Kingswood's Kolby Brown takes a swing in front of Hollis Brookline catcher Renzo Bengskaug during Sunday's Division II quarterfinals in Hollis. (Photo by Richard Tierney)

HOLLIS — Fifth-ranked Kingswood Regional jumped on No. 4 Hollis-Brookline early, scoring five runs across the first two innings and riding strong pitching to a 6-2 win in the Division II baseball quarterfinals on Sunday.

“This was a great game from start to finish,” said Kingswood head coach Asa Stockton. “We haven’t done that a lot this year, but we came ready to play today. One through nine played great baseball. It was a high-intensity game, but those are the games we get up for.”

Junior Kolby Brown led the charge on the mound, throwing four innings and allowing just two hits and one earned run, while striking out six.

“Kolby – he’s been our guy since his freshman year,” Stockton said. “He’s our horse. We ride him, and we go where he goes, offensively and defensively. He’s made All-State every year. The kid’s a stud. We’ll go as far as he can take us.”

Brown got Kingswood (14-4) going in the top of the first, ripping a two-run double after the bases were loaded to give the Knights an early 2-0 lead. Senior Ben Libby followed with a sacrifice fly to score classmate Calvin Sanft to make it 3-0 at the end of the first.

In the second, Kingswood again loaded the bases and scored twice on a wild pitch, stretching the lead to 5-0.

Hollis-Brookline (14-5) responded in the bottom of the third, when freshman Jordan Morelli worked a bases-loaded walk to score senior Dylan Morelli.

Sophomore Ian Sinclair took over on the mound for Hollis-Brookline and kept the game within reach, tossing five innings, striking out seven, and allowing just one earned run – a sacrifice fly by Kingswood sophomore James Rodgers in the fifth that made it 6-1.

Junior Thomas Howie brought home the game’s final run in the sixth with an RBI single, cutting the deficit to 6-2.

Kingswood’s bullpen stayed sharp behind junior Nate Cloos, who closed out the final three innings, allowing the one earned run and striking out four.

At the plate, Brown finished 1-for-2 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a run scored, and two RBI. Cloos went 1-for-2 with a single, a hit-by-pitch, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Libby also went 1-for-2 with a single and an RBI, while Sanft reached base three times with a single and two walks.

Despite the loss, Hollis-Brookline head coach Alex Pratt credited his players for how far they’d come since last season, when they missed the tournament after graduating most of the group that won two straight Division II titles.

“We bounced back well from a disappointing season last year,” Pratt said. “This season, we wanted to prove that we weren’t that team.”

“A lot of the same guys are coming back, and they’ll have something to prove, and I think we proved this year that we can hang with the bigger teams,” he added. “We didn’t play our best today, but give it to Kingswood, they played their game, and they won. We’ll come back stronger next year.”

Kingswood advances to face top-seeded Souhegan in the Division II semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Concord’s Warren Doane Field in the Memorial Field complex. The Sabers beat No. 9 Pembroke 7-0 to reach the final four. Kingswood and Souhegan split their last two matchups.

“We’ve played Souhegan twice the past two years – we’re 1-1,” Stockton said. “The last game was close, we lost 3-1 on an unearned run. We’re looking forward to it.”