Iain Sanislo scored the eventual game-winning run on a balk in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Mohawk Trail Regional High School made a solid outing from starting pitcher Jordan Grenier stand up on Thursday.
The host Warriors chipped away at a 3-0 deficit to score four unanswered runs and picked up a 4-3 win over Athol High School in a Hampshire League East baseball game in Buckland.
Grenier struck out two and walked a pair in six innings of work for Mohawk (5-5, 2-1), before Wyatt Bandy-Page slammed the door with a scoreless seventh inning to earn the save.
Athol (2-6, 0-2) led 1-0 in the third inning before tacking on a pair in the frame. With one out, Nick Bousquet singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a Mark Ferrari RBI single. Ferrari took second base on the throw, moved to third on another wild pitch, and came home thanks to an RBI groundout from Kris Selanis to make it a 3-0 game.
After failing to score a run in a disappointing 1-0 loss to Pioneer Valley Regional School in their last game, the Warriors finally got on the board with single runs in the third and fourth innings.
Trailing 3-2 in the fifth, Mohawk went to work. Luke Viens singled with one out and advanced to second on an error before making it to third on a groundout. With two outs, Sanislo’s grounder to the infield was thrown away for an error, allowing Viens to tie the game at 3-3.
Sanislo moved to third on a single by Bandy-Page, setting up the balk that enabled him to score the go-ahead run for a 4-3 advantage.
Will Guyette recorded two hits to pace the hosts at the plate, while Anthony Moffatt had the team’s lone RBI.
Athol outhit Mohawk by a 7-6 margin, with Joey Lehtomaki smacking the game’s lone extra-base hit, a double. The teams combined for seven errors on the day.
Bousquet suffered the loss for the Red Raiders, striking out seven and walking two in a complete-game effort.
Mohawk is right back at it today when it hosts Hoosac Valley High School at 4 p.m. while Athol travels to Mahar Regional School on Monday.
Frontier 16, Turners 5 — A close game early eventually saw Frontier Regional School open things up and pull away late.
The visiting Red Hawks stayed undefeated, scoring eight runs in the sixth en route to a 16-5 win over Turners Falls High School in an HL West contest Thursday night at the Bourdeau Fields Complex in Turners Falls.
“The final score doesn’t indicate the way the game went,” Frontier coach Chris Williams offered. “It was a neck and neck matchup. I give (Turners coach) Scott (Minckler) and his boys all the credit in the world for coming out and laying down the hurt. If they had the depth we have, that game would have come down to the wire.”
Turners (2-7, 0-2) took a 2-1 lead after one inning. Jake Dodge scored on an error and Kyle Dodge scored on a Jake Burnett RBI single.
Frontier (9-0, 3-0) scored three in the third to take a 4-2 lead, with Bryan Baumann (single) and Dylan Apanell (error) driving in runs.
Jon Fritz singled home Riley Watroba in the bottom of the third, pulling the Powertown back within 4-3.
But the Red Hawks offense took off from there. Frontier scored two in the fourth, eight in the sixth and two in the seventh en route to the 16-5 win.
Baumann had three hits and drove in four runs to pace the Hawks. Apanell and Jake Bryant both had two hits, with Apanell added a pair of RBI. Frontier racked up 13 stolen bases on the night.
Kyle Dodge had two hits for Turners, and Burnett drove in a pair.
Apanell earned the win in relief, striking out four in 1⅔ innings of action.
Pioneer 4, Mahar 3 — Four games in four days? No problem for Pioneer.
The Panthers finished off a tough week, winning three times in a four-day span thanks to Thursday’s 4-3 HL East win over Mahar in Northfield.
Pioneer (5-4, 2-1) closed out a 3-1 week, coming from behind to enter a much-needed day off on a high note.
“It was big,” said Pioneer coach Jordan Branson of the win. “We ended up playing four games in four days and won our three home games. Overall, I can’t complain. Anybody would’ve loved to walk away going 4-0, but you can’t be greedy in baseball. We’ll take the three wins and now we’re halfway to our (10-win) goal of getting back to the tournament.”
Mahar (3-6, 0-3) led 3-1 after pushing two runs across in the top of the fifth inning. The Panthers tied it in the home half, with Jacob Hubbard leading the frame off with a single. Noah Keith pinch ran and immediately stole second while taking third on a passed ball. He would cut the lead to 3-2, trotting home on a Kyle Devlin RBI single.
Pioneer wasn’t done, as Devlin stole second and took third on a Troy Emond sacrifice bunt. With Devlin 90 feet away, Jack Loud lifted a sacrifice fly to the outfield that tied the game.
The hosts scored the game-winning run in the home half of the sixth. Zach Renaud led off with a walk, stole second, and then took third on a delayed steal. That set up Cody Letourneau, who made it 4-3 with an RBI single.
Letourneau got the first two hitters in order on the mound in the top of the seventh before Mahar made things interesting in its final at-bat. Charlie Barnes drilled his second triple of the contest into the gap, putting the potential tying run on third with two outs. Rather than facing Jacob Berry, who had just driven in a run his last time up, Pioneer elected to intentionally walk the Senators No. 4 hitter. Letourneau then induced a fly out to left field to end the game and secure the league victory.
Letourneau went two innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory for the Panthers. He struck out two and walked one, coming in after starter Jared Ackerman went the first five innings with two strikeouts and two walks. Letourneau had two of Pioneer’s five hits and two RBI.
Berry took the loss, tossing a complete-game while striking out four and allowing five hits and one walk.
Barnes registered three hits on the day for the Senators, driving in two of the team’s three runs. Berry had a hit and an RBI, while Sam Paul added a double.