The Turners Falls High School baseball team has accustomed itself to close games as of late.

Each of its last four games have been decided by one run, and Tuesday’s contest against Belchertown was no different, with the Thunder coming away with a 2-1 victory in the eighth inning in a Hampshire League West game at the Bourdeau Fields Complex in Turners Falls.

With the game knotted at one in the bottom of the eighth, Jake Dodge got on base to open the bottom half with a walk. Jaden Whiting’s single on the next at bat put two runners on, and Ryan Campbell walked to load the bases.

Kyle Dodge popped up on the next at bat, but Jon Fritz made sure to end the game on the next swing, as the designated hitter sent one near the fence to bring home the game-winning run.

“We’ve been fighting,” Turners coach Scott Minckler said. “They got the run but we continued fighting and got the run.”

The Thunder scored the first run of the game in the first inning, as Fritz sent Campbell in with a single.

That score would remain until the seventh inning, as Jake Dodge was having a near perfect game on the mound. That was until Zack Bohnet came to the plate in the top of the seventh, hitting a home-run to tie the game and send it to extra innings.

“It was tough,” Minckler said. “Winning the entire game. It was the best game we’ve seen from our defense. Both teams were mistake free.”

Jake Dodge finished the game with seven innings pitched, allowing four hits and striking out three. Kyle Dodge came in in the eighth inning, not allowing a run.

Zack Jenks pitched the entire game for Belchertown, allowing eight hits and striking out eight.

Frontier 3, Greenfield 2 — Dylan Apanell pitched out of some early trouble and wound up throwing a gem. The Frontier junior struck out 14 and allowed three hits and two walks in seven innings to lead the Red Hawks to a 3-2 win over Greenfield in a Hampshire League West baseball game Tuesday at Valiton Field in South Deerfield.

Greenfield (5-4) loaded the bases with one out in the second inning and scored a pair of runs but Apanell toughed it out to get the final two outs of the inning without any further damage.

“He was flustered,” Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “There’s times when he’s his own biggest enemy and his mental and emotional stuff gets in the way of his baseball attributes. … Today, he got out of some sticky situations and showed his true character.”

Frontier (6-1) was the first to squander an opportunity to put up a crooked number when it loaded the bases in the first inning with nobody out as Connor Waitkus and Kiernan Freeman sandwiched walks around a Bryan Baumann single. Green Wave starter Kyle Devlin knuckled down and came back to stroke out Apanell, Jacob Bryant and Garrett DeForest to get out of the jam, but did give up one run on a wild pitch. 

Greenfield came back to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the second. Joel Peabody and Ryan Cote each singled around a Brody Baird walk to load the bases with one out. David Carey was then hit by a pitch to force in the tying run, and Owen Phelps hit a dribbler to the mound that Apanell bobbled, allowing Baird to score the go-ahead run. With the bases still loaded and one out, Apanell came back to get Hunter Campbell to pop out to second before striking out Jared Hart to end the inning.

Frontier came right back in the bottom of the second with two runs. Kalen Evans led off with a walk and Hildreth singled, and both stole a base to move into scoring position. Evans scored when Kyle Barnes grounded out, and Hildreth scored on a sacrifice fly to shallow center by Waitkus. Apanell took the renewed life and did not allow another run the rest of the way, including retiring nine of the final 10 batters of the game to finish off his complete-game win.

Devlin pitched well in the loss, striking out seven and walking three in seven innings.

Mohawk 6, Pioneer 4 — A six-run top of the fifth inning lift Mohawk to an elusive first victory of the season, Tuesday.

The visiting Warriors registered seven hits in the inning, all singles, and withstood a seventh-inning comeback bid from Pioneer to capture a 6-4 victory in a Hampshire League East contest in Northfield.

Trailing 1-0 in the fifth, Mohawk (1-6, 1-0) got to work. Aiden Drury singled to lead off the frame, and the team’s hit barrage was off and running with singles from Will Guyette, Cam Lococo, Tyler Dubreuil and Jackson Hicks. Reuben Bassett drove in a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, while Anthony Moffatt broke the game open with a two-run single to make it 5-1. Jordan Grenier closed out the scoring with an RBI single of his own to stake the visitors to a 6-1 advantage.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh. Mohawk starter Cam Lococo cruised into the final stanza, before the Panthers (5-5, 1-1) rallied. Sam Glazier roped an RBI single that plated Jared Hubbard, while Nate Mousseau and Jason Quinn also registered RBIs to pull the hosts within 6-4. With two outs and a runner on, Lococo managed to close the door when he got Pioneer’s No. 3 hitter Jack Loud to line out to center field on a well-struck ball.

Lococo struck out four and didn’t walk a batter in a complete-game victory for the Warriors. Hicks had three hits while Dubreuil added a pair of singles.

Loud’s two hits paced the Pioneer attack, while Hubbard took the loss in four innings of work.

Athol 10, Smith Academy 7 — Trailing 7-2 after two innings, Athol responded with eight unanswered runs, including two apiece in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to open HL East play with a 10-7 victory over Smith Academy, Tuesday in Hatfield.

The Red Raiders (7-1, 1-0) took the lead in the sixth inning, when Nick Bousquet singled home Evan Mayer for an 8-7 advantage. Athol tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the seventh inning, taking advantage of a pair of Smith Academy errors.

Bousquet, who earned the win on the mound after striking out eight batters in four innings of relief work, was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Anthony Oro also had two hits and an RBI, while Jack Bonenfant and Keegan Lutz both singled and drove in a pair.

Oro started and went two innings for the Raiders, striking out one and walking three.

FC Tech 15, Sci-Tech 4 — Franklin Tech put an end to its four-game losing streak on Tuesday afternoon with a 15-4 victory over Sci-Tech in an independent baseball game in Springfield.

The Eagles (4-4) piled up 10 hits in the victory, including three from Mike Patnode, who tripled and drove in four runs on the day. Nate Pelletier and Garret Cole each had two hits and three RBIs,  while Jared Vielmetti-Perusse doubled and drove in a run. Max Leh had two RBIs, and Sim Maniatty had one hit and one RBI.

“It’s a step in the right direction, but by no means is it a solution to our losing problems,” Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol said.

Max Leh went the distance on the mound, striking out one, while allowing five hits and five RBIs. 

“Max put the team on his back for seven strong innings when we really needed it,” Prasol lauded. “He struggled through some issues with the mound and really pitched a solid game.”

Carlos Pena doubled, tripled and drove in a run for Sci-Tech. Luis Carradero struck out two and walked two in five innings to suffer the loss.

Easthampton 6, Mahar 3 — A three-run fifth inning propelled Easthampton past Mahar, 6-3, Tuesday in a HL East game in Easthampton.

The Senators registered just five hits in the game, with Andrew Herk and Noaha Chabot recording the lone RBI’s. Ottis Follet and Will Robbins recorded RBI’s for the Eagles.

Mahar was not sharp in the field, registering five errors to Easthampton’s one.

Herk had a solid day on the mound, going five innings and allowing three hits while striking out five. On the opposite side, Nicholas Jolicoeur threw five innings, allowing three runs and striking out five while allowing just five hits.

Trailing by one, the Eagle bats came alive in the bottom of the fifth, bringing home three runs. They would tally another run in the sixth, while keeping Mahar off the scoreboard for the final three innings.

Frontier 3, Greenfield 2

Greenfield ……………. 020 000 0 — 2  3  0

Frontier ………………….  120 000 x — 3  4  3

Hits: (G) Phelps, Peabody, Cote. (F) Waitkus, Baumann, Bryant, Hildreth.

2B: (F) Waitkus.

RBI: (G) Carey. (F) Waitkus, Barnes.

SB: (F) Baumann, Bryant, Evans, Hildreth.

WP: Apanell (7ip, 14k, 2bb).

LP: Devlin (7ip, 7k, 3bb).

Athol 10, Smith Academy 7

Athol ………………… 022 022 2 — 10 10  5

Smith Academy ..  430 000 0 — 7  6  3

Hits: (A) Bousquet 2, Lutz, Ferrari, Oro 2, Tarbell, Bonenfant, Paine, Mayer. (SA) Woodward, Dadmun, Gratz, Cavanaugh, Bassett, Moynihan.

RBI: (A) Bousquet, Lutz 2, Ferrari, Oro, Bonenfant 2, Mayer. (SA) Gratz, Bassett, Moynihan 2.

SB: (A) Ferrari, Tarbell 2, Bousquet 2, Oro, Mayer 2, Fountain. (SA) Woodward 2, Dadmun 3, Gratz 2, Baranoski, Bassett 2.

WP: Bousquet (4⅔ip, 8k, 2bb), Oro (2⅓ip, 1k, 3bb).

LP: Cavanaugh (1ip, 0k, 1bb), Woodward (3ip, 1k, 0bb), Bassett (2ip, 1k, 2bb), Ferrara (1ip, 2k, 1bb).

Mohawk 6, Pioneer 4

Mohawk ……………….. 000 060 0 — 6  12  2

Pioneer ………………..  000 100 3 — 4  10  0

Hits: (P) Mousseau, Jas. Quinn, Loud 2, Jac. Quinn, Emond 2, Hubbard, Potter, Glazier. (M) Lococo, Dubreuil 2, Hicks 3, Moffatt, Grenier, Drury, Guyette.

2B: (P) Loud.

RBI: (P) Mousseau, Jas. Quinn, Glazier. (M) Dubreuil, Hicks, Bassett, Moffatt 2, Grenier.

SB: (P) Mousseau, Emond. (M) Hicks.

WP: Lococo (7ip, 4k, 0bb).

LP: Hubbard (4ip, 2k, 1bb), Jac. Quinn (3ip, 2k, 0bb).

Turners 2, Belchertown 1 (8)

Belchertown …………… 000 001 0 — 1  5  0

Turners Falls …………..  100 000 1 — 2  8  0

Hits: (B) Kupinsky, Torna, Bohnet 2, Mankowski. (TF) Whiting 3, Campbell, K. Dodge, Fritz 2, Labelle.

HR: (B) Bohnet.

RBI: (B) Bohnet. (TF) Fritz 2.

SB: (B) Mankowski 2, Raines. (TF) J. Dodge, Fritz.

WP: K. Dodge (1ip, 0k, 0bb), J. Dodge (7ip, 3k, 4bb).

LP: Jenks (7⅓ip, 8k, 4bb).

FC Tech 15, Sci-Tech 4

FC Tech ……………….. 520 150 2 — 15  10  2

Sci-Tech ………………….  210 100 0 — 4  5  6

Hits: (FT) Maniatty, Charest, Cole 2, Pelletier 2, Patnode 3, Vielmetti-Perusse. (S-T) Pena 2, Sutter 2, Carradero.

2B: (FT) Vielmetti-Perusse. (S-T) Pena.

3B: (FT) Patnode. (S-T) Pena.

RBI: (FT) Maniatty, Sciandra, Cole 3, Pelletier 3, Patnode 4, Leh 2, Vielmetti-Perusse. (S-T) Pena, Sutter 2, Carradero.

WP: Leh (7ip, 1k, 5bb).

LP: Carradero (5ip, 2k, 2bb), Medina (2ip, 2k, 2bb).

Easthampton 6, Mahar 3

Mahar ………………… 100 200 0 — 3  5  5

Easthampton ………  001 131 x — 6  4  1

Hits: (M) Tenney, Peredina, Barnes, Dodge, Chabot. (E) Kugler, Arroyo 2, Jolicoeur.

2B: (E) Kugler.

RBI: (M) Herk, Chabot. (E) Follet, Jolicoeur.

WP: Jolicoeur (5ip, 5k, 4bb), Burke (1⅓ip, 1k, 2bb), Arroyo (⅔ip, 1k, 0bb).

LP: Herk (5ip, 5k, 4bb), Dodge (1ip, 1k, 0bb).