WESTFIELD — Shortly after junior Peyton Maloney tossed another shutout to lead the Lions to a 2-0 victory in their Division 5 semifinal on Tuesday, West Boylston coach John Pajer noted that the maturity and trust in her defense Maloney has built up over the last year is what led her to successfully navigate a game like this.

“Last year, she probably would’ve fallen apart in some of those situations,” Pajer said. “This year, because of that next year and the control she has, she’s not worried about if she walks somebody or gets into those situations because she knows she can get herself out of it, and most importantly, she knows her defense will get help get her out of it.”

With her ever-growing poise, Maloney and the Lions collectively battled a Turners Falls offense that scored 40 runs over its previous three tournament games and held them scoreless as they scattered eight hits around Westfield State’s Hagan Field but left 10 runners on base. The junior ace served up just one walk and hit a batter while striking out eight, successfully quieting the second-seeded Thunder’s bats.

Third-seeded West Boylston (21-3) will play the winner of Wednesday's Greenfield-Pioneer semifinal (after The Item went to press), at UMass-Amherst at a date to be determined. — Zachary Stuczko, Telegram and Gazette

Sutton 10, Tahanto 2: Pat Kostiw hit a home run and Leo Colena fanned nine as the No. 13 Sammies (11-10) upset the No. 4 Stags (15-3) in a State Division 5 second round game, despite only managing two hits. Tahanto's Jackson Rice was 2 for 4. 

Nashoba 13, Danvers 6: Dillon Kelleher and Braden MacLean both collected four goals and three assist to boost the host sixth-seeded Wolves (20-0) in a Division 2 first round matchup. 

Walpole 13, Nashoba 12: in the second round of the MIAA Division 2 tournament.

Hull 16, Tahanto 15: Julia Rubinow had four goals and one assist, Alison Stevens gathered seven goals and two assists, and Taylor Brown tallied two goals and one assist, but the Stags came up short at home in a Division 4 first-round game. Teammate Taylor Brown collected two goals and one assist, while Gisele Uva had one goal and three assists.

Wayland 20, Nashoba 5: in the first round of the MIAA Division 2 tournament.

West Boylston 4, Hoosac Valley, 0: in the Division 5 quarterfinals.

West Boylston 2, Turners Falls 0: Peyton Maloney struck out eight and walked one in a four-hit shutout and plated a run with a groundout to lift the visiting third-seeded Lions (21-3) in a Division 5 semifinal at Westfield State. West Boylston will play the winner of Greenfield-Frontier at UMass Amherst at a date to be determined. Madison Pitro tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth for West Boylston.