NORTHAMPTON — A fast start by the Smith Vocational baseball team proved to be too much for Franklin Tech to overcome on Tuesday at Arcanum Field. 

The Vikings put up four runs in the first inning and after the Eagles chipped away to cut the deficit to 4-3 in the top of the fifth, Smith Vocational tacked on two runs in the bottom of the frame. Vikings ace James Lavallee did the rest, helping Smith walk away with a 6-3 independent victory. 

After a 4-0 start to the season, Franklin Tech (4-3) has dropped three challenging independent games in a row, though assistant coach Kurt Richardson — filling in Tuesday for head coach Dan Prasol — said he was proud of the way his team competed in each of those defeats. 

“We’ve faced three tough squads the last three games and three quality pitchers with Drury, McCann Tech and Smith Voc,” Richardson said. “After each game, the opposing coach has come up and told us we have a nice squad and that it was a good baseball game against us. Those three losses, which were by a combined six runs, I can’t complain about them. We put the ball in play.” 

Smith Vocational (7-0) got its bats going early. Pat Millin opened the bottom of the first with a single and Jared Baer followed with a triple to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.

A failed pickoff attempt allowed Baer to score and after a pair of walks and errors loaded the bases, Josh Cole grounded out to score Lavallee and Brayden Kukucka singled to bring home Kaleb Jorritsma to give Smith its 4-0 lead after one. 

Franklin Tech got two back in the third. Zaydrien Alamed drew a walk and Hunter Donahue blasted a drive deep to center field that bounced out of the fielder’s glove, scoring Alamed as Donahue used his speed to get to third. George Gutierrez followed with a single to drive in Donahue and cut the lead to 4-2. 

In the fifth, Tyler Yetter cracked a double and an error off a ball put in play by Donahue scored Yetter to make it a 4-3 game. 

The Vikings responded with two in the bottom of the frame, as Jorritsma singled to score Baer and Jorritsma later scored on a base hit from Gavin Kukucka to give Smith a 6-3 lead. 

Lavallee did the rest on the mound. The senior came into the game 10 strikeouts away from hitting the 200-strikeout mark for his career and accomplished the feat in the sixth, striking out the first two batters he faced in the inning to hit the milestone. Lavallee went on to strike out the next three batters he faced after and ended the game with a ground out to seal the victory. 

Facing a tough pitcher like Lavallee is something Richardson said will help prepare the Eagles for the kind of pitching it could see in the postseason. 

“The thing you have to get ready for the most is pitching,” Richardson said. “These are the kind of pitchers you see in the playoffs.” 

Mason Lehtomaki went the distance on the mound for Franklin Tech, striking out eight and scattering six hits. 

“We had a tough bottom of the first,” Richardson said. “Mason settled down and was strong the rest of the way. He threw well and didn’t break 100 pitches.” 

The Eagles will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when it hosts Mahar in a Bi-County North contest at 4 p.m. in Turners. 

Greenfield 4, Mount Greylock 3 — Trailing 2-1 going into the fifth, the Green Wave scored one run in each of the final three innings and held on to defeat the Mounties in Williamstown on Tuesday. 

Conner Bergeron drilled an RBI double while Chase Zraunig, Logan Moore, Yuriah Jenness and David Knox all hit safely in the win. 

Arthur Fitzpatrick tossed the opening six innings, striking out eight while Moore got the save and didn’t allow a run in the seventh. 

Monument Mountain 10, Frontier 0 (5) — Braeden Dion pitched well for the Redhawks, walking just one, but the Mounties were able to pull away from the Redhawks in an independent contest in Great Barrington on Tuesday. 

Ben Caron doubled while Kaden James hit safely in the loss. 

Softball

Franklin Tech 5, Blackstone Valley 0 — Kylee Gamache had a monster game against the Div. 3 Beavers, cracking a two-run home run in the third as well as adding an RBI double in the seventh to help the Eagles earn an independent road victory on Tuesday. 

Hannah Gilbert doubled twice and drove in a run each time while striking out 13 and scattering just two hits in the circle in the win. Cordelia Guerin doubled while Lindsey Taylor and Gianna DiSciullo added hits for Franklin Tech. 

Boys volleyball

Frontier 3, Ludlow 0 — The Redhawks got back in the win column on Tuesday, snapping a five-match skid with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 sweep of the Lions in Ludlow. 

Tegan Dexter finished with 12 kills and two aces, Nate Rivera tallied nine kills and 14 digs, Will Petrin recorded three kills and two aces, Evan Maio had three aces and eight digs while Tavo Vincent-Warner added 19 assists and six digs in the winning effort.