Sports
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...
Bulletin Board: Pioneer alum Scott McDonough shines at the Coast Guard Spring Invitational for UMass Dartmouth
UMass Dartmouth’s Scott McDonough had a career performance at the Coast Guard Spring Invitational in New London, Conn., on Saturday. McDonough, a Greenfield native who graduated from Pioneer Valley Regional, hit a mark of 23 feet, 2.25 inches in the...
Reports: John Calipari leaving Kentucky to take Arkansas job
CONNOR PIGNATELLO
John Calipari has taken the head coaching job at Arkansas, according to multiple reports late Sunday night. The contract is expected to be completed within 24 hours.Calipari spent 15 seasons at Kentucky, where he won over 400 games and a national...
Shelburne Falls’ Kristian Whitsett wins 2024 Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
CHARLEMONT — It was a beautiful day at Berkshire East on Saturday for the 2024 Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon. Athletes from all over traveled to Charlemont to compete in the grueling pentathlon, which begins with a 4.3 mile run that starts on...
Local roundup: Frontier boys volleyball wins second match in a row with 3-1 triumph over Putnam
Make it two in a row for the Frontier boys volleyball team. After knocking off PV Christian on Wednesday, the Redhawks traveled to Springfield to face Putnam on Friday and behind 17 kills for Aleks Carey, walked away with a 3-1 victory in their first...
On The Run with John Stifler: It’s officially Tuesday race season in Northampton
That hill in the third mile is a little toughie. You’ve been pacing yourself around the large field next to the Mill River, keeping mind, lungs and legs together, and ahead lurks the abrupt turn into the woods where the trail rises gradually, then...
High school tennis preview 2024: Frontier boys looking to build on strong season
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
Could this be the year a Recorder area tennis team makes it past the MIAA Round of 32? In the two years since the MIAA switched to a statewide format, area tennis teams have done well qualifying for states, but have struggled when getting there. In...
High school football: Pioneer Valley Regional's Noah Gamache to receive Francis X. Keating Award for overcoming adversity
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
Not many 9-year-old kids are faced with the type of decision Noah Gamache had to make. Gamache — now a senior at Pioneer Valley Regional — was born with clubfoot, a birth defect in which the foot is twisted out of shape or position. As he grew up, two...
Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Jim Reid a deserving honoree
Good morning!Sunday at Wyckoff Country Club in Holyoke, Jim Reid will be honored by the Western Mass. Chapter of the National Football Foundation, together with seven others who will be feted for their contributions to the sport.Reid has come full...
Softball preview 2024: Greenfield seeks third-straight Div. 5 state championship
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
It would be hard to find a more dominant postseason run than the one the Greenfield softball team had a season ago. After winning the 2022 MIAA Division 5 state championship, the Green Wave came back last spring with a loaded squad and dominated their...
High schools: Frontier boys volleyball earns first win of season with 3-2 triumph over PV Christian
The Frontier boys volleyball team got in the win column. After dropping their opening three matches of the season, the Redhawks hosted Pioneer Valley Christian on Wednesday and raced out to a 2-0 lead with 25-23, 25-22 set victories.The Eagles fought...
2024 high school baseball preview: Pioneer looks to get over Final Four hump
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
Is it possible to finish the year with a 21-2 record and not be satisfied with the results? The Pioneer baseball team sure wasn’t. The Panthers won the first 18 games of their season in 2023 and did so in convincing fashion, cruising into the Western...
High schools: Fast start lifts Franklin Tech baseball past Turners (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
TURNERS FALLS — A pair of big early innings offensively got the job done for the Franklin Tech baseball team against Turners Falls on Tuesday at the Bourdeau Fields Complex.The Eagles put three runs on the board in the top of the first inning and...
UMass notebook: Josh Cohen (Arkansas), Robert Davis Jr. (Old Dominion) have new homes as transfer portal remains busy
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — Two former UMass men’s basketball players have already found new homes after announcing they would be entering the transfer portal in mid-March.Josh Cohen told On3Sports last week that he would be joining Arkansas for the upcoming men’s...
Caitlin Clark leads Iowa back to Final Four, scoring 41 points in 94-87 win over defending champ LSU
By DOUG FEINBERG
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Caitlin Clark put up another sensational performance to carry Iowa to its second straight Final Four.The Hawkeyes’ superstar guard, whose record-breaking exploits have brought unprecedented attention to women’s basketball, made...
High schools: Greenfield sweeps season-opening track meet with Franklin Tech, Turners Falls
The outdoor track and field season got underway on Monday in Franklin County. The Greenfield boys track team made the trip to Turners Falls to take on Franklin Tech, and behind victories by Jackson Caron in the 1 mile (4 minutes, 44 seconds) and the...
