With three state tournament games played across a two-and-a-half hour span at Lynnfield High Sunday, all roads led to the Pioneers. The boys and girls tennis teams took care of business in a doubleheader, followed by the baseball team capping off the afternoon in style.
Sunday kicked off with the top-ranked girls tennis team sweeping No. 8 Nantucket, 5-0. Coach Craig Stone and his Pioneers punched their tickets to the Division 4 semifinals to play No. 4 Hamilton-Wenham.
Paige Martino needed a little less than 45 minutes to sweep the first singles match at love, staking the Pioneers to a 1-0 lead.
“I played super well and I think it was the best I played all season. I hit a lot of winners,” Martino said. “She was quick and got to a lot of balls, but the amount of focus I had really helped.”
Lily Alves followed with a 6-3, 6-0 win at second singles. About a minute later, Ella Hayman and Vicky McCrann clinched the game-winner at first doubles, 6-2, 6-3. Kami Khiat prevailed at third singles, 6-1, 6-0, and Kathleen Brown and Christine Choi prevailed at second doubles, 6-1, 6-2.
Now, it’s on to Hamilton-Wenham, which defeated Lynnfield in last season’s state title match.
“Anything can happen, but we do have a little bit of revenge motive after losing last year,” Stone said.
In boys’ action, No. 2 Lynnfield defeated No. 7 Mystic Valley, 4-1. Shlok Kudrimoti and Matt Reinold were victorious in singles action, followed by doubles wins from Raffi Arkun-Andee Shieh and Rishabh Anand-Rowan Bayer.
“Today, Shlok certainly was the man of the hour, playing this kid he had lost to twice, but they were battles,” said Lynnfield Coach Joe Dunn. “Shlok hung in there for every point, but he just got edged out. This time, he was determined. He wasn’t going to let that happen. He knew how important it was. His match took the pressure off our No. 2 doubles, which were neck and neck in the second set.”
The Pioneers take on No. 6 Sturgis Charter West in the semifinal match.
On the baseball diamond, No. 2 Lynnfield completed the trifecta and defeated No. 10 Northbridge in an 8-2 final.
The Pioneers trailed, 2-1, going into the bottom of the fifth, but sent eight men to the plate, exploding for four runs to take the lead for good, 5-2. Dylan Nguyen scored on a squeeze bunt by Nick Groussis (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 R) with Tyler Adamo (BB) advancing to third. Madux Iovinelli (1-for-3, R) ripped a single to right, scoring Adamo, to make it a 3-2 game. Two batters later, Walter Radulski (1-for-2) delivered a double into the gap to bring Iovinelli and Groussis home and bump the lead to 5-2.
The Pioneers added three insurance runs in the sixth – big hits being a two-run double by Groussis and RBI single from Luke DiSilvio (1-for-4), who fittingly slammed the door shut in the top of the seventh.
DiSilvio went the distance, allowing two runs (both unearned) on four hits with 10 strikeouts. Trailing, 1-0, Adamo (2-for-2, 3 R) set the pace with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first.
“He (DiSilvio) knew he had about 15 more pitches in that last inning and he just went out there and threw strikes the whole game,” said Lynnfield Coach John O’Brien. “He’s a mentally tough kid.”
Next up for Lynnfield is No. 3 Hamilton-Wenham.
“We lost to them, 7-6, earlier in the season, so we know we can play with them,” O’Brien said. “It’s been quite a while since we made the Final Four.”
