GREENFIELD — On a chilly April day at Vets Field, hits were at a premium between the Greenfield and Hopkins baseball teams. 

Both teams threw their aces, Caleb Thomas on the hill for the Green Wave while Chace Earle pitched for the Golden Hawks, and neither gave the opposition much to work with. 

Thomas gave up one run in the first and that was the only run scored by either team until the sixth inning, when the Hopkins bats got going to put four runs on the board to take a 5-0 lead. 

Greenfield loaded the bases in the seventh and got one run back but the rally stopped there, as the Golden Hawks came away with a 5-1 Suburban League West victory.

“We faced a good pitcher,” Green Wave coach Tom Suchanek said. “He threw the ball well and they got a few more hits than we did.” 

Earle nearly went the distance, going 6 2/3 innings while striking out 15, scattering two hits and walking five. Thomas tossed six innings for Greenfield (1-1), striking out eight, walking four while surrendering seven hits. 

“Caleb didn’t pitch badly,” Suchanek said. “He did well. He didn’t give up much either.” 

A pair of walks and a base hit from Earle loaded the bases in the first inning, and Nate Rickles drew a walk to bring home Carter Styspeck to give Hopkins (4-2) an early 1-0 lead. 

Base runners were hard to come by from there. After Earle singled then worked his way to third in the third inning, Rickles singled in the infield but Earle got caught in a rundown and was thrown out to end the inning without any damage done for the Wave. 

In the bottom of the third, Conner Bergeron walked before Chase Zraunig gave Greenfield its first hit of the game. But Earle got a groundout to end the inning without a run getting across. 

Hopkins got going in the sixth. Earle opened with a single — his third hit of the game — Matt Vassallo followed with a base hit to send Earle to third and after Vassallo swiped second, Rickles knocked a base hit to drive in both runners and give the Golden Hawks a 3-0 lead. 

Wyatt Cook walked before Logan Bye doubled to score a pair of runners and give Hopkins its 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Arthur Fitzpatrick hit an infield single with two outs and Nico Siano and David Knox followed with walks to load the bases. Earle was replaced on the mound by Rickles, who hit Bergeron to force in Greenfield’s lone run of the game. Rickles struck out the next batter to end any potential rally and give the Golden Hawks the victory. 

It’s been a funky start to the season for the Wave, as Thursday was just their second game thanks to a slew of weather cancelations. Suchanek said his team has gotten off to slow starts the last few years but turned it on late to make deep postseason runs and is hoping that can be the case again this spring. 

“Sometimes certain things start to resonate with players and they get their act together,” Suchanek said. “That was the case last year when we figured it out later in the season.”

Pioneer 5, Frontier 2 — Ethan Quinn shut down the Redhawks at the plate, as the senior went the distance on the mound, stuck out seven and allowed just two hits to lead the Panthers to a Suburban League West victory in Northfield on Thursday. 

Alex McClelland cracked a pair of doubles at the plate, Quinn helped himself with a double and three RBIs, Braeden Tsipenyuk tallied two hits and an RBI, Ethan Mauthe singled in a run while Jackson Campbell added two hits in the win for Pioneer (4-0). 

Joey Hutkoski pitched all six innings for Frontier, surrendering eight hits while striking out two while adding an RBI single at the plate. Collin West doubled and drove in a run in the loss for Frontier (4-1). 

Franklin Tech 5, Lenox 3 — Brody Hicks was lights out on the hill for the Eagles, allwoing just three hits in six innings work while striking out five as Tech improved to 4-0 with an independent victory in Turners on Thursday. 

Gavin Crossman pitched the seventh and didn’t allow a run to earn the save. 

Hicks added a double at the plate, Zaydrien Alamed, George Gutierrez and Nick Prasol each singled and drove in a run while Crossman hit safely in the winning effort. 

Drury 25, Athol 0 (5) — The Blue Devils led 9-0 after two before scoring eight in the third to run away with an independent win over the Bears in Athol on Thursday. 

Logan Cormier and Hayden Barrieau hit safely for Athol (2-1) in the loss. 

McCann Tech 3, Turners 2 — The Hornets scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth to take a 3-1 lead. The Thunder got one back in the bottom of the sixth but were unable to get the tying run in during the seventh as McCann earned an independent victory in Turners on Thursday. 

Julian Kaiser pitched five innings for Turners (0-2), giving up three hits while striking out seven. Ethan Eichorn tossed the final two, striking out one and scattering just one hit. 

Kainen Stevens singled and doubled, Trevor Lyons knocked an RBI double while Brody Girard and Jackson Cogswell hit safely in the loss. 

Girls tennis

Frontier 3, Greenfield 2 — Kayla Fagan earned a 6-4, 6-2 win in No. 2 singles, Aylen Shaw and Esther Ehle picked up a 6-0, 6-1 victory in No. 1 doubles while Brooke Charest and Hailey Fernandez came away with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph in No. 2 doubles for the Redhawks, who earned a win over the Green Wave in South Deerfield Thursday. 

Amy Mihailicenco walked away with a 6-2, 6-1 win in No. 1 singles while Karinna Kostov came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in No. 3 singles for Greenfield. 

Chicopee 4, Turners 1 — Olivia Wolbach earned a 6-1, 6-1 triumph in No. 1 singles for the Thunder in a road loss to the Pacers on Thursday in Chicopee. 

Boys tennis

Frontier 4, Turners 1 — Oliver Brown earned a 6-0, 6-4 win in No. 1 singles, Xavier Fripp came away with a 6-0, 6-1 victory in No. 2 singles and Noah Nichols picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win in No. 3 singles for the  Redhawks, which defeated the Thunder in Turners on Thursday. 

Matt Sibley and Liam Wells took No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-0 for Frontier while Turners’ Nethanel Martin and Daniel Lapinski earned a 6-4, 6-10, 10-7 victory in No. 2 doubles for Turners. 

Boys volleyball

Westfield 3, Frontier 0 — The defending MIAA Div. 2 state champions proved to be too much for the Redhawks, as the Bombers earned a 25-13, 25-12, 25-11 independent victory at Goodnow Gymnasium on Thursday. 

Will Petrin and Tegan Dexter each put down four kills, Nate Rivera tallied two kills and 11 digs while Ethan Rivera added nine assists for Frontier.