WORCESTER — It’s always hard for a state championship game to live up to the hype, especially a title game featuring one team going for an unbeaten season and another looking to defend their crown. 

The MIAA Division 5 baseball championship game at Polar Park between top-seeded Pioneer and second-seeded Boston English more than delivered. 

It was a pitchers’ duel through five innings, with the game knotted at one going into the sixth. From there on, it was one twist after another. 

The Panthers were three outs away from winning the title after putting two runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth but the Eagles weren’t going to go down that easily, putting three on the board in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. 

With its back against the wall, Pioneer rallied as Ethan Mauthe drove in Jackson Campbell to send the game to extras. Boston English put the pressure back on the Panthers by plating a run in the top of the eighth to take a 5-4 lead but once again, Pioneer was able to rally. 

Sophomore Brody Welcome opened the inning by bashing a single to left field and Ben Werner moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. 

Jackson Glazier cracked a base hit that drove in Welcome to tie the game at five. Braeden Tsipenyuk and Jackson Campbell drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for Alex McClelland with one out. The senior grounded to second and the throw to get Glazier at home sailed over the catcher’s head, leading Pioneer to a wild 6-5 victory in eight innings that capped a 26-0 record and a state championship.

“I was just trying to put it in play,” McClelland said. “I was hoping to put it over their head to make it look a little cooler but I’ll take it as it was. I couldn’t even believe it. I heard everyone get loud and looked back and everyone was running at me.” 

The state title was the first in program history and the first in the Recorder area since Athol won the Div. 2 title in 2003. It was the first Franklin County state baseball title since Frontier in 1978.

Pioneer finished as the first unbeaten state champion in baseball since Austin Prep in 2022. 

 “This is the greatest feeling in the world,” Panthers coach Kevin Luippold said. “Coming into this game, all of us on the coaching staff wanted it so bad for these guys. They’ve put in so much work every single day. Their families let us take them for hours and hours throughout the season and all that hard work has paid off. I’m so happy for these guys.

“It’s emotions you’ve never felt before because it’s the last game of the season,” Luippold added. “It’s not like there’s anything after this. When you end your season on a win, it’s the best feeling in the world.”

The state title was a long time coming for the Panthers. Pioneer has been knocking on the door of winning a title, reaching the state semifinals each of the past three years but was unable to get over the Final Four hurdle. 

With a number of seniors on the team that have been around for the program all four years, they were able to draw on that experience when times got tough to bring the title back to Northfield this season. 

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Braeden Tsipenyuk said. “It’s so cool. With the amount of kids who are seniors that have been so close three years in a row, to finally get here and play at Polar Park — we took playing at Polar Park as a win — and become state champs is the greatest feeling.” 

Neither Pioneer’s Ben Werner or English’s Luis Meija were giving the opposition much to work with early. 

The Eagles (21-6) took the lead in the third, loading the bases when Matthew Guerrero was hit by a pitch to bring in Jaurel Mayo for the opening run of the game. 

Pioneer answered back in the fourth. Ethan Quinn bashed a double, moved to third on an Ethan Mauthe groundout and scored after Evan Tsipenyuk hit a sacrifice fly to right field to tie the game. 

Werner exited the game after the fourth, having given up just three hits. He was replaced by Glazier. 

“This is the best feeling ever,” Werner said. “I had a pretty good stat sheet but I didn’t feel my best to be honest. I trust my defense a lot and just wanted to put the ball in the zone and give my defense a chance to make outs. I trust all my guys.” 

Glazier shut English down in the fifth and sixth, and in the bottom of the sixth, Pioneer got going at the plate. Quinn doubled — just making it under the tag at second — and Mauthe singled him home to give the Panthers the lead. 

Mauthe took second on the throw home and Evan Tsipenyuk came through with an RBI single down the left field line to give Pioneer a 3-1 lead going into the seventh. 

“The hits were going to fall,” Luippold said. “We’re a hitting team. I’m surprised we didn’t score more runs with 12 hits. We left a couple runners on in scoring position but we knew we were going to string them at some point. The floodgates opened when we needed them to.” 

English’s Yuniesky Brea walked, Many de Jesus singled and Melo walked to load the bases with no outs in the seventh. Anyer Gomez grounded to short and McClelland threw Melo out at second, but Brea was able to score on the play. 

Mejia walked to reload the bases and with two strikes on him, Guerrero put down a sacrifice bunt to bring in de Jesus and tie the game. Ismeal Villar walked and with the bases loaded, Yeduardy Soto walked to bring in Gomez and give the Eagles a 4-3 lead. 

A deflated dugout got some energy after senior Jackson Campbell singled in the bottom of the seventh. McClelland walked and Mauthe hit a dribbler to third and was able to beat the throw to first. With a bobble by the first baseman, Campbell used his speed to race in from third to tie the game and send it to extras. 

“I knew we could put the bat on the ball,” Quinn said. “All we had to do was put one [run] up and that’s what we did to get back in the game. We went back out and fought again.” 

Brea singled to open the top of the eighth and after a pair of groundouts, Gomez singled Brea in from third to put English ahead in extras. Glazier got a flyout to end the inning and Pioneer rallied in the bottom of the frame for the win. 

“They put the bat on the ball,” Luippold said of English. “They’re a really good team and deserved to be here just as much as we did. They forced us into a couple extra innings than we would have liked because they were putting the bat on the ball with Jack throwing strikes. Jack didn’t waver when they were putting the ball in play and his defense made the plays behind him.” 

Pioneer has been part of wild games like this over the years, but nothing compared to the emotions of having it play out in a state championship game. 

All that adversity made the state title all the more special. 

“It was an amazing game,” Quinn said. “There were a lot of different emotions going on but it was amazing to be in it. The only other games we’ve had like that are the Georgetown game and the Drury game. This one had more emotions in it because it meant a lot more. It feels amazing. I’m speechless right now.”