Sports
Baseball: Sam Connors, Mahar get past Smith Academy for win No. 2 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
ORANGE — The Mahar baseball team couldn’t have asked for a better first inning on Monday against Smith Academy. After Sam Connors shut down the Falcons in the top of the frame, it didn’t take the Senator bats long to get going when it was their turn...
High schools: Big fifth inning powers Pioneer baseball past Greenfield
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
NORTHFIELD — Not even the pouring rain could slow down the Pioneer bats in the fifth inning on Friday against Greenfield. It was the Green Wave that kicked off the scoring in the fifth, putting three runs on the board in the top of the frame to take a...
Boys volleyball: Athol can’t stay with Holyoke in 3-0 loss (PHOTOS)
By GARRETT COTE
HOLYOKE — Already down two sets to none against Holyoke, the Athol boys volleyball team was in a do-or-die situation late in the third set. With the frame tied at nine apiece, the Bears used a 7-2 run to storm ahead 16-11 and capture all momentum...
Max Homa is among a group of Masters contenders who are vying for their first major title
By STEVE REED
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Max Homa figures if he can conquer the mental task of playing well in a group with Tiger Woods for 36 holes at the Masters, he can accomplish pretty much anything in golf.That includes winning his first major championship.Homa was at 6...
Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari
By GARY B. GRAVES
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard.Makes sense, since he helped do so as a player.Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s...
Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari
By GARY B. GRAVES
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard.Makes sense, since he helped do so as a player.Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s...
Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Orioles hand Red Sox a dose of reality
Good morning!Fresh off good reviews in Peoria, the Boston Red Sox returned home this week and got smacked around by their division nemesis the Baltimore Orioles who rolled sevens to beat them in back-to-back games, 7-1 and 7-5.While Boston fretted,...
High schools: Mohawk Trail softball pulls away from Pioneer, 19-4 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
NORTHFIELD — After a big first inning for Pioneer, Riley Giard and the Mohawk Trail softball team shut the Panthers offense down the rest of the way. The Warriors got things going with two runs in the first inning but the Panthers responded by tacking...
High Schools: Frontier track opens season with pair of victory over Athol
The defending Intercounty League track and field champion Frontier Redhawks looked every bit the part in their opening meet of the season on Wednesday against Athol. The Redhawk girls walked away with a 145-0 victory over the Bears while the Frontier...
Baseball: Hugh Cyhowski tosses one-hitter as Pioneer blanks Frontier 10-0 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier baseball team struggled to solve Pioneer’s Hugh Cyhowski on Wednesday.Cyhowski was dealing from the opening pitch on. He didn’t allow a runner to reach base until the fourth inning (hit by pitch), and through six...
On The Ridge with Joe Judd: Don’t feed those turkeys
MassWildlife reminds us that April through May is the height of the breeding season for wild turkeys and, as a result, turkey activity is increasing daily across the Commonwealth.In some areas turkeys may even act aggressively by pecking, following,...
High schools: Seventh inning rally lifts Turners baseball past Athol
It wasn’t looking good for the Turners Falls baseball team heading into the bottom of the seventh inning against Athol on Tuesday. The Bears held a 2-0 lead while Logan Cormier had held the Thunder to just three hits through six innings. Cormier came...
Colton Cowser has 4 RBIs, Corbin Burnes shuts down Boston’s bats as Orioles beat Red Sox 7-1
By KYLE HIGHTOWER
BOSTON — Colton Cowser drove in four runs, Corbin Burnes allowed two hits over seven innings and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Red Sox 7-1 on Tuesday in Boston’s home opener. Cowser had a pair of RBI doubles, the second driving in two runs in the...
Baseball: Beau Elson pitches Hopkins Academy past Greenfield (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
GREENFIELD — Welcome back to western Mass. baseball, Beau Elson. The Fordham commit who returned to Hopkins Academy from Phillips Exeter this year, made his first start on the mound this season for the Golden Hawks against Greenfield on Tuesday.The...
Bulletin board: State hoop shoot winners announced
The Knights of Columbus State Free Throw Championship took place on Saturday in Holliston, with a number of locals bringing home trophies.From Athol, Austin Lyesiuk took fourth place in the age 9 boys group, Elijah Smith placed fifth in the age 10...
Track & field preview 2024: Frontier aims for repeat Intercounty League titles
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
Two years ago, Frontier’s Jack Vecellio captured an all-state title in the pole vault while Greenfield’s Liviu Mihailicenco won a state championship in the high jump. On the girls side, Greenfield’s Tess Rancourt placed third at New Englands in the...
UConn concludes a dominant run to its 2nd straight NCAA title, beating Zach Edey and Purdue 75-60
By EDDIE PELLS
GLENDALE, Ariz. — A basketball beatdown. A coaching clinic. A double-digit domination. Take one guess who finished off a romp through college basketball again. You bet, it’s UConn — a program built to win now, and often, and by a lot every time the...
High schools: Franklin Tech softball opens season with win over Wahconah (PHOTOS)
The Franklin Tech softball team jumped on visiting Wahconah early on Monday in Turners Falls. The Eagles put four runs on the board in the first inning and tacked four more on in the second to take an early 8-0 lead. Tech held on from there, with...
Softball: Defending state champion Greenfield opens title defense with 23-0 win over Northampton
By GARRETT COTE
NORTHAMPTON — Not a bad way to start a bid for a three-peat.Behind a 13 strikeouts from MacKenzie Paulin and a whopping 23 runs from the Greenfield offense, the Green Wave – winners of the last two MIAA Division 5 state championships – picked up right...
Softball: Madi Liimatainen, Turners Falls cruise to 12-0 season-opening win over Hopkins Academy (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
TURNERS FALLS — The Turners Falls softball team’s bats were on fire to open the season on Monday against Hopkins Academy. In a rematch of last year’s MIAA Division 5 semifinal, the Thunder cracked six hits in the opening two innings to race out to a...
