For the second day in a row, the Mohawk Trail Regional High School baseball team pounded out double-digit hits and runs. The combination was again a winning one, as the host Warriors played their first game on their home field in Buckland and picked up a convincing 14-2 win over visiting Drury High School in an independent baseball game on Friday.
“It’s our second day in a row with double-digit hits and runs but what I’m really happy about is our situational hitting and base-running,” lauded Mohawk coach Bill Buck. “We’ve been hitting behind runners, sacrificing when we have to and taking extra bases.”
Mohawk (2-1) broke through for eight runs in the bottom of the second in the win over Drury (0-4). Senior Seth Donovan led off with a single, Chris Graves walked and Wyatt Bandy-Page singled to load the bases. Brian Allen drove in a run after being hit by a pitch, and after an error, Luke Viens drove in a pair with a double. Adam Hallenbeck and Torstan Sloan-Anderson knocked in runs with singles of their own, as the Warriors took a commanding 8-0 lead.
The advantage would grow to 12-0 with four runs in the third, and Mohawk wasn’t threatened the rest of the way.
Donovan picked up the win on the mound, tossing five innings of action against the Blue Devils. He allowed just three hits and one run while striking out six and walking four. Bruin Pratt finished things off for the final two innings.
“I didn’t know what Seth would bring us today because his arm’s been tweaked a little,” Buck said. “I thought maybe a couple innings but he pitched five solid innings and did a nice job keeping his pitch count down.”
Viens led the offense with three hits and a pair of RBI, while Hallenbeck drove in three runs to go with two hits. Szafran was 2-for-4 with two RBI, and Sloan-Anderson also registered two hits to pace an offense that finished with 12 on the afternoon.
Mohawk will spend its vacation on the road, playing three games away against Wahconah Regional High School (Monday), Frontier Regional School (Wednesday) and Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School (Thursday).
Hoosac Valley 15, Pioneer 0 (5) — It was not quite the start to the season Pioneer Valley Regional School had hoped for on Friday.
On the road against the defending Western Mass. Division III runners-up, the Panthers were held to just one hit in a 15-0 five-inning loss to Hoosac Valley High School in an independent contest in Cheshire.
Hoosac (2-0), which lost to Turners Falls High School in last year’s D-III title game, posted a 10-run bottom of the first on Friday. The Hurricanes were led by Kali Puppolo’s three hits and five RBI, as the hosts pounded out 12 hits in their four offensive frames.
Pioneer (0-1) was held to just one hit by Puppolo, who struck out 10 in the five-inning shutout. Alexus Vergobbe clubbed a triple for the Panthers, while Kaylee Gibson and Lizzie Fuller combined in the pitching circle. Fuller came on for the final three innings, striking out five batters.
The Panthers will return to the Berkshires on Monday when they travel to Dalton play Wahconah in an independent game.
Greenfield 101, Pioneer 43
Pioneer 112, Athol 33 — In the first-ever meet held on the brand-new Greenfield High School track, the host Green Wave made it a memorable debut Friday. Host Greenfield swept the running events en route to a 101-43 victory over Pioneer in an Intercounty League meet. Pioneer returned the favor to Athol High School in a 112-33 IL win as the three schools competed on the same track in two separate dual meets.
Greenfield (1-0, 1-0 IL) was powered by Asier Areta captured wins in the 100 (11.7 seconds) and 200 meters (24.0), while Mike Aras won a trio of events in taking the 110 hurdles (18.9), 400 hurdles (67.1) and high jump (5-8) in the win over Pioneer.
Individual wins on the track for the Wave also went to Isaiah Morrison (800, 2:14.4), Sam Knight (mile, 5:13) and Dylan Badillo (2-mile, 11:34.2), while David Giurgui captured the pole vault (12-6) and Greenfield won both the 4×100 and 4×400 relays against Pioneer.
Pioneer sophomore Scott McDonough won both the long (18-4½) and triple jumps (37-4½) in the meet against Greenfield, and also captured both wins against Athol in addition to a victory in the 100 meters (11.7).
The Panthers were strong against Athol, especially in the field events where Jacob Kelton won the pole vault (11-0) and high jump (5-2) while also crossing first in the 200. Andrew Pratt took the victory in the discus (125-0), while Wyatt Keith captured the javelin (140-0) and A.J. Wilson claimed the shot put (36-5¼).
Athol was powered by Mason Barrieau’s two wins in the 400 (53.9) and 110 hurdles (16.3), while teammate Dennis St. Jean was also a multi-event winner thanks to victories in the 800 (2:28.2) and mile (5:04.5).
Mohawk 74, West Springfield 71 — Sophomore Meghan Davis earned key points in the distance events, capturing first overall in both the mile (5:44) and 2-mile (12:17) to lift visiting Mohawk Trail Regional High School to a tight 74-71 win over West Springfield High School in an independent meet on Friday afternoon.
Lilly Wells aided the Mohawk (2-0) cause with a victory in the 400 (62.3), while eighth-grader Olivia Parent was victorious in the 800 (2:32).
The Warriors were very strong in the field events, led by Gabby Shean’s wins in the javelin (79-1) and shot put (29-11). Violet Rawlings posted the top throw in the discus (94-0), while Erin Laffond won the pole vault with a top clearance of 7 feet.
Head coach Joe Chadwick lauded the performance of sophomore Lily Shearer, who notched personal bests in the 100 hurdles (17.4) and 400 hurdles (75.7). Mohawk won the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:29.1
Turners Falls 4, Sabis 1 — Host Turners Falls High School dropped just two total games in doubles matches, and the Powertown took care of business in a 4-1 win over Sabis International Charter School in a Tri-County League boys’ tennis match Friday afternoon.
The first doubles tandem of Jovanni Ruggiano and Nick Morin teamed for a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sabis’ Chris Gonzalez and Matthew Elmaisian, while Turners’ Will Turn and Josh Gaulin were easy 6-0, 6-0 winners at second doubles.
Freshman Brian Poirier also dominated his match at third singles, dropping just one game in a tidy 6-1, 6-0 win over Zachary Thomas.
The top of the ladder featured a pair of three-set matches. Ricky Craver of Turners won his match at No. 2 singles, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 over Chris Calvanese. Junior Jimmy Vaughn was edged by Sabis’ Matthew Wraga in the top spot, where Wraga was a 7-1 (1), 4-6, 10-6 winner to snag a point for the visiting Bulldogs.