The road to a Final Four is never the same. Just look at the Greenfield and Pioneer baseball teams. The Panthers have been knocking on the door of a state title each of the past two years, reaching the MIAA Division 5 semifinals in 2022 and 2023, and after returning the bulk of its roster, Pioneer looked poised to take another step forward this spring.
The Panthers bumped up to the Suburban League West — which features tournament teams like the Green Wave, Frontier, Hopkins Academy and Hampshire Regional — and won the league going away. They ultimately entered the state tournament with a 16-5 record. That earned Pioneer the No.
4 seed in the Div. 5 bracket, where it has outscored opponents 23-2 to book a return trip to the Final Four. The Panthers will square off with top-seeded Georgetown on Tuesday at 7 p.
m. at Holy Cross in Worcester with a spot in the finals on the line. While Pioneer reached the previous two semifinals, it has yet to make it to the championship game and is hoping to change that on Tuesday.
“It’s an incredible opportunity,” Panthers catcher Braeden Tsipenyuk said. “We just really want to get over the hump this year. We have a great group of guys to do it.
When you’re down, the boys pick you up. That’s how it’s been all year. We’ve had people in slumps.
I haven’t had it recently at the plate but guys have picked me up. That’s the beauty of this game.” It’s no surprise the Panthers are here.
With the way Greenfield started its ye.