Maya Howland’s two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth inning plated Cassandra Crozier with the go-ahead run and Drury High School edged Frontier Regional School, 8-7, in an independent softball game Monday at Zabek Field in South Deerfield.
Drury jumped all over the Red Hawks early, scoring three runs in each of the first two innings to take a 6-0 lead. Frontier chipped away, scoring in five consecutive innings, beginning with two runs in the third, to eventually tie the score at 7 and force extras. Drury led 7-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth when Lexa Boyden belted a solo home run, and Lauren MacDonald scored on a Hannah Adams’ double in the seventh to tie the game.
“I am pleased that they didn’t quit,” Frontier coach Carrie Fydenkevez said. “They’re workhorses and a great group of kids. They are going to get better as the season goes on. We had some physical and mental errors that we need to clean up, but they are working hard.”
MacDonald struck out four and walked three in the loss, allowing 12 hits. She also fell victim to five errors committed by the Frontier defense.
“Lauren pitched fabulously,” Fydenkevez said. “She’s a sophomore and she has the first game of the season under her belt.”
Howland finished with three hits to lead the Drury attack, while Crozier, Jenna Moulton and Alli Brassard each had two hits. Moulton had a double and two RBIs as well.
The Frontier offense ripped 18 hits in the loss. Boyden, Mindy Esposito and Ava Harper each had three base knocks, with Harper adding a double and an RBI. Adams had two hits, including a double, and one RBI, and Sarah Meunier singled and drove in a pair of runs. McKenzie Patterson singled and plated a run, and Kelsey Jarvis doubled.
Frontier travels to Taconic High School on Thursday.
Gardner 11, Athol 2 — Anna Passone struck out five and walked two in seven innings of two-hit ball to lead Gardner High School to a 11-2 independent softball win over Athol High School Monday afternoon in Gardner.
Erin Mack, Brianna Carsgrove and Abby Passone each had two hits for Gardner, which scored five runs in the first two innings.
Jess Soucie doubled and scored a run for the Red Raiders, and Brie Geise had a hit and an RBI.
Soucie suffered the loss, striking out four and walking four in six innings.
Athol gets right back to work today at Monson.
Frontier 4, Easthampton 0 — Make that two straight shutouts for Frontier baseball to start the season.
Nate Patterson allowed a dribbler up the first base line in the first inning and did not allow a hit the rest of the way for a one-hit shutout to lead Frontier to a 4-0 victory over Easthampton High School in HL crossover action Monday afternoon in Easthampton.
Patterson struck out eight and walked four in the complete-game victory, marking the second consecutive shutout by a Frontier starter after Noah Barnes pitched the Red Hawks to a 1-0 victory over Palmer High School in Friday’s season opener.
Patterson nearly chucked a no-hitter to boot. The only thing standing in his way was a first-inning hit by Jamie Ryan, which was a dribbler down the third base line that the Frontier third baseman left alone as it nearly went foul. Instead, the ball stayed fair and Ryan reached. The first inning was also the only time that any baserunner advanced past first base for the Eagles, as Patterson dominated the final six innings.
“Nate really impressed me,” first-year Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “He was mixing his pitches well and getting ahead in counts. He struck out the side in the second inning. He was just dominant out there.”
Frontier staked Patterson to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Ben Arnold singled, stole second and later scored on a passed ball. Arnold again set the table in the fourth inning to put the Red Hawks up 2-0 as he singled and advanced on an error and later scored on a Brandon Bryant sacrifice fly.
Frontier tacked on two more runs in the fifth and it was the bottom of the order that did much of the damage. Williams pointed out that the bottom three hitters in the lineup combined for four hits in seven plate appearances, with two doubles, one run, one RBI and two stolen bases. Kyle Spencer, the No. 7 hitter, led off with a double and scored on Riley Baker’s double. Jake Rowe then pinch ran for Baker, stole third and scored on a passed ball with Bryce Jordan (single, stolen base) at the plate.
Arnold and Baker each had two hits, while Kade Gewanter also had one hit.
Frontier hosts Athol today at 3:30.
Mohawk 2, Athol 0 — Torsten Sloan-Anderson fired a no-hitter and struck out 15 to lead Mohawk Trail Regional High School no-hit Athol, 2-0, in the Hampshire League East Division opener for both teams Monday in Athol.
Sloan-Anderson struck out the side in three innings on the day, including each of the first two frames as he set the tone for what was to come. He did have to pitch out of jams in numerous innings, thanks to the two errors and five walks allowed, but was in control much of the game.
“Torsten threw very well,” Athol coach Josh Talbot remarked. “He is just so tall, it’s a different viewpoint for hitters. He also took advantage of a big strike zone. We were very passive, and he hit his spots. He mixed in a couple of good breaking balls, but he didn’t have to use it that much.”
His counterpart on the mound was Athol ace Bryce Melanson, who also pitched very well in the tough-luck loss. Melanson struck out 12 Mohawk batters over six innings, and was tagged for just one run, as Mohawk managed to scrape together the first run in the sixth inning.
“Bryce threw great today,” Talbot exclaimed. “I was confident he would bounce back after a down year last year and he looked great today. Unfortunately, things just didn’t work out for him.”
The game was scoreless until the sixth when Mohawk’s Seth Donovan worked a two-out walk. He stole second and went to third on an overthrow, then scored on a passed ball.
Talbot went to the bullpen in the seventh and Mohawk tacked on an insurance run. Levin DuPree singled, stole two bases and scored on a Dan Szafran double.
Sloan-Anderson and Justin Ward each had two hits in the win.
Hopkins 6, Pioneer 1 — Brett Morrison struck out 12 in six innings and Hopkins Academy defeated Pioneer Valley Regional School, 6-1, in a HL crossover baseball game Monday afternoon in Hadley.
Hopkins scored single runs in each of the first four innings and tacked on two more in the fifth. Morrison finished with a pair of doubles and one RBI to pace the Hopkins offense, while Mike Curran had two hits and three RBIs. Zack Yahman and Trevor Fil each added a double and an RBI.
Eliot Mousseau led the Pioneer attack with two hits and a run scored. Nic Williams, Jordan Loughman and Matt Kenney each added one hit.
Kyle Hubbard suffered the loss, striking out five and walking three in three innings.
“Overall, our defense and our pitching was great,” Pioneer coach Mike Prattico said. “We just didn’t hit and we know that’s going to take time. But overall, it was an encouraging start.”
Commerce 10, Mahar 7 — Giovanni Rodriguez singled, doubled and drove in four runs and High School of Commerce outslugged Mahar Regional School en route to a 10-7 independent baseball win Monday afternoon in Springfield.
Both teams finished with eight hits on the day, and the two pitching staffs combined to walk 15 hitters, including eight by three Mahar hurlers.
Commerce scored six times in the bottom of the third after Mahar took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. That put Commece on top for good.
Ryan Arsenault finished with three hits, including a double, and also plated a pair of runs and stole two bases for the Senators. Liam Bashista had two hits and two RBIs.
Tyreece Younger suffered the loss, striking out three and walking two.
Frontier 5, Palmer 0 — The Frontier girls’ tennis team opened the season on a high note as they swept the five matches against Palmer High School during a 5-0 independent victory Monday in Palmer.
The top two singles matches both ended with a third-set supertiebreaker as the match was already decided by that point. Frontier No. 1 singles’ player Celia Speth dropped the first set of her match agianst Rachel Bauer but came back to claim a 1-6, 6-4, 8-6 victory. Alli Zera also won a close match at second singles for the Hawks as she knocked off Amanda Costa, 6-2, 4-6, 7-3.
The other three matches were not so close. Ashley Barrington defeated Kimberly Huynh, 6-0, 6-1 at third singles. Ericka Poissant and Tori Bowen upended Alexi Bigda and Samantha Herring, 6-2, 6-1 at first doubles, while Anna Zera and Tori Speth knocked off Hannah Begley and Aubrey Decaro, 6-0, 6-1 at second doubles.
“It was a nice way to kick off the season,” Frontier coach Steve Barrett said. “The whole group really did a nice job.”
Frontier hosts St. Mary High School today at 4.
Mahar 104½, Greenfield 40½
Mahar 119, Sci-Tech 21 — Ally Parker won three events and Mahar Regional School defeated Greenfield High School, 104.5-40.5 in a Intercounty League girls’ track & field meet Monday afternoon at the Woodward Complex in Orange.
Mahar also competed against Springfield School of Science & Technology and defeated the CyberCats, 119-21.
Parker won the 100 meter dash in 13.5 seconds and captured the long jump (16 feet) and the triple jump (32 feet) for the Senators. Kianna Reilly won the 200 (30.8 seconds) and the high jump (4-10) as the other dual-event winner for the Senators, who improved to 3-0 on the season.
Tori Tenney won the 800 in 2:47.1 for Mahar, and the Senators swept the hurdles, as Marie Nottleson won the 100 highs in 19 seconds, and Ava Santana won the 400 lows in 79.2 seconds.
Maeve Powell won the shot put at 31-11, Natalie Gonynor won the javelin at 91-1, and Ashley Ehlen won the discus at 68-11.
Amy O’Sullivan had a strong day in the distance events for the Green Wave, winning the mile in 5:57.4, and the 2-mile in 12:58.5. Amelia Simmons won the 400 for the Wave in 69.2 seconds, and Sarah O’Sullivan won the pole vault at 7-6. Amy O’Sullivan finished second in the event at the same height.