Good morning!
When Deerfield Academy headmaster Frank L. Boyden was in his 80s, a photographer spotted him picking up a crumpled piece of paper that had been dropped on the sidewalk. The iconic photo symbolized the nature of the man who’d transformed a small school with 15 students in 1902 into one of the country’s top prep schools.

I was reminded of it on Monday when I went to watch the UMass softball team host St. Bonaventure in Amherst.

Weekend rains had turned Sortino Field into a mudpit, but the groundskeeper had done a remarkable job drying the grass with a turbine blower, dragging and raking the infield, and chalking the baselines, batter’s box and pitching circle.

It was neither his nor the team’s fault that from a fan’s perspective the rest of the stadium was an embarrassment. Tattered and faded banners from the program’s glory days were draped on fences like the torn remnants from a vanquished army. 

A staffer sat at a foldout table near the stadium entrance looking at her phone. Complimentary UMass bandanas were fanned out in front of her and a pet owner took one for his dog, a tail-wagging hound with a GPS tracker on its collar. “I learned my lesson,” he said of the hound’s wandering ways.

Looking for roster sheets, I spotted a gent peeking inside a white aluminum dispenser near the gate. “Empty,” he said.

I thought about asking the staffer but knew the answer. Indifference begets indifference. It took 30 years for staff to start handing out line sheets at hockey games. No wonder Pat Kelsey turned and ran for the hills.

Most of the announced crowd of 115 sat in twos and threes in the upper grandstand, and a few more watched from the outfield bleachers. I was between a pair of regulars, Fred from Southampton and Jeff from Westfield on the third base side near the visitors dugout.

Fred recalled a game last season when a foul ball sailed past them into the bullpen. He retrieved it and tossed it back onto the field. A few pitches later, “Everyone’s standing on the mound looking at the ball. I’d grabbed the wrong ball and now their coach is yelling he’s going to protest the game. What’re you protesting? You’re already winning!”

St. Bonaventure (5-29, 1-15) won the first game, 4-3, on the strength of a long home run by shortstop Abigail Ahearn. “UMass must be saving their ace for the second game,” I said.

“This is their ace,” said Jeff.

Four Bonnies errors helped UMass (11-24, 4-7) win the nightcap 4-1. The next day, UMass beat Dartmouth in Hanover, 10-7, in extra innings, their second two-game win streak of the season.

UMass coach Danielle Henderson and her predecessor Kristi Stefanoni were both standout players for Elaine Sortino. “She’d get right in [the umpires’] faces,” Fred said of Sortino who won 1,185 games. “She’d let ‘em have it, she wasn’t afraid of anyone.”

The program has failed to maintain Sortino’s legacy, but coaches like Sortino and baseball coach John Winkin at Maine were both special. It is virtually impossible to recruit good players for an outdoor sport in a cold weather climate.

Hopefully, Henderson will be able to recruit decent talent once UMass is in the MAC, because Amherst feels like the Bahamas compared to playing spring ball in Ypsilanti and Kalamazoo.

Meanwhile, UMass needs to take better care of the House that Elaine built. The coaches, players and parents deserve that respect.

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UMass football coach Joe Harasymiak will roll out his team for the spring game that kicks off today at noon at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Admission is free but apparently you might need a ticket to get into the stadium. Yeah right, only at UMass…

Harasymiak’s offense includes seven quarterbacks, 13 wide receivers, six running backs, six tight ends and 13 offensive linemen.

Last year’s tongue-twister was quarterback Taisun Phommachanh; this year’s is running back Ofonagoro Sopuruchukwo.

The MAC opener is Oct. 4 at home against Western Michigan. The following week UMass travels to Ohio to play Kent State. The Golden Flashes will be coming off a road tilt at Oklahoma.

Coach Kenni Burns was fired this week, not so much for his 0-12 record but for violating the school’s code of conduct, ethics violations and misusing his school-issued credit card, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

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On Monday at frigid Target Field in Minnesota, Mets broadcasters Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez belly-laughed when they got their first look at field reporter Steve Gelbs. “I didn’t pack for the trip but got some help,” said Gelbs, who was decked out from head-to-toe in a Vikings uniform. “This helmet padding is so heavy I’m having a difficult time keeping my head up,” laughed Gelb, who said he was wearing No. 11 for his 11 years on the TV crew.

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Condolences to the Collins family on the passing of Pat, fondly remembered goaltender, chef and brother of late Recorder columnist Chris Collins. A celebration of Pat’s life will be next Saturday at the Country Club of Greenfield from 1-4 p.m.

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SQUIBBERS: The Masters isn’t the same without pulling Sports Illustrated out of the mailbox and reading headlines like Masterpiece; Tiger Walk; Zoeller Was Stellar; The Walrus by a Whisker. … Since college athletes are playing for money, why can’t they be traded?  … Former Minuteman John Leonard has 35 goals in 70 games for the Charlotte Checkers. … Younger brother Ryan went into concussion protocol after he was blindsided by Blue Jackets’ center Adam Fantilli and pummeled to the ice by former Bruin Sean Kuraly. … Couldn’t help asking the driver taking the St. Bonaventure softball team back to New York how many miles were on the odometer of his 2018 bus so he looked and saw it had traveled 322,974 miles. “Truckers say a diesel engine isn’t broken in until it hits a million miles,” he said.  … The Toronto Maple Leafs are 14-1 to win their first Stanley Cup since 1967. …  Former U.S. Junior Amateur champ Nick Dunlap carded a 90 in the first round of last week’s Masters at Augusta. No, he didn’t make the cut. … Chisox hurler Shane Smith grew up in Danvers rooting for the Red Sox and named his dog Schilling after the much maligned hero of the ’04 ALCS. … SNY’s Todd Zeile says Derek Bell was the craziest player he knew during his years with the Mets. “He lived on a boat in Chelsea Piers and wore a different suit every day and afterward he gave it away.” … Terry Kennedy said a $15 face value ticket to watch Holy Cross play Bentley for the AHA title cost $125 on the secondary market. “The tiny conference had integrity, at least they had integrity. Not anymore.” … Nick Pivetta is 3-1 with a 1.57 ERA for the Padres. Pivetta signed a three-year deal in February for $53 million that includes opt-outs after each year. … UConn fans say Sarah Strong will lead the Huskies to their 13th national championship next season. … Joe Benigno on who his Jets should take with the seventh overall pick: “If somehow Shedeur Sanders keeps falling and he gets to seven and he’s there for the Jets, I would be deliriously ticked off if they pass on this kid.”

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@gmail.com