TURNERS FALLS — What a few days it has been for Franklin Tech’s Mason Lehtomaki. 

The senior had his graduation on Thursday night and on Friday, got the start on the mound in the Eagles’ MIAA Div. 5 preliminary round contest against No. 42 Salem Academy Charter. 

Lehtomaki put together a dominant performance, throwing a no-hitter while striking out 10 and allowing just four walks to lead 23rd-seeded Franklin Tech into the Round of 32 with a 3-0 victory. 

“It feels pretty good, for sure,” Lehtomaki said. “It helps having a good team behind me. We practice all these plays and we should be able to make them in games and we did that today.” 

The Eagles (11-10) advanced to face No. 10 Bromfield in the Round of 32 on Monday.

Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol was effusive in his praise of Lehtomaki after Friday’s win, noting how important he was to the Eagles’ success this spring. 

“Mason has kept us in games all year and he did that again today,” Prasol said. “He was outstanding. I can’t begin to express how much he’s meant to this team from a pitching perspective.”

After two scoreless innings, Franklin Tech grabbed the lead in the third. Zadrien Alamed singled for the first hit of the game, stole second and when the Navigators tried to pick him off at second, the ball sailed into the outfield. 

Salem Academy (12-8) tried throwing Alamed out at third but that throw also sailed high which allowed him to score and give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. 

That score held until the sixth. Tyler Yetter reached on an error, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a wild pitch ball four to Hunter Donahue to give Tech a 2-0 advantage. 

Donahue used his wheels to get to second on the wild pitch walk and showcased his speed again after George Gutierrez knocked one in the infield. Gutierrez beat out the throw to first and Donahue sprinted home and slid under the tag to make it a 3-0 game.

Without much run support until the sixth, Lehtomaki had to stay alert and on his game throughout to avoid the upset.

“It’s definitely a little extra pressure,” Lehtomaki said, “but having a good team behind my back helps me a lot. Knowing if the ball gets hit they’ll make the play is helpful for me.”

Gutierrez and Gavin Crossman rounded out the hits for Tech, knocking back-to-back singles in the fourth with two outs but Salem’s Yuriel Gonzalez-Vargas induced a flyout to end the inning.

The Eagles are coming off their best regular season in years and are hoping they can keep it going in the postseason, with Lehtomaki saying the vibe of the team has been good this year.

“Compared to the previous years, we’ve done a lot better,” Lehtomaki said. “Skill wise, energy wise, those things have been up this year. It’ll take a lot of guys stepping up and guys focusing on the prize ahead. We have to put the work in during practice and put it to use during the game.” 

The defense and pitching has carried Tech this year, and Prasol said they will have to get the bats going if they want to pull an upset and reach the Round of 16. 

“Our strength this year has been our defense and our defense played well today,” Prasol said. “When we make the plays, good things happen and that’s what we did. If we can’t get the bats going we’ll struggle against Bromfield but I couldn’t be more proud of how these kids battled. That was a good team and once again shows that power rankings don't matter. Any team can beat any team on any given day.” 

Pathfinder 6, Turners 5 — The 30th-seeded Thunder were unable to advance in the preliminary round of the Div. 5 tournament on Friday, falling to No. 35 Pathfinder in Turners. 

Turners closed out its season with an 8-11 record. 

The Thunder led 3-2 going into the sixth when the Pioneers put four runs on the board to take the lead. Turners answered with two in the bottom of the frame but that was all Pathfinder allowed it. 

The Thunder had just one hit in the game, a Kainen Stevens double that drove in two. Julian Kaiser struck out five in six innings work in the loss.