One night removed from its first loss of the season, the Pioneer baseball team got back to its winning ways on Thursday.
The visiting Panthers scored four runs in the top of the first inning and took off from there, capturing a 25-0 win over Mohawk Trail in a Bi-County League North contest in Buckland.
Jason Quinn doubled three times and drove in six runs to lead the way for Pioneer (8-1, 5-0), while Alex McClelland had four hits and five RBIs. Sean Allen, Ethan Quinn and Ethan Mauve all registered two hits in the victory. Ian Simpson tossed four shutout innings on the mound, striking out eight, before McClelland threw a scoreless fifth.
Deven Buchanan doubled and walked for the Warriors.
Franklin Tech 12, Mahar 1 (6) — Ryan Demers sent the home fans home happy Thursday, as his bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the sixth inning secured a run-shortened Bi-County North victory in Turners Falls.
The Eagles (6-5, 3-2)) halted a four-game losing skid, bouncing back on the arm of Jake Whitney who struck out 10 in a complete-game victory.
“It’s a good statement win for us to get back in the win column,” Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol said. “It was nice to put together a good, complete game. It’s been a little while.”
Mahar (1-5, 1-4) led 1-0 early on a Liam O’Donnell RBI single in the top of the first before the Eagles rallied with two in the home half. They pushed across three in the second and four in the third.
Chris Ryan was 2-for-4 with a triple for Franklin Tech, and Kyle Begos also added a double. Alex Sulda, Sam Knight, Dylan Shinall and Demers finished with two hits apiece.
O’Donnell and Cole Johnson had two hits apiece for the Senators.
Palmer 5, Athol 4 — Michael Mayberry hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh, spoiling a late Athol rally on Thursday in Palmer.
Trailing 4-0 after five innings, the Bears rallied with a pair of runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Athol’s Gabe Hume and Shea Brennan both reached on errors and scored in the sixth, and in the seventh, Connor Mahony doubled and scored on a Logan Cormier RBI single. Dilan Fountain walked and scored on an error to tie the game 4-4.
Fountain was 3-for-3 to pace the offensive attack.
Smith Academy 11, Turners 0 — Griffin Smiarowski struck out 11 in six shutout innings for the Falcons in an 11-0 Bi-County North win on Thursday in Turners Falls.
Smith Academy scored in every inning but the first.
Turners’ Lincoln Coleman had two hits while Cam Burnett also had a hit for the Powertown.
Mohawk Trail 79, Greenfield 61 — Ellie Pinkham won four events, and the visiting Warriors held off Greenfield on a blustery Thursday for outdoor competition.
Pinkham posted top marks in the long jump (14 feet, 6¾ inches), 100 meters (13.5), 400 (70.8) and 200 (29.8).
Emmy Sisum was a double-winner for Mohawk Trail, taking first in the triple jump (30-7) and 400 hurdles (77.6). Sofiya Slocik-Gritzner won the high jump (4-2), Anya Reid took first in the 800 (3:01), Natalie Lanoue scored first in the race of the day at the 2-mile (14:35), and Savannah Simmons captured the pole vault (6-0).
Greenfield’s Tess Rancourt was a winner in the shot put (33-4), while Lillia Kachelmeyer won the discus (92-9) and Sam Santos claimed the javelin (79-2). On the track, Maddy Hayes was first across in the 100 hurdles (19.4) and Kandice Lu won the 1-mile (6:32.7).
Greenfield 107, Mohawk Trail 37 — Theo Popusoi snatched wins in four events as the Green Wave rolled at home Thursday.
Popusoi won the triple jump (38-11½), pole vault (12-0), long jump (18-3½) and 400 hurdles (1:02.3).
Liviu Mihailicenco and Deion Brewington won three events apiece for Greenfield. Mihailicenco took first in the 110 hurdles (15.7), 400 (55.9) and high jump (6-0), while Brewington was a winner in the 100 (11.9), 200 (24.4) and shot put (37-9). Jon Breor took first in the javelin 9113-6) and Ryan Pulizari won the discus (86-7).
Mohawk Trail’s Dennis Simmons captured a win in the 2-mile (10:55) while teammates Emmett Johnson (800, 2:21) and Vincent Gauthier (1-mile, 5:17) also snagged wins.
Franklin Tech 16, Athol 4 — Trailing 3-2 in the top of the fifth, visiting Franklin Tech put five runs on the board, then followed that with another five-spot in the sixth en route to a Franklin County League East victory on Thursday in Athol.
Hannah Gilbert was 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI for the Eagles (9-1, 5-0), while Lauren Ross was 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs scored. Cordelia Guerin smacked her first career varsity home run and drove in three runs, while Kaitlin Trudeau, Lilly Ross and Kylee Gamache had two hits apiece.
Lauren Ross struck out 11 in a complete-game outing in the circle for Franklin Tech.
Athol’s Jenna Bonenfant homered and drove in all four runs for the hosts. The Bears led 3-0 after one inning. Lindsey LeBlanc singled and scored twice at the plate while striking out 12 in the circle over seven innings.
Greenfield 11, Mt. Greylock 4 — MacKenzie Paulin struck out 10 in seven innnigs of work, and Kelsey Richardson smacked two home runs to go with five RBIs in the Green Wave’s FCL West victory on the road in Williamstown on Thursday.
Carly Blanchard was 2-for-4 with two RBIs for Greenfield (7-2, 4-0), while Anna Bucala added a hit and a pair of RBIs.
Greenfield trailed 2-1 into the third inning before Richardson belted a three-run homer to give the visitors a lead it would not relinquish. She added a two-run shot as part of a four-run top of the seventh to put things out of reach.
Taconic 12, Turners 5 — Host Taconic put four runs on the board in both the third and fourth innings en route to a FCL West victory in Pittsfield on Thursday.
Turners (6-3, 2-2) outhit Taconic by an 8-7 margin, with Madi Liimatainen, Emily Young and Morgan Dobias registering two hits apiece. Liimatainen struck out six and walked four in a complete-game outing in the circle.
Wahconah 17, Frontier 2 — Delaney Fifield smacked a two-run home run in the fourth inning, but the Redhawks couldn’t keep pace with undefeated Wahconah in an FCL West loss on Thursday in Dalton.
Seventh grader Jazzy Hayes got her first hit of the season for Frontier (2-9, 0-6). Skyler Steele walked and scored a run. Wahconah (6-0, 4-0) received a 10-strikeout performance from pitcher Avery Vale-Cruz.
Frontier 3, Commerce 0 — Jesse Kurkulonis put down 16 kills and Aleks Carey followed with 14 kills to propel the Redhawks to a 25-18, 25-16, 25-20 sweep on Thursday.
Frontier, which improved to 8-0 with the win, also received seven kills from Patrick Boyden. Setter Tavo Vincent-Warner dished out 39 assists, while libero Payton Sladeski’s 36 digs paced the defensive effort.
“The team is getting better every day and it’s nice to see the improvement,” Frontier co-coach Courtney Parent said.
Frontier 5, St. Mary’s 0 — It was a straight-set day across the board for the Redhawks, which improved to 6-0 on the season with the sweep of the Saints.
Coleman Hartner was a 6-3, 6-1 winner at No. 1 singles for Frontier, while teammate Robert Fuqua took a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 2 singles. Jacob Han earned a 6-0, 6-0 sweep at third singles, while the No. 1 doubles team of Benjamin Desmond and Donovan Vinchi notched a 6-1, 6-0 victory. St. Mary’s forfeited second doubles.
PVCICS 5, Turners 0 — Jake Reich and John Carmichael battled at No. 1 doubles for the Thunder, ultimately dropping a 6-1, 6-3 decision to PVCICS’ Gabe Loinaz and Arnick Esh Tiagi on Thursday.
Mohawk Trail 5, Renaissance 0 — The Warriors’ singles players dropped just one combined game in a sweep on Thursday in Springfield.
Avery Dupree (No. 1, 6-0, 6-0), Paige King (No. 2, 6-0, 6-1) and Conner Herzig (No. 3, 6-0, 6-0) set the tone for Mohawk Trail. In doubles play, the No. 1 duo of Lizzie Lynch and Yassen Abdelgawad took a 6-1, 6-1 win, and the No. 2 pairing of Nikki Garofalo and Dakota Chasse won a tight 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 contest.
PVCICS 4, Turners 1 — While Turners took a point via forfeit, it nearly snagged another in the match of the day at No. 2 doubles. The duo of Jill Reynolds and Khia Huertas nearly pulled out a thriller but ultimately dropped a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) decision to PVCICS’ Avery Richards and Isabelle Graham on Thursday in Holyoke.