HATFIELD — An enormous fourth inning powered the Smith Academy softball team to a 17-4 win over Athol in five innings on Wednesday.
The Falcons scored 13 runs in the fourth. Smith Academy trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the third inning.
“We struggled with that last season,” Smith Academy coach Moira Pitrat said. “Getting down earlier in the game and struggling to come back and fight. It was great to see them come back from that and finish really strong.”
Moira Pitrat, coach of the Smith Academy softball team, stands with Marissa Belina at third base against Athol, Wednesday in Hatfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Quinn Carlson of Smith Academy delivers a pitch against Athol, Wednesday in Hatfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Melissa Goss, coach of the Athol softball team, stands with Makenna Geyer at third base against Smith Academy, Wednesday in Hatfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo 
Nataly Slysz of Smith Academy prepares to take a cut against Athol, Wednesday in Hatfield. Credit: ADAM HARGRAVES / Staff Photo
Athol pitching walked 10 hitters during the decisive fourth inning. Emma Tisdell and Marissa Belina had RBI singles in the inning. Nataly Slysz added an RBI the hard way, taking a pitch right off the helmet. With Athol struggling to find the strike zone, the Falcons stayed patient.
“I told them to be patient and to be aggressive on the basepath,” Pitrat said. “They all stepped up.”
Starting pitcher Quinn Carlson picked up the win in the circle. The sophomore gave up three hits with seven strikeouts and six walks. Carlson had a pair of 1-2-3 innings but ran into some trouble in the top of the third.
“I was really nervous coming in,” Carlson said. “Last season we didn’t have a great season. Everyone wanted to come in and get a win. Start us off right. I thought it was important for me to stay calm. Even if there is a walk, focus on the next pitch so we can stay calm as a team.”
The lefty got Kaya Stinehart to ground out with the bases loaded to get out of the third inning and limit the damage.
“I am just working on consistency,” Carlson said. “Staying positive. Mindset is a big thing and it’s important, so you don’t get down in the circle. It was great. We haven’t felt that in a while.”
Athol pitcher Ella Reed had five strikeouts but had some control issues with 12 walks. Ava Adams had a nice offensive outing, going 2-for-2 with a walk and three RBI. Makenna Geyer had an RBI on a ground out in the top of the fifth for the Bears.
Melissa Goss coached her first game with the Athol program.
“I think our biggest thing is that we beat ourselves,” Goss said. “We got down and one inning can impact the whole game. Learning how to bounce back and learning how to not let your mentality affect your game is the biggest thing from today.”
Adams laced an RBI double in the top of the third to give Athol a 3-1. Madelyn Barrett tied the game for Smith Academy in the bottom half of the third with an RBI single. Tisdell’s bloop single later in the inning scored another run for the Falcons, giving them a 4-3 lead.
Smith Academy had 20 batters get to the plate in the fourth inning.
Mahar 27, Renaissance 1 (five innings) — Lexi Ares, Lilah Paluk and Bella Burnett combined on a one-hitter in the Senators’ season opening victory over the Phoenix in Springfield. Mackenzie Matthews carried the offense for the Senators in the Tri County victory.
Frontier 5, East Longmeadow 4 — Lexi Hawkins pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts in Frontier’s third straight win to open the season. The eighth grader gave up four runs and four hits with three walks. It was the first start of Hawkins’ varsity career.
Haly Doucette-Kaplan homered for the Redhawks in the independent match up. Hawkins and Riley Tine added two hits and an RBI for Frontier. Adelaide Ehle had a triple with an RBI.
Boys tennis
Hampden Charter 4, Greenfield 1 — The Green Wave fell in their season opener on Davis Street in a Tri -County match up. Tyler Peterson and Maddan Garcia grabbed the lone win in No. 2 doubles, downing Abdul Imran and Daren Santiago, 6-4, 6-1.
Volleyball
East Longmeadow 3, Frontier 0 — The play improved for Frontier at Goodnow Gymnasium, but the Redhawks (0-2, 0-2) took a loss to the Spartans in East League play.
Set scores were 25-15, 25-23 and 25-21. Outside hitters Nate Rivera and Chanju Banda led the offense with eight kills each. Ethan Rivera had 13 assists. Nate Rivera led the defense with eight digs. Tyler Belue chipped in with eight digs for the Redhawks (0-2, 0-2).
Late Tuesday results
Softball
Northampton 10, Mohawk 7 — The Warriors jumped out to an early lead but lost on the road in their season opener in an independent match up. Mohawk scored five runs in the top of the first, but the Blue Devils quickly answered with six runs in the bottom half of the inning.
Megan Gabree had a triple with two RBI for Mohawk (0-1). In the circle, Grace Stevens struck out six with two walks while allowing 14 hits.
Volleyball
Athol 3, Duggan Academy 0 — The Bears won an independent match up on the road to open their season.
Baseball
Ware 3, Greenfield 0 — The bats went silent in the Green Wave’s season opener on the road in independent play. Greenfield could only muster one hit under the lights in Ware.
