. Andre, Lopez-Hippler and Smith were all key contributors last year and give Athol the talent to once again return to the state tournament. 

“We have a lot of experienced, veteran players and they have a lot of high expectations for themselves,” Talbot said. “Our staff is working hard to coach them up so that we can help them in reaching their goals.” 

Franklin Tech

COACH: Dan Prasol 

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Bi-County North/5

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 8-12

ROSTER: Tyler Yetter, Zadrian Alamed, Tucker Hicks, Gavin Crossman, Mason Lehtomaki, Braedan Talbot, Kaleb Betit, Caleb Begos, Loki Rhodes, Hunter Donahue, Levi Clark, George Gutierrez Jr., Nick Prasol, Caleb Dillensneider, Wayde Bardwell, Brody Hicks

OUTLOOK: The Eagles have a lot of young talent that if they develop and continue to improve, will make Tech a tough out this season.

Yetter is a senior leader, with Prasol noting his improvements during the offseason while Alamed, Crossman and Hicks are returning senior starters for the Eagles.

Lehtomaki, another senior, was one of the top arms for Tech last year and will be leaned on in the rotation once again while Donahue was the leadoff hitter as a freshman last spring and is set for a big sophomore season.

Nick Prasol started at first base on Greenfield’s Final Four squad last year and is a big pickup for the Eagles.

“It’s going to come down to whether these young kids are going to reach their ceiling as freshmen and sophomores,” Prasol said. “If they can meet expectations, we’ll be competitive. If we underperform, then we’ll struggle. We’re set up well for down the road. It’s a matter of making sure all these kids develop.”

Frontier

COACH: Chris Williams

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Suburban West/4

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 14-7, D4 Round of 32

ROSTER: Ben Caron, Brady Poreda, Austin D’Urso, Kaden James, Henry Drinker, Collin West, Joey Hutkoski, Jack Cusson, Braeden Dion, Porter Hall, Grayson Bishop, Cam Skiffington, Carter Miller, Jacob Corneielson, Jack PHillips, Max Skribiski-Banack, Shawn Baumann

OUTLOOK: It’ll be a new-look Redhawk team this spring, as the club lost seven players from last year’s squad that reached the Div. 4 Round of 32.

James returns behind the plate, D’Urso is a player Williams said put in a lot of work in the offseason, Skribiski-Banack is an experienced arm at the top of the rotation, Hutkoski is a sophomore who will see time on the mound while Caron, Poreda, West and Hall round out the seniors who Williams is expecting big seasons from. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing some of these seniors step up,” Williams said. “Collin West, Porter Hall, Max, Kaden, Ben Caron... I’m confident in them. A lot of these guys have something to prove. We have young guys, we have some older guys. It’s dog eat dog to make the starting lineup, for sure.”

Greenfield

COACH: Tom Suchanek 

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Suburban West/5

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 13-11, D5 semifinals

ROSTER: Caleb Thomas, Arthur Fitzpatrick, Logan Moore, Luca Siano, Conner Bergeron, Chase Zraunig, Bryce Hammond, Malik Moore, Nico Siano, Sam Bucala, David Knox, Urijah Jenness

Mahar

COACH: Dan Guertin 

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Bi-County North/5

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 8-9

ROSTER: Matt Vitello, Hunter Brooks, Max Parsons, Caissie Richards, Jackson Burnham, Liam Daly, Clayde Thompson, Gavin Young, Colby Manjourea-Cortright, Freeland Ringer

OUTLOOK: It will be a brand new looking Senator squad this spring, as just two Mahar players from last year are back on the roster this season.

Vitello, a junior, and Brooks, a sophomore, are those two returners and will both be tasked with carrying big roles with Mahar.

Both will see time on the mound as well as playing the middle infield spots.

The rest of the Senator roster is young players, with two juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen filling out the squad. Mahar does not have a senior on its roster.

Pioneer

COACH: Kevin Luippold 

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Suburban West/5

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 19-6, D5 semifinals

ROSTER: Alex McClelland, Braeden Tsipenyuk, Ethan Quinn, Ethan Mauthe, Ben Werner, Jackson Campbell, Jackson Glazier, Evan Tsipenyuk, Hayden Girard, Judah Glenn, Mike Cyhowski, Brody Welcome, Jacoby Stumpo, Jared Goulston, Tad Loud

Turners

COACH: Scott Minckler 

LEAGUE/DIVISION: Bi-County North/5

LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 13-6, D5 Round of 32

ROSTER: Ledwin Villafana, Kainen Stevens, Jackson Cogswell, Brody Girard, Ethan Eichorn, Nathaniel Trinque, Curtis Kretchmar, Moises Borrayes, Julian Kaiser, Trevor Lyons, Freilyn Jose Abarua Cornona

OUTLOOK: After winning their first league title in 31 years last spring, Minckler will be tasked with replacing seven seniors, six of which were starters. 

Stevens and Cogswell, both juniors, are returning cogs for the Thunder. Stevens is the top arm in the rotation while Cogswell is a starter in the outfield and will give Turners another arm. 

Villafana is the lone senior on the team while Lyons, a freshman, performed well behind the plate in his first varsity action. 

“I’m hoping to see us progress and come together as a team,” Minckler said. “We’re inexperienced and I have a couple eighth graders we brought up [in our opener against Franklin Tech]. We want to come together as a team and a unit because these guys really haven’t played together. Hopefully as the season goes on we can gel and get on a bit of a roll.”