TURNERS FALLS – The Mohawk Trail softball bats couldn’t solve the pitching of Madi Liimatainen on Thursday.
The Turners Falls ace tossed the opening five innings, striking out 13, giving up just one hit on a bunt and walking just four. On offense Turners was able to put four runs on the board in the third to take a 5-0 lead before exploding for five runs in the fifth, leading to a 12-0 independent victory in six innings at the Bourdeau Fields Complex.
The win makes it two in a row for the Thunder (2-2), rebounding after two losses to open the season.
“There were some positive things that happened today,” Turners coach Gary Mullins said. “We’re still making an awful lot of mistakes. We realize we have a long way to go.”
It’s been a tough independent slate for the Warriors (1-3), which have played Taconic, Wahconah and the Thunder this week, all teams that were ranked in the top 10 of the state tournament a season ago.
Mohawk Trail coach Sherri Lannon said her team is taking its lumps, but has the players to be a contending team as the season progresses.
“It’s still early in the season,” Lannon said. “We have a lot of talent. We’ll find the right players to play the right spots. We look forward to the middle and end of the season where we hope to make the playoffs. We want to prove we’re a team to be reckoned with.”
Turners got on the board in the first inning. Liimatainen reached with a leadoff single and Holly Myers followed suit with a single of her own. Morgan Dobias walked to load the bases for Janelle Massey, who grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Liimatainen to give the Thunder the opening lead of the game.
It was the third inning where Turners took control of the game. Myers got on with a walk, Dobias singled and Massey walked to load the bases for Marilyn Abarua. The sophomore came through, blasting a single that brought Myers and Dobias home to put the Thunder ahead, 3-0.
Mia Marigliano singled to reload the bases, with Hannah Gordon grounding the ball to third and Massey was thrown out at the plate. Addison Talbot walked to bring Abarua home and Liimatainen cracked a single that scored Marigliano, giving Turners a 5-0 lead after three.
In the fourth, the Thunder added a run after Massey got on with a single. The freshman stole second, moved to third after Marigliano singled and made it home on a passed ball to make it a 6-0 game heading into the fifth.
Talbot opened the bottom fo the fifth with a walk for Turners. She stole second and Madisyn Dietz drove her home with a hard hit up the middle. Liimatainen and Myers knocked back-to-back singles to load the bases, when Dobias blasted a ball that was caught in center field, but Dietz was able to tag up and score to make it an 8-0 game. Liimatainen and Myers both scampered home on passed balls before Abarua grounded out to score Massey, who got on with a single, to make the lead 11-0 heading into the sixth.
Turners closed out the game after Dietz singled, moved to third after swiping a pair of bases, and ran home on an error off the bat of Myers.
“We hit the ball hard today,” Mullins said. “This was the hardest we’ve hit it this season.”
While the Thunder bats were rolling, Liimatainen was locking down the Warrior lineup. The first 13 outs the sophomore recorded were via strikeout, with Aileen Moffatt the lone visitor to reach base on a hit after getting on with a bunt in the third inning.
Myers came on in relief in the sixth, with Addie Loomis opening the inning by smashing a double. She stole third and Adrian Grant reached on a walk, but Myers was able to get a strikeout and a flyout to end the inning with no damage done.
Riley Giard went the distance in the circle for Mohawk Trail, striking out five.
Both teams are in action again Friday, the Thunder hosting Athol at 4 p.m. while Mt. Greylock heads to Buckland to take on the Warriors at 4:15 p.m.
Frontier 23, Smith Academy 1 — Olivia Machon did just about everything on Thursday for the Redhawks.
Machon tossed a five-inning no hitter, striking out nine and walking just three along the way while adding a home run, a single and five RBIs as the plate as Frontier cruised to an independent win at Zabek Field in South Deerfield.
Roz Shempp got her first varsity start behind the plate and tallied three hits, including a double, and drove in four runs. Skyler Steele blasted two doubles and a single, Emilie Candelaria had a hit and two RBIs, Gabby Adams knocked two hits and brought in three runs while Hailey Hutkoski had an RBI single in the winning effort.
Mahar 9, Lee 6 — The Senators jumped on the Wildcats early, scoring one in the first, two in the second, four in the fourth and tacking two runs on in the sixth to pull away with an independent victory in Lee on Thursday.
Sam Connors knocked a single, a double and drove in two runs for Mahar. Lucas Isrow finished with two hits and an RBI, Jayden Delgado tallied a pair of hits while Nate Danielson had an RBI single in the victory.
Danielson went the distance on the mound, striking out five.
Franklin Tech 18, Hoosac 6 (5) — It was a sloppy start for the Eagles, which fell behind 4-0 after one inning. Franklin Tech locked in from that point however, scoring four in the second, eight in the third, two in the fourth and four more in the fifth to pull away with an independent win in five innings in Cheshire on Thursday.
“Long distance travel doesn’t appear to be our friend,” Eagles coach Dan Prasol said. “We started off sloppy and were a little unfocused. To the kids credit, they pulled it together and played to their potential after the first inning.”
Alex Sulda came in to toss the final four innings for Franklin Tech, striking our nine and giving up three hits.
Sam Knight blasted a home run and a double, Ty Sadoski knocked three hits, Nate Fuess had three hits including a double, Kyle Begos hit a pair of singles, a double and a triple, Gavin Crossman knocked three hits, one a double, while Tyler Yetter tallied two hits for Franklin Tech.
Pioneer 3, Lenox 1 — After allowing the opening run of the game in the bottom of the first, the Panthers held the Millionaries scoreless the rest of the way.
Pioneer scored one in the second and two in the third to come away with an independent win in Lenox Thursday.
It was the fifth win in a row for the Panthers to open the season. They’re off until Wednesday when they host Lee in Northfield.
Frontier 3, Duggan 0 — Make it six wins in a row to start the year for the Redhawks, which took down visiting Duggan 25-6, 25-12, 25-20 on Thursday at Goodnow Gymnasium.
Jesse Kurkulonis tallied eight assists, four aces and two kills, Tavo Vincent-Warner dished seven assists, Aleks Carey recorded nine aces and two kills, Brady Burch had four kills and four aces while Ngawang Deter tallied three kills and six assists in the win.
Westfield 3, Athol 0 — Holden Girouard dished out seven assists but the defending Div. 2 state champions were too much for the Bears to handle, with Athol falling 25-5, 25-9, 25-16 on Thursday at Mallet Gymnasium.
Colin Mason put down two kills while Ashan Santiago, Caleb Leblanc, Logan McGrath, Ray Castine and Warren Taylor each tallied a kill in the loss.
Frontier 3, Palmer 2 — Jacob Han and Brayden Reipold came through in No. 1 doubles for the Redhawks, pulling out a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 comeback victory to propel Frontier to a victory in Palmer on Thursday. It was Reipold’s first varsity match.
Miles Keefe picked up a 6-0, 6-4 victory in No. 1 singles while Caiden Manning walked away with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph in No. 3 singles for the Redhawks.
Turners 3, Frontier 2 – The visiting Thunder swept the doubles matches en route to a tight 3-2 win over Frontier on Thursday in South Deerfield.
The first doubles pairing of Holly Hicks and Jill Reynolds captured a 6-2, 6-1 win for Turners, while the No. 2 tandem of Avery Heathwaite and Mady Lilly notched a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Steph Peterson won at first singles for the Thunder, holding off Frontier’s Sam Baker for a 6-3, 7-5 decision.
The Redhawks received wins at second singles from Hashini Ratnatunge (6-3, ret.) and third singles from Thanushi Ratnatunge (6-2, 6-1) to account for the hosts’ two points.
Greenfield 3, Chicopee 2 — The second doubles team of Virginia Rahubenco and Amy Mihailicenco won a tight three-setter to lift the Green Wave to a 3-2 win on the road in Chicopee Thursday.
The pair notched a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win for the deciding point.
Lily Duong and Jessica Mihailicenco were 6-0, 6-1 winners at first doubles for Greenfield, while Isabella Semonelli notched a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles.