HOLYOKE — They say the third time is the charm, and it most certainly was for the top-seeded Pioneer baseball team on Wednesday afternoon at MacKenzie Stadium.

After losing in the Western Massachusetts Class D finals the previous two seasons, the Panthers used timely hitting from Ethan Mauthe and a dominant outing on the mound from Ethan Quinn to erase an early 2-0 deficit and defeat No. 3 Hopkins Academy, 4-2.

Wednesday marked Pioneer’s first sectional crown since 2022.

“It feels really good,” Panthers head coach Kevin Luippold said. “I’m really happy for the guys. With such a senior-heavy team, I’m just very happy that these guys get to enjoy this with each other. They deserve it more than anyone in my opinion, so I’m glad to see them come out on top.”

In 2023, Pioneer played Ware in the Class D final and lost a 3-1 heartbreaker in extra innings. Last season, the Panthers met Ware once more on the same stage, and again they fell just shy – this time a 2-1 defeat in extras. After surrendering two runs in the top of the first on Wednesday, it looked as if Pioneer’s title-game misfortunes might continue.

Hopkins’ Carter Styspeck walked and Alex West laid down a bunt to the third base side. Third baseman Jackson Campbell fielded it cleanly and threw it over to second in an attempt to beat Styspeck, but the throw went into center field. Chace Earle then ripped a double down the line to bring Styspeck home, and West later scored on a Logan Bye fielder’s choice. Quinn got Nathan Rickles to pop out to shortstop to limit the damage.

“I told them before the game, ‘Keep your heads,’” Pioneer senior Braeden Tsipenyuk said. “It’s going to be a tough, challenging game. What are you going to do if we go down one, two or three runs? Are we going to crumble or are we going to come back and fight?’ And we came back and fought like hell.”

The Panthers didn’t let the slow start get to them. They wasted no time battling back, as Tsipenyuk put one in play and reached first safely following a Hopkins error. Campbell then got on board as he beat out an infield single. A pair of passed balls allowed Tsipenyuk to come home and an Alex McClelland walk and stolen base put runners on second and third with nobody out. Quinn recorded a sacrifice fly to plate Campbell and knot the game at two.

Pioneer added the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third on a two-out Mauthe triple that brought Quinn – who singled to start the rally – to the plate, and put another run on the board in the fifth as McClelland scampered home after an error. Those two runs were enough with how Quinn was dealing. The senior finished with 11 strikeouts and gave up only three hits and two walks in a complete-game effort.

Surely Quinn was thrilled about his title-game gem, right? Maybe, but he didn’t show it. He’s focused on a grander prize – the MIAA Division 5 state tournament.

“The job’s not finished,” Quinn said. “We’ve still got more to do.”

He wasn’t the only Panther with that mindset. When he struck out the side in the top of the seventh to end the game, nobody on the Pioneer side reacted as if they had just won the Western Mass. championship. It was all business as they shook hands with the Golden Hawks.

Once the Panthers received the Class D trophy however, they piled up on the third-base line of MacKenzie Stadium and erupted.

“We felt like we had the team to do it the past two years, we just didn’t get over the hump,” Tsipenyuk said. “This year we were able to exceed to a level we weren’t able to reach the past two years. The group of guys we got, I love these guys. I could go out there and battle with them every single day.”

McClelland walked, singled twice and scored, Mauthe added a single to his line after the big triple in the third, Campbell (single, double, walk) reached base three times and Quinn went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for the Pioneer offense.

Pioneer has now won a Western Mass. title in boys soccer, basketball and baseball this school year. It has been quite the stretch of success for the Panthers, and it could get even better as they enter the state tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

“It’s a monumental year, for all sports,” Quinn said.

“It’s really cool to be a part of this,” Tsipenyuk added. “It just shows the work and dedication that’s gone into it over the years. These guys have worked their tails off to get to where we’re at, in all three sports. Soccer was kind of like a, ‘Hey, we can do this,’ kind of thing, and that set the floor for basketball and baseball to go out and reach those goals too.”

Pioneer awaits the winner of No. 32 Bourne and No. 33 West Boylston in the Round of 32 of the Division 5 tournament.