BUCKLAND — Braving some cold temperatures, the Mohawk Trail Regional softball team defeated Mahar Regional, 13-1, in an independent contest on Monday afternoon. The game ended in the sixth inning due to the mercy rule. There were some intermittent snow flakes drifting onto the field at the outset.
Mohawk had five hits but took advantage of 14 walks and some aggressive baserunning to score runs.
“Offensively we can do better with our bats,” Mohawk coach Maura Crossman said. “But it’s cold. They don’t do well in the cold for some reason. But we were really good on the bases today which was really great to see.”
Mohawk’s Juniper Totino sores as Mahar’s Mackenzie Matthews waits for the throw in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Mahar’s Mackenzie Matthews pulls in a foul pop up vs Mohawk in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Mohawk’s Sadie Wilcox makes contact vs Mahar in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Mohawk’s Sadie Wilcox pitches vs Mahar in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Mahar’s Lexi Ares pitches vs Mohawk in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Mohawk’s Aurora Moynihan makes contact vs Mahar in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo 
Mahar’s Lilah Paluk misses the tag on Mohawk base runner Addie Loomis in Buckland on Monday. PAUL FRANZ / Staff Photo
Sadie Wilcox won in the circle for the Warriors (4-3). At times, the eighth grader struggled with control but she only gave up one hit with nine strikeouts. Wilcox plunked four hitters with four walks. Attempting to pitch inside led to her hitting Mahar batters.
“I am trying to develop new pitches,” Wilcox said. “Right now I only have a fastball really. I can kind of do a changeup. But just trying to hit my spots and I was trying to go inside and it wasn’t working today.”
The Senators (5-3, 3-0 Tri-County) have a chance at a league title this season. Mahar hasn’t won a league championship since 1972. The team has responded well to new coach Colleen Bannister. Lexi Ares took the loss in the circle for Mahar.
“The coaching has effected us as a group a lot,” Ares said. “Ever since our coach (Bannister) has come, everything is just better. Practices are better. We have gotten better at ground balls, catching balls…everything as a group has gotten better.”
Ares had the lone hit for Mahar, an infield single in the top of the third. Mackenzie Matthews had a run scored in the top of the first. The move to the Tri-County league gave the team more confidence this season.
“The first thing I would say is that their mindset has changed,” Bannister said. “We’ve tried really hard to come together as a team. They are more positive and supportive of each other, even when things go wrong. When they play teams that are a little more competitive with us, it gives us the upper hand.”
Rileigh Clark had an RBI single for the Warriors in the bottom of the second. The RBI hit gave Mohawk a 3-1 lead. Riley Dyer and Addie Loomis added RBI hits in the inning. Dyer added a triple in the bottom of the fifth, but got cut down going for home on the play. Adeena Maselli got on base three times for the Senators. Maselli got hit by a pitch twice and walked for Mahar.
Frontier 8, Turners Falls 2 — Raine Wonsey struck out a career-high 19 hitters in Frontier’s Franklin East win over Turners Falls in South Deerfield. Wonsey gave up three hits and zero earned runs in seven innings. A big fifth inning helped the Redhawks pull away. Riley Tines, Maggie Nichols and Sadie Nichols all had RBI singles in the inning. Skyler Steele had a solo homer in the first inning.
Autumn Thornton gave up five hits with six strikeouts for the Thunder (4-4, 3-2). Janelle Massey, Abby Moffatt and Autumn DiMare had hits for Turners Falls.
Greenfield 9, South Hadley 6 — The Green Wave got a Franklin East win over the Tigers at home behind a nine strikeout performance from Olivia Lemay. Charlee Vera-Fellows added a double with two RBI for the Green Wave (4-5, 4-2 Franklin East).
Baseball
Greenfield 5, Franklin Tech 0 — Bodie Burke pitched five strong innings for the Green Wave in a Suburban East win over the Eagles at Vets Field. Burke gave up only two hits in his outing. Nico Siano and Sam Bucala both had doubles with an RBI for Greenfield (6-2, 4-2). Chase Zraunig and Urijah Jenness both had two hits for the Green Wave. Levi Clark and Aiden Winn had hits for Franklin Tech (5-2, 3-2).
Pioneer 6, Turners Falls 3 — The Panther turned away the Thunder in a Suburban East match up in Northfield. Evan Tsipenyuk pitched seven innings with eight strikeouts for Pioneer (2-5, 2-3). Osiah Ballard and Mauricio Hanono both had two RBIs for the Panthers. Kainen Stevens, Ryan Newton and Nathaniel Trinque had RBIs for the Thunder (1-5, 1-4).
Ludlow 12, Mahar 1 — The Lions were too much for the Senators (1-6, 0-4) in Ludlow in a Bi County North matchup.
