NORTHFIELD —  The Pioneer and Hopkins baseball teams have had some great battles over the last few years, so it only made sense that the first of two regular season games between the two Suburban League West foes was a back-and-forth affair. 

Chace Earle blasted a three-run home run in the top of the third inning that gave Hopkins a 4-3 lead but Ethan Mauthe responded with a three-run blast of his own in the fourth that put Pioneer ahead 6-4. 

Hopkins got a run back in the top of the fifth but the Panthers shut them down the rest of the way to walk away with an 8-5 victory to open their 2025 season. 

“It’s a good way to start the year,” Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold said. “It’s good to see the practices are paying off. We ran the bases very, very well and read the ball well off a couple of miscues by them.” 

It was a strong showing in the opener from Ben Werner and Ethan Quinn on the mound for the Panthers. 

Werner got the start, struck out six and scattered two hits in four innings work. Quinn came on to toss the final three innings, striking out five and allowing just one hit. 

“We give up that big three-run home run early there to lose the lead but Benny stayed on point and threw strikes,” Luippold said. “That’s what happens when you’re a good pitcher like Benny and you throw strikes. Quinn came in and did the same thing, throwing strikes and shut them down.” 

Carter Styspeck opened the game with a base hit for the Golden Hawks, and after advancing to third on a pair of groundouts, was able to score after Matt Vassallo, who walked, was caught in a rundown. Styspeck made it home before Vassallo was thrown out to give Hopkins the opening lead. 

Pioneer responded with a trio of runs in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with no outs before Quinn and Mauthe were each hit by a pitch to score Braeden Tsipenyuk and Jackson Campbell. Evan Tsipenyuk grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring in Alex McClelland and give the Panthers a 3-1 lead after one. 

After Tucker Russell and Al West reached on walks in the third, Earle came to the plate with two outs and smoked a home run well over the fence in center field to give Hopkins a 4-3 lead. 

Braeden Tsipenyuk and Quinn singled to put a pair on for Mauthe in the bottom of the fourth and he responded with a homer of his own, sending one over the fence in right field that gave Pioneer a 6-4 lead. 

Nate Rickles singled in Matt Vassallo in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 6-5 but a Golden Hawk error with the bases loaded allowed Mauthe and Evan Tsipenyuk to score in the bottom of the frame to give the Panthers their 8-5 lead. Quinn shut things down in the seventh to seal the win. 

Luippold said he was proud of the way his team fought back, hoping it’ll build confidence for the rest of the season. 

“Putting the ball in play is all we can ask for sometimes, especially on a wet ball day like today,” Luippold said. “Guys are buying in and the culture is growing each day. It’s good to face adversity. It’s only going to make these guys stronger. These guys want the adversity and want to learn from it. It’s only going to help us in the long run.” 

Next up for Pioneer is a trip to Easthampton on Wednesday to face the Eagles, with first pitch set for 4 p.m. 

Softball

Turners 11, Northampton 0 — The defending Div. 5 state champs took care of business in their opener against the Blue Devils on Monday, cruising to an 11-0 independent victory. 

It was a dominant performance to open the season for Madi Liimatainen, who struck out 19, walked just two and scattered only one hit in the shutout. At the plate, the senior was 3-for-4 with an RBI double. 

Mia Marigliano doubled to bring in three runs, Ameliya Galbraith knocked a trio of hits to drive in three runs, McKenzie Stafford tallied two hits while Addison Talbot finished with two hits and an RBI in the winning effort.

Pioneer 17, Westfield Tech 11 — The Panthers went on the road to earn a victory in their season opener on Monday in Westfield. Further details weren’t available at press time.

Jaelyn Boliski tallied four hits including a double and a triple to drive in six runs while striking out nine in the circle in the win. Laylah Goulston tripled, doubled and singled while Taylor Chase and Jacobia Tyminski each doubled in the win. 

Boys volleyball

Frontier 3, Minnechaug 2 — The Redhawks’ first win of the season didn’t come easily. 

Frontier won the opening two sets, dropped the ensuing two but were able to rally in the fifth to come away with a 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 25-27, 15-11 triumph at Goodnow Gymnasium on Monday. 

Nate Rivera finished with 18 kills and 13 digs, Tegan Dexter put down 12 kills to go along with three aces and 12 digs, Will Petrin cracked five kills while Tavo Vincent-Warner dished 36 assists to go along with eight digs in the winning effort.