For the second straight night, Pioneer Valley Regional School got huge mound performance.
One night after Cody Letourneau threw a three-hit shutout to lead the Panthers to a 3-0 win over Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School, Jacob Hubbard turned it up a notch by chucking a three-hit shutout against Mohawk Trail Regional High School and Pioneer earned a 1-0 victory in a Hampshire League East Division baseball game Tuesday night in Northfield.
Luke Viens went pitch-for-pitch with Hubbard through the first five innings before the Panthers (4-3) finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jacob Quinn led off with a walk on a full count, and Zack Renaud followed with a ground-out to third, but on the play Quinn cruised around second and took the extra base. That brought up Letourneau, who was coming off a two-hit, four-RBI performance Monday, but Viens came back and struck Letourneau out on a curve ball for the second out of the inning.
Cam Baird came to the plate with two outs, and the sophomore already had two hits on the night. He took a pitch from Viens and lofted a single into short right-center field to score Quinn with the winning run.
“He’s been on fire,” Pioneer coach Jordan Branson said. “He wasn’t playing full time in the first couple games of the season. He was kind of splitting time at third. But we got the point where he was going to be the guy, and he has responded well to it. He was also hitting at the bottom of the order early in the season, but now he is hitting fifth.”
That was enough for Hubbard, who cruised through seven innings, striking out six and walking three. The only real threat to him came in the top of the sixth inning when Bryan Allen led off with a double for Mohawk (4-5), which prompted Branson to order Hubbard to intentionally walk the next Mohawk hitter to put two men on with nobody out. The next Mohawk batter lined out to right and the Warriors had a runner doubled-up off first on the play, and Hubbard then struck out the next batter to get out of the jam.
“He has this quiet leadership on the mound,” Branson said.
Jack Loud finished with two hits in the win, and Renaud added one hit.
Viens and Anthony Moffatt each had one hit for Mohawk. Viens wound up with five strikeouts in six innings, while allowing six hits and three walks.
Smith Academy 5, Athol 0 — It was a strange day for Smith Academy pitcher Matt Bouley.
Despite issuing 11 walks over six-plus innings of work, Bouley never allowed a run and the Falcons shut out Athol High School, 5-0, in a HL East Division baseball game Tuesday in Athol.
Bouley walked at least one batter in every inning, including walking the bases loaded in the fourth inning. Athol ( 2-5) was never able to capitalize, and wound up leaving eight runners in scoring position in the loss. Athol also had two runners caught stealing. Bouley allowed just four hits, and struck out four.
The Falcons (5-3) plated four runs in the third inning and took advantage of a walk in the frame by Athol starter Mark Ferrari, who certainly had a better line than Bouley in the loss as he struck out 13 and allowed just two walks and five hits in seven innings. Ferrari walked No. 9 hitter Michael Bassett to lead off the third inning, then watched his defense commit back-to-back errors on the next two hitters as Bassett scored. Bouley then helped himself out by hitting a two-run triple to right field, before he scored on another Athol error. The Red Raiders finished with four errors in the third frame as three of the four runs were unearned. Bouley added an RBI single in the seventh to complete the scoring.
Nick Bousquet, Kris Selanis, Ferrari and Dakota Williams each had one hit in the loss.
Belchertown 11, Turners Falls 1 — Ryan French had three hits and three RBIs and Belchertown High School dumped Turners Falls High School, 11-1, Tuesday in a HL West baseball game in Belchertown.
Belchertown struck for four runs in the first inning and never looked back as Zachary Jenks struck out four and walked two in 5⅓ innings to earn the victory.
The Orioles (6-2) finished with 11 hits in the win. Victor Camerota had two hits and three RBIs for the Orioles, and Chris Tilton had three hits and one RBI. Aiden Baceski chipped in one hit and two RBIs.
James Robison struck out one and allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings in the loss. Jon Fritz had one hit and one RBI for Turners Falls (2-5), while Jake Dodge, Kyle Dodge, Riley Watroba and Hayden Patenaude each had one hit.
Easthampton 4, Mahar 0 — Dawson Wolcott twirled a beauty on the mound as he struck out 15 and allowed just two hits and one walk in a complete-game shutout during Easthampton High School’s 4-0 win over Mahar Regional School in HL East baseball action Tuesday in Orange.
Joey Brozell and Will Peredina had the only two hits for Mahar (3-5). Sam Paul suffered the loss, striking out four and allowing five walks and five hits in five innings.
The Eagles (3-3) scored single runs in the first and second innings, and then added two in the third. Wolcott slugged a home run in the win and finished with three RBIs.
Sci-Tech 8, FC Tech 3 — Springfield School of Science & Technology scored eight times in the final three innings to defeat Franklin County Technical School, 8-3, in an independent baseball game Tuesday in Turners Falls.
Tech led 1-0 after four innings but the CyberCats plated two runs in the fifth to take the lead for good, then tacked on three runs in each of the final two innings to pull away.
Gaby Andino went the distance to earn the win, striking out seven and walking five. Andino had three hits and two RBIs in the win, and Jacob Sutter had three hits. Torrii Turner added an RBI double.
Spencer Telega pitched well in the first four innings, striking out three and walking three and not allowing a run. Chris Taylor was tagged for the loss with three strikeouts and one walk in 1⅓ innings, before Max Charest came on and struck out two over the final 1⅔ innings.
Nate Pelletier had two hits, including a double, and drove in a pair of runs, while Charest doubled and had one RBI. Travis Cutting and Sam Bobala each had one hit.
Franklin Tech (3-5) travels to Turners Falls this evening at 6:30.
Turners 17, Ludlow 3 — Have a day, Jade Tyler.
The Turners Falls High School freshman did it all on Tuesday. Tyler registered a whopping eight RBI by crushing a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, as the visiting Powertown rolled past Ludlow High School, 17-3, in an independent softball game at Baird Middle School in Ludlow.
She also tossed six innings in the pitching circle to earn the win, striking out nine and walking two batters for Turners, which improved to 6-1.
“She absolutely crushed the ball a couple of times,” Turners coach Gary Mullins said of Tyler.
The freshman hit a two-run double in the first inning, added a two-run home run in the fifth and unloaded a grand slam as part of a six-run top of the sixth to post the impressive eight RBIs.
Cassidhe Wozniak and Olivia Whittier had three hits apiece for Turners, which held a decisive 16-3 edge in the hit department. Wozniak joined Tyler in the home run club with a shot of her own. Lexi Lacey and Hailey Bogusz notched two hits each.
While his offense continues to lead the way, Mullins said his defense must improve as the schedule ramps up over the next two weeks. Turners committed four errors against Ludlow, a consistent theme during the early-portion of the slate.
“For the most part they haven’t been tough plays we’re making mistakes on,” the veteran coach offered. “It’s costing us runs. We’re going to keep searching for the right combo to make for a good defensive team.”
Turners heads to Mohawk Trail Regional High School today for a Franklin County League contest.
FC Tech 11, Commerce 10 — Kelsey Winship hit a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning and Franklin Tech earned its first win of the season with a 11-10 victory over High School of Commerce in a Tri-County League softball game Tuesday in Turners Falls.
The Raiders scored three times in the top of the seventh inning to snap a 7-7 tie but the Eagles (1-8) rebounded in the bottom of the frame to score four runs. Brooke Adams walked and Hailey Larned hit a one-out, RBI single to plate Adams. Then with two outs, Desiree Doane singled and Jocelyn Crowningshield followed that up with a base hit to score Larned. Winship then came to the plate and drove in a pair to lead the Eagles to the win.
“It was very exciting,” exasperated Eagles’ coach Amber Crochier said. “The girls finally started to play together and they were able to string some hits together toward the end of the game.”
Crowningshield and Larned each finished with three hits and two RBIs. Winship had two hits and three RBIs. Hailey Jackson had one hit and three RBIs, and Adams had one hit and two RBIs.
Doanie earned the win with seven strikeouts and eight walks in the complete-game effort.
Athol 7, Gardner 4 — Angelica Baptista smacked a two-run home run as part of a five-run second inning, and Athol High School erased an early deficit to capture a 7-4 independent softball victory over Gardner High School Tuesday in Athol.
Gardner took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning before Haley Bigwood clubbed a solo homer in the home half of the opening stanza to cut the deficit in half for the Red Raiders (4-4).
Baptista, who also had a double, hit her two-run shot in the second when Athol pushed five runs across to take a 6-2 advantage it would not relinquish.
That’s because eighth-grader Lindsey LeBlanc came through with her best outing of the season in the Athol pitching circle. LeBlanc struck out 12 batters and didn’t issue a walk, scattering six hits to earn her first career varsity win.
“She’s settling in nicely,” praised Athol coach Sharon Chauvette. “She’s 13 year old, pitching against a lot of 17- and 18-year-olds but she’s starting to get comfortable out there.”
Hannah Lajoie had two hits and an RBI for the Raiders, while LeBlanc helped her own cause with a double at the plate.
Athol heads to play rival Mahar Regional School today at 3:30 p.m.