The Athol softball team gave Turners Falls all it could handle on Tuesday.
The Thunder put up two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-5 lead but the Bears responded with two runs of their own to tie the game and force extra innings.
Neither team scored in the eighth inning and the game was called after the frame due to darkness. The game will resume in the top of the ninth with the game tied 7-7 at a date and time to be determined.
Kennedy Vaillancourt and Sadey Lehtomaki each smashed home runs for Athol. Emma Bacigalupo hit a single and a double, Jenna Bonenfant doubled and Lindsey LeBlanc and Skyleigh D’Ambrosia each had RBIs for the Bears. LeBlanc went all eight innings in the circle, striking out 16.
Madi Liimatainen struck out 15 in eight innings of work in the circle for the Thunder. The freshman also had three hits, one a triple, and two RBIs at the dish. Paige Sulda hit a single and a triple, Cady Wozniak had a single and a double, Emily Young had a triple and Morgan Dobias and Jenna Petrowicz both hit safely for Turners.
Franklin Tech 23, Hampden Charter 0 — It was an impressive all-around day for the host Eagles, which had pitchers Lauren Ross and Hannah Gilbert combine for a five-inning no-hitter in a decisive 23-0 victory on Tuesday.
The two pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts and just one walk.
At the plate, Franklin Tech used an 18-run second inning to put things away. Kaitlin Trudeau, Hannah Gilbert and Gianna DiSciullo all had two hits in the win, while Gilbert drove in four runs and freshman Kristine Given hit a home run and drove in three runs. Cordelia Guerin also had three RBIs, and Lauren Ross had a pair of runs batted in. All told, the Eagles finished with 16 hits, seven of them the extra-base variety.
Wahconah 12, Mohawk Trail 0 — Sophie Guy and Aileen Moffatt each hit safely in the Warriors’ loss in Dalton on Tuesday.
Riley Giard stuck out two for Mohawk Trail in the loss.
Mahar 8, Mohawk Trail 4 — Trailing 4-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, Cole Johnson smashed a bases-clearing triple to give the Senators the lead.
Mahar ended up scoring five runs in the sixth to pull away with an 8-4 victory on Tuesday in Orange.
Will Barnes picked up the win in relief for Mahar, striking out four in two innings work. Nate Danielson got the start and struck out five batters in five innings. Barnes had two hits at the plate, David Vitello hit safely and Sam Dejackome had an RBI in the victory.
Owen Lake had two hits including a double and three RBIs for Mohawk Trail. Hunter Donahue had a pair of hits while Logan Moore, Ty Griswold, Phineas Tuttman, Weston Den Ouden and Deven Buchanon hit safely in the loss.
Moore stuck out seven on the mound in five innings for the Warriors.
Pioneer 3, Smith Academy 1 — It was a pitching duel in Hatfield on Tuesday, with Jason Quinn striking out nine batters and surrendering just two hits in five innings of work for the Panthers.
Ethan Quinn took over and struck out six in the final two innings to seal a 3-1 Pioneer victory in its season opener.
Sean Allen put the Panthers on the board in the second inning, bringing home two runners with a single. Pioneer struck again in the fifth, with Jared Hubbard reaching on a single and stealing second. The Panthers grounded out on their next at-bat and Smith Academy threw the ball away when Hubbard went to take third, allowing him to come home and put Pioneer up, 3-0.
The Falcons opened the seventh inning with three straight hits to load the bases and Ethan Quinn walked a batter to bring home a run. He then struck out the next three batters he faced to prevent any more runs from crossing the plate.
Hugh Cyhowski also tallied a hit in the victory for Pioneer.
Mahar 96, Athol 37 — Sophomore Dominic Whitman won a trio of events, catapulting the Senators to an impressive rivalry victory on Tuesday in Orange.
Whitman took first place in the 100 meter dash (11.6 seconds), long jump (18-4½) and triple jump (36-4¾) to s et the tone for Mahar (1-0), while Abduli Gilmore was a double-winner in the 2-mile (12:20) and 1-mile (6:21.6).
Other victorious Sens included Noah Rich (javelin, 106-3), Marshall Ames (high jump, 4-10), Kaleb Lemcke (pole vault, 7-0), Mitchell Krasco (400-hurdl es, 72.1), Liam DiDonato (400, 64.9), Peter Frost (800, 2:45.7) and Mathieu Soucy (200, 25.7).
Athol’s Joey Grant took first in the shot put (34-11), while Joey Gray (discus, 89-9) and Riley Reed (100 hurdles, 23.4) were other individual winners.
Mahar 91, Athol 6 — Stellina Moore snatched three victories for Mahar on Tuesday, winning the long jump (13-10½), pole vault (7-0) and 400 hurdles (79.4) in the team’s victory over rival Athol.
Sophia Woods won two events for the Sens (2-mile, 1-mile), while Kayley Murphy took the top spot in both the 100 dash (14.3) and 400 meters (78.5). Isabella Sayareth was the winner in the 100 hurdles (18.9) and 200 meters (28.8), while Grace Rich (discus), Caroline Chase (shot put) and Ava Liberty (javelin) also took home wins for Mahar.
Athol’s Sydney Gauvin paced the visitors with a pair of runner-up performances in the shot put and javelin.
Frontier 5, Palmer 0 — Emma Clancy won her No. 1 singles match for the Redhawks 6-2, 6-1 over Hannah Hoeng to help lead Frontier to a 5-0 victory over the Panthers in Thorndike on Tuesday.