The Mohawk No. 1 Sandy Koufax team cruised through the regular season, and with the way it played on Wednesday against Brattleboro in a playoff game, it looks like it’ll take a great effort to knock them off.
Mohawk lost just one game during the regular season to earn the top seed in the double elimination tournament, where it got things going with a 10-0 win over Mohawk 2 on Monday. Mohawk then hosted Brattleboro on Wednesday and raced out to a 3-0 lead after one inning.
Cooper Whitney went the distance on the mound for Mohawk, allowing a mere two hits and four walks while striking out nine as Mohawk cruised to a 9-1 victory.
“It feels good that we can keeping getting these wins,” Whitney said. “We can feel comfortable going into Thursday’s game now.”
Mohawk finds itself in a good position heading into Thursday’s winner’s bracket game, which will be against an opponent to be determined.
With the way it’s playing in both the field and at the plate, there’s no reason Mohawk shouldn’t be confident no matter the opponent.
“It was great because our defense was playing great and our bats started to get going,” Whitney said. “Once our bats got going we could cruise from there. Our defense didn’t let up. We made plays and did what we had to do to get the win. It’s always nice playing with a lead.”
Brody Hicks and Colin Broderick got on with walks to open the first inning for Mohawk. Both moved up a base and Whitney drove both in with a single. Whitney worked his way around the bases and scored on a passed ball to make it a 3-0 game after one.
Brattleboro got a run back in the top of the second but Mohawk answered by tacking three more runs on the board in the bottom of the frame. Mohawk got its runs by taking advantage of its opportunities on the base path, with Hicks and Michael Hiae beating out throws home on fielder’s choices. Whitney and Hiae singled in the frame.
Hiae knocked in Whitney with a base hit in the fifth before Hicks and Broderick scored on bases loaded walks in the sixth to put the game away for Mohawk.
With the goal to win the championship, Hiae said that will be accomplished if Mohawk continues playing to the standard its set for itself this season.
“It’s been pretty successful,” Hiae said. “It’s a lot of the same kids as last year. We have good chemistry together. We just have to keep up what we’re doing. We’re hitting well and fielding well. We just have to keep that up.”
Mickey Mantle
Frontier rallied from a 6-4 deficit, scoring twice in the fifth and once more in the sixth and seventh innings to earn an 8-6 victory over Mohawk in a PVYBL Mickey Mantle contest on Wednesday.
Aidan Heffernan and Thomas Unkles had two hits apiece for Frontier, while Grayson Loos had a hit and two RBIs. Austin D’Urso pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the save, striking out four, and Ben Caron earned the win over five innings of action.
Mohawk’s Uriah Jenness singled and drove in two runs, and Wyatt Edes reached via walk four times.
FC Summer League
Kylee Gamache was 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored, helping Menace to a 10-2 win over Fury in a Franklin County Summer Softball League on Wednesday at Murphy Park.
Talia Garretson smacked two hits in the win, and Alison George tripled and scored twice for Menace. Raine Wonsey struck out four in three innings in the circle, allowing just one hit.
Fury’s Marilyn Abarua had the lone hit for her side, and Abby Moffatt scored a run.
Elsewhere, Maggie Fay struck out 12 and Madi Goulet, Shelby O’Leary, and Kenzie Matthews all had a hit to help Defenders to a 6-2 win over Flyers.
Brayleigh Burgh had two hits for Flyers, and Ava Worden and Lydia Buttrick both pitched well.
In other action, Flyers took down Fury, 8-2, thanks to hits from Katy Lengieza (triple), Sandra Johnson, Madison Urban, Lauren Helie, Ava Worden and Brayleigh Burgh.
Fury’s Maya Pajak and Madeline Day both had a hit, and Lyla Mickiewicz and Summer Routhier combined for eight strikeouts.
Elsewhere, Kylee Gamache and Aleysha Ramos had two hits apiece to help Menace past Defenders, 12-1.
Jenna Petrowicz struck out three in four strong innings to pick up the win.
The Defenders received two hits apiece from Maggie Fay and Madilynn Goulet.
K of C League
Art Girard set the pace with a plus-7 point quota, topping the field at Wednesday’s Knights of Columbus Golf League at Thomas Memorial.
Bob Walker was right behind in second place with a plus-6 quota, and he also had the low round of the night with a 37. Closest to the pin winners were Walker (No. 7, 3-6) and Kent McGahan (No. 9, 5-3), and skins were won by Charlie Peters, Walker and McGahan. Ned Nichols and Chet Czernich are second half leaders at plus-11.
FCTS Summer League
Lilianna Inman led the way with nine points while Lea Chapman and Cordelia Guerin each scored eight points, Jenna Petrowicz and Kyra Goodell tallied six points and Laken Woodard scored two points in Franklin Tech’s 39-13 victory over Mohawk Trail on Tuesday in a Franklin Tech Summer Girls Basketball League contest.
Bella Pettengill finished with seven poin ts while Abi Dobias, Kaylin Sumner and Sarah Beckwith each scored two points for the Warriors.
In the second game of the night Olivia Machon dropped 12 points, Delaney Fifield tossed in 10 points, Skyler Steele, Hailey Hutkoski and Molly Gates each had five points and Rowan Reilly and Ashlie Golenski both scored two points in Frontier’s 41-12 triumph over Greenfield. Ever Kennedy scored five points, Gloria McDonald finished with four points and Zerena Tores scored two points for the Green Wave.
The third game of the night saw Pioneer walk away with a 39-9 win over Hopkins behind 13 points from Fota N’Diaye, 11 points from Addison Harrington, nine points from Kyler McClell and and three points from both Hailey Ring and Leah Potter. Chloe Kosciusko finished with four points, Olivia Earle and Madison Zononi both scored two points while Maggie Potter made a free throw for the Golden Hawks.
To close out the night Hayden Comeau scored eight points, Dakota Cleveland put in seven points, Nevaeh Scribner and Alivia Patch scored four points while Haylee Paluk and Thea Whitmore both scored two points to lift Mahar past rival Athol, 27-10. Sammy Mailloux, Abby Lutz, Ally Robertson, Abigayle Spooner and Jenna Bonenfant each had two points for the Bears.
PV Women’s League
Elizabeth Unaitis had three hits and an RBI while Ali Williams had four hits, two doubles, and four RBIs in Conway’s 15-11 win over Shelburne Falls in a Pioneer Valley Women’s Softball League contest on Tuesday.
Shirley MacLean doubled to bring in a run, Teagan Valeski had two doubles and three RBIs while Alexis Farrick homered, doubled and brought in two runs in the loss.
Also on Tuesday, Meg Burrington had three hits and three RBIs, Taylor Boutwell had two hits and five RBIs and Shari McCarthy cracked three hits in Ashfield’s 11-10 win over Goshen.
Marge Rida had three hits and an RBI while Whitney Roberts knocked four hits and brought in three runs in the loss.
Greenfield co-ed
Che Christi and Whitney Roberts each had four hits and three RBIs while Mike Cole had four hits and four RBIs in the Liberty Tax Shark’s 22-0 win over Valley Contracting in a Greenfield co-ed adult softball game on Wednesday.
Jade Cuevas added three hits while Jacob Christi, Bob Badillo and Yohenny Pimentel each had two hits in the win.