The Frontier Regional School winning streak is over and it ended with a bang.
Hopkins Academy ace and University of Rhode Island-bound Jon Morrison chucked a no-hitter against the Red Hawks to hand Frontier its first loss of the season with a 2-0 Hampshire League West Division victory Wednesday afternoon at G.T. Valiton Field in South Deerfield.
Frontier (10-1) opened the season on a 10-game winning streak and had survived some tests of late to remain unbeaten, but Morrison proved too much for the Red Hawks’ offense, striking out 12. Morrison allowed just two walks. One other batter reached on an error in the outing.
“Today we went up against a tremendous pitcher,” Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “We went into it with the idea that we could win if Ben (Arnold) could throw more strikeouts than Morrison. And that’s not just on Ben, but on our offense to produce.”
Arnold pitched well in defeat, striking out six and allowing five hits and four walks.
“Ben went out there and did his job, and defensively we made plays,” Williams said. “At the end of the day, you need to put the ball in play and with 12 strikeouts, we didn’t do that.”
Hopkins scored single runs in each of the first two innings to take the lead. Jack Feltovic and Morrison each had one hit and one RBI for Hopkins, while John Earle, Justin Butterfield and Mike Curran each added a hit.
Frontier did have a chance to pull even late. In the sixth, Cam Barnes reached on an error and stole second and third, and Bryan Baumann walked and stole second to move two men into scoring position with two outs but Morrison came back to get the final out of the frame to eliminate the threat.
Frontier travels to Belchertown on Friday.
Athol 7, Pioneer 0 — Nick Bousquet scattered five hits over seven shutout innings to lead Athol High School to a 7-0 victory over Pioneer Valley Regional School in a Hampshire League East Division baseball game Wednesday in Athol.
Bousquet struck out 12 and walked just two in the shutout. He did allow one baserunner in every inning, but only once (in the seventh) allowed a runner to get past first base. He struck out the side in both the third and fourth innings.
“Nick threw the ball really well, he hit a lot of spots,” Athol coach Josh Talbot said. “He mixed pitches when he needed to, but what was really effective was his fastball. He kept it down and moved it in and out and limited their contact.”
The Red Raider offense gave Bousquet some early breathing room with five runs in the first two innings. The pitcher helped himself by leading off the bottom of the first with a double and moving to third on a Joey Lehtomaki single. Kris Selanis drove in Bousquet with a fielder’s choice, and Robbie Nelson then got on with a fielder’s choice for the second out of the inning. Nelson stole a pair of bags and scored on Maysin Tarbell’s RBI single to right, and Tarbell promptly stole second and third and scored when Anthony Oro singled to make it 3-0.
Athol (5-6) added to the lead in the second with two more runs. Noah Pottinger tripled to right-center and scored on Bousquet’s ground out to second. Lehtomaki then doubled to right-center and scored when Selanis singled to center. The final two Athol runs came in the fifth when Selanis singled and Nelson walked and both scored on a Keegan Lutz single.
Cam Baird led the Pioneer (6-5) offense with two hits, while Cody Letourneau, Troy Emond and Kyle Devlin each had one hit. Jacob Hubbard struck out two in two innings to suffer the loss.
Greenfield 13, Turners Falls 2 — Hunter Campbell had two doubles as part of a three-hit performance and drove in a team-high four RBIs to pace Greenfield High School to a 13-2 win over Turners Falls High School in a HL West baseball game Wednesday night at the Bourdeau Fields Complex in Turners Falls.
The Green Wave (8-3) exploded for six runs in the third inning and never looked back. Colin Cloutier had a pair of triples as part of a three-hit game and also drove in a run, while Jake Suhl had two hits and three RBIs. Jared Hart added two hits and two RBIs, Joel Peabody had one hit and one RBI, and Owen Phelps doubled and scored three times.
Hart earned the win in relief, pitching 4⅔ innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Riley Watroba had doubled and two RBIs for Turners Falls (2-10), and Kyle Dodge (double) and Hayden Patenaude each added a hit.
Mahar 9, Smith Academy 5 — Mahar Regional School scored five times in the first inning and took advantage of six Smith Academy errors to earn perhaps its biggest win of the season, 9-5, in an HL East baseball game Wednesday in Hadley.
The Senators (4-7) led 5-0 after one inning and then added four runs in the fifth to take a 9-2 lead at the time. Sam Paul and Todd Chiasson each had two hits and two RBIs for the Senators, who finished with 13 hits as a team. Cam Barnes had three hits, and Aiden Herk had one hit and two RBIs.
Jacob Berry earned the win, striking out two and allowing five hits and four walks in five innings. Will Peredina allowed one run on one hit in two innings of relief.
Brett Gratz had one hit and four RBIs to pace the Falcons (7-5), and Matt Bouley had two hits. Liam Pitrat allowed 13 hits and two walks in six innings in the loss, striking out three.
FC Tech 20, Commerce 2 — Franklin County Technical School scored 14 runs in the fourth inning and went on to a 20-2 victory over High School of Commerce in a mercy-rule shortened, five-inning independent baseball game Wednesday afternoon in Turners Falls.
Hunter Sessions had two hits, five stolen bases and three RBIs for the Eagles, who pulled back to .500 on the season at 6-6. Sam Bobala singled, doubled and drove in three runs, and Nate Pelletier had one hit and two RBIs. Spencer Telega earned the win, striking out two and allowing four walks and two hits in five innings.
“We took advantage of some wildness by their pitching and when we got pitches to hit, we drove the ball,” Franklin Tech coach Brian Winslow said.
Easthampton 9, Mohawk 3 — Easthampton High School scored eight times in the fourth inning to get past Mohawk Trail Regional High School, 9-3, in a HL East baseball game Wednesday in Easthampton.
Jordan Grenier took a no-hitter into the fourth inning but struggled with control and finished with six strikeouts and nine walks in 3⅔ innings, allowing six runs in the fourth. Jared Jacobs came on and allowed two runs on three hits in the fourth as the Eagles turned a 1-0 deficit into a 8-1 lead.
“We fell apart after what we deemed was a bad call,” Mohawk assistant John Finck said. “We were sailing along 1-0 to that point.”
Mohawk actually outhit the Eagles 6-5 despite the loss. Nic Soucy had two hits and two RBIs in the win, while Austin Kuenzel doubled and drove in two runs.
Brian Allen had one hit and two RBIs for Mohawk. Luke Viens tripled for the Warriors (6-7), Jon Schuetze doubled and Wyatt Bandy-Page had a pair of hits.
Dawson Wolcott struck out six in five innings to earn the win.