ORANGE — For the Mahar Regional baseball team to complete an epic comeback against crosstown rival Athol, the Senators needed a clutch hit from the bottom of the lineup.
Brayden Ketola had struck out twice with a walk when he shuffled into the batter’s box with runners in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Ketola delivered for the Senators, neatly placing a two-run single that led to a 10-9 win for Mahar on Monday. Mahar trailed at one point by five runs to the Bears in the independent match up. It was the season-opener for both clubs.
“It was an extremely tough start to the game,” Mahar coach Dan Guertin said. “I was watching kids rush plays. You could see the jitters…but I was watching and I thought we could score some runs. I thought we could make a comeback, so we kept fighting. “
Delivering the game-winning RBI runs felt pretty good for Ketola.
“My coach told me to just swing it, and I just let it fly,” Ketola said. “It’s a little special to me because I’ve never gotten along with Athol. I grew up there and transferred schools. I don’t think any of them really like me.”
Gavin Young got the win on the mound for the Senators. Young entered the game in the fourth inning with Mahar (1-0) facing an 8-4 deficit. In four innings of work, Young gave up one run with seven strikeouts. Young took over for Mahar starter Matt Vitello.
“I think I did a pretty good job,” Young said. “They were hitting Matty’s (Vitello) fastball really well. I went a lot more off-speed to keep them guessing most of the time.”
With a two-run lead heading into the seventh inning, Young struck out the first two batters before giving up a walk and a single by Athol’s Alex Lavigne. Ethan Heuer laced an RBI single to make the score 10-9 but Young got the final out on pop fly in the infield.
“Gavin (Young) did a nice job with that,” Guertin said. “If they kept scoring, we were going to be in trouble. We needed to put down some shut down innings. Gavin started doing that and the kids started to believe we could start chipping away.”
Henry King coached his first varsity baseball game for the Bears (0-1). Heuer threw 109 pitches for the Bears with 11 strikeouts. Eli Wein entered game with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Wein got the Bears out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fifth protecting an 8-6 lead.
“I thought we played pretty well,” King said. “We haven’t touched a diamond yet. The errors are to be expected. The pitching has to be a little bit better. Good first game. It was tough loss but a lot of potential.”
Athol took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. One run scored on a pass ball while the other came on a sacrifice fly from Wein. The Senators took a 3-2 lead in the second inning after a two-run single by Hunter Brooks.
Oliver Johnson gave Athol a 6-3 when he launched a three-run homer in the top of the second inning. Lavigne and Heuer both had RBI singles in the top of the third to give Athol an 8-3.
Mahar started to the comeback in the bottom half of the inning. Young helped himself with an RBI double to make the score 8-4. The Senators had a chance to get more in the inning but Enyert Arias-Cepeda made a Sportscenter-worthy catch in centerfield. Brooks launched a shot that was tailing away from Arias Cepeda’s position, but the speedy outfielder used a full extension dive to come down with the catch.
Mahar scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a pass ball and a dropped third strike. Brook’s sacrifice fly tied the game in the bottom of the sixth.
Kayden McGivern went 2-for-4 with a double and a single for Mahar.
Frontier 5, Monument Mountain 4 — The Redhawks scored five times in the fifth inning to get the win in the Berkshires in independent play. Carter Miller picked up the win in relief for the Redhawks (2-0). Miller struck out four and gave up two hits and a run.
Jack Cusson led the offense, going 1-for-3 with two RBI for Frontier. The Redhawks trailed 4-0 heading into the fifth inning. Shawn Baumann added a double for Frontier. The Spartans committed four errors in the loss.
Softball
Narragansett 9, Pioneer 3 — The visiting Warriors scored five runs in the fifth inning to help them defeat the Panthers in an independent match up in Northfield. Maggie Tsipenyuk knocked in an RBI single in the bottom of the first for the Panthers. Jaelyn Boliski mashed a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth to give Pioneer a 3-2 lead.
Jacobia Tyminski took the loss in the circle for the Panthers. The righty went five and two-thirds innings, surrendering nine runs (six earned) on 10 hits, striking out six and walking three.
Volleyball
Granby 3, Frontier 0 — The Rams swept Frontier at Goodnow Gymnasium in the Redhawks’ season opener. Set scores were 25-12, 25-12 and 25-18. Jack Phillips led the offense with five kills. Ethan Rivera had seven digs and five assists for Frontier.
Nate Rivera added three aces for the Redhawks in the East League match up.
Girls tennis
Frontier 3, St. Mary’s 2 — A pair of victories in doubles gave the Redhawks a season opening victory at home in an independent match up. After singles competition, Frontier trailed 2-1.
Brooke Charest and Hailey Fernandez took down Emily Defalco and Isabel Henle, 6-2, 6-2, in No. 1 doubles. In No. 2 doubles, Esther Ehle and Jimin Ahn defeated Genieva Cataldo and Autumn Fuller, 7-5, 6-1.
Kayla Fagan picked up a win in No. 2 singles for the Redhawks, defeating Abigail DeFalco, 7-5, 6-3.
Boys tennis
East Longmeadow 5, Frontier 0 — The Spartans were too much the Redhawks in the road loss in independent play. Casey Bestler took a loss to Jack Serafini, 6-4, 7-6 in No. 1 singles. In No. 3 singles, Noah Nichols grabbed a set from Declan Dulchinos but fell in a tiebreaker (10-5).