It’s not every day that a varsity team’s chances to win a league championship comes down to a couple of seventh-graders, but that was the case for Greenfield High School on Thursday.
Seventh-graders Daniel Pena-Chadee and Petru Cojocaru earned a third-set victory to beat Joseph Kochan and Josh Gaulin at first doubles and the Green Wave defeated rival Turners Falls, 3-2, in a Tri-County League boys tennis match in Greenfield.
The “Davis Street Kids,” as the Green Wave (7-3 overall, 6-1 TCL) tennis team has been dubbed this season, handed Turners Falls (10-2, 7-1) its first league loss of the season. If both teams win out over the remaining league schedule they would finish tied atop the TCL standings.
“We called it the ‘Connecticut River Derby,’” Green Wave coach Andrew Varnon said. “They knew it was big, we knew it was big. We brought all of our intensity and so did they and both teams left everything they had on the court.”
Turners Falls actually held a 2-0 lead after the first two matches came off the court as Brian Poirier bested Brandon Siow 6-0, 6-0 at second singles, and Brody Trott handed Anjou Kang-Stryker a 6-3, 6-3 defeat at third singles.
Things began to turn around for the Green Wave as Victor Ivancev won a tight match over Will Turn at first singles where he pulled out a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). The Green Wave also picked up a victory at second doubles where Connor Pedigree and Gabe Larouche beat Mike Boyle and Miles Keefe 6-1, 6-2.
With the rest of the matches finished, all eyes turned toward the first doubles match, which headed to a third and decisive set. Pena-Chadee and Cojocaru earned a 7-5 victory in the first set, but Gaulin and Kochan came back to take a 7-6 (7-3) win in the second. In the third, the Green Wave seventh-graders earned a 6-3 victory to seal the win and give the Wave a shot at a league title.
“They are talented players who happen to be young,” Varnon said. “They pulled through in the end, but they gave their coach plenty to worry about. Everybody was cheering after every point.”
The match also had to start late due to three players taking AP exams, including Ivancev and Kang-Stryker for the Wave.
Frontier 3, Sabis 2 — Sofia Patton and Jalen Sullivan won a super-tiebreaker in the third set at second doubles to pick up the match-deciding point as Frontier upended Sabis, 3-2, in an independent girls tennis match Thursday in South Deerfield.
With the match tied at 2-2, Patton and Sullivan earned a 6-3 first-set win over Katie Sharpe and Venus Nguyen before dropping the second set 7-5. The decision to play a super tiebreaker in lieu of a third set was made and Patton and Sullivan earned a 10-6 win.
“I am just proud of the way the kids played,” Frontier coach James Fitzgerald said. “They’ve been working hard all season and preparing for days like this. They really deserved a win like this today.”
Tori Speth picked up a 6-3, 6-3 win over Emma Smith at first singles for the Red Hawks (7-4), and Mary Laurens bested Remie Jerard, 6-2, 6-2 at second singles.
Sabis earned a point at third singles where Danielle Alayah beat Kayleigh Aucoin 6-1, 6-0, as well as at first doubles where Rhayanna Shubrick and Zaria McClendon bested Cassidy Bardwell and Coleman Hartner 6-2, 6-2.
Greenfield 10, Ludlow 3 — Gianna Conte pitched four shutout innings to pick up her first win of the season and the Green Wave offense got going late to defeat Ludlow, 10-3, in an independent softball game Thursday in Ludlow.
Conte did not allow a hit in four innings and finished with seven strikeouts and four walks. Olivia Joy came on in the fifth and struggled early in relief, hitting a batter and walking two to load the bases and eventually lead to three Ludlow runs before she settled in. She struck out the side in the sixth and did not allow another run. Greenfield (11-2) scored four times in the fourth and led 4-3 until blowing the game open in the sixth with six runs.
“Once we finally got adjusted to the speed change, we hit the ball well,” Greenfield coach Rian Lovett said. “It took us one time through the order to really hit the ball. The bottom of our lineup also really came through today.”
Hannah Marchefka finished with thee hits and an RBI, while Nikki Miner had two hits and one RBI. Joy had a hit and two RBIs, and Rachel Dodge singled, doubled and drove in a run. Racquel Provost had two hits and one RBI, Caitlin Lavoine had two hits, and Kelsey Richardson and Raegan Hickey each had a hit and an RBI.
Madison Sunderland struck out four and allowed 14 hits and one walk in seven innings in the loss. Sunderland also had the only hit of the game for Ludlow.
Turners Falls 12, Frontier 0 — Cassidhe Wozniak and Jade Tyler each hit home runs on Thursday and Turners Falls dispatched Frontier, 12-0, in five innings of Franklin County League softball action at the Bourdeau Fields Complex in Turners.
Wozniak hit a two-run bomb in the fourth, while Tyler hit a solo shot in the same inning. Wozniak finished with three hits, and Aly Murphy had two hits three RBIs. Olivia Whittier added three hits, and Lexi Lacey and Taylor Murphy each had a pair of hits. Tyler struck out eight and allowed two hits and three walks in the shutout.
Natalie Denkiewicz and Lily Spencer each had a hit in the loss. Olivia Dean struck out one and walked three.
Smith Academy 23, FC Tech 0 — Bailey McCoy fired a no-hitter as Smith Academy defeated Franklin Tech, 23-0, in an independent softball game Thursday in Hatfield.
McCoy struck out 11 and walked one.
Athol 3, Chicopee 0 — Zach Aldrich had 15 kills and 11 digs to lead Athol to a 25-21, 25-17, 26-24 over Chicopee in an independent boys volleyball match Thursday in Chicopee.
Colby Soltysik had nine kills, 22 assists, seven digs and three aces in the win. Matt Willhite had four kills and 11 digs for the Red Raiders (7-10), Luke Iness and Evan Blake each had nine digs, and Owen Willhite had three kills, two aces and five digs.
Pioneer 90, Belchertown 52 — Liesel Nygard won three events and Pioneer defeated Belchertown, 90-52, in an independent girls track & field meet Thursday in Belchertown.
Nygard won the long jump (13 feet, 8½ inches), 100 meter high hurdles (19.4 seconds) and 400 low hurdles (90 seconds) for the Panthers. Laila Heilman earned wins in both the triple jump (28-4) and the 800 (2:53) for the Panthers. Azemina Cecunjanin won the high jump (4-10), and Jordan Loughman won the javelin (92-6). Sydney Unaitis and Skyler Cohen tied for first place in the pole vault (6-0), and Sofia Walker won the 400 (71.3). Willow Glenn won the mile in 7:44.
Greenfield 10, Ludlow 3
Greenfield …………. 000 406 0 — 10 14 2
Ludlow ………………. 000 030 0 — 3 1 2
Hits: (G) Provost 2, Lavoine 2, Richardson, Hickey, Dodge 2, Miner 2, Marchefka 3, Joy. (L) Sunderland.
2B: (G) Dodge.
RBI: (G) Provost, Richardson, Hickey, Dodge, Miner, Marchefka, Bresciano, Joy 2. (L) Sunderland, Bazinet, Parker.
WP: Conte (4ip, 7k, 4bb), Joy (3ip, 5k, 2bb).
LP: Sunderland (7ip, 4k, 1bb).
Turners Falls 12, Frontier 0
Frontier ……………….. 000 00 — 0 2 6
Turners Falls ……….. 400 53 — 12 15 0
Hits: (F) Denkiewicz, Spencer. (TF) Wozniak 3, T. Murphy 2, A. Murphy 2, Tyler, Whittier 3, Bogusz, Rode, Lacey 2.
HR: (TF) Wozniak, Tyler.
RBI: (TF) Wozniak 2, A. Murphy 3, Tyler, Bogusz, Rode 2.
WP: Tyler (5ip, 8k, 3bb).
LP: Deane (4ip, 1k, 3bb).
Girls track
Pioneer 90, Belchertown 52
100 — Winc (B), 14.0
200 —Wince (B), 29.7.
400 —Walker (P), 71.3.
800 —Heilman (P), 2:53.
Mile —Glenn (P), 7:44.
2 Mile —Bernard (B), n/a
100 HH — Nygard (P), 19.4.
400 LH —Nygard (P), 90.0.
4×100 relay —Pioneer, 57.7 (Kelton, Lounder, Fuller, Cohen).
4×400 relay — Pioneer, 5:33 (Hubbard, Potee, Unaitis, Heilman).
Long jump — Nygard (P), 13-8½.
Triple jump — Heilman (P), 28-4.
High jump — Az. Cecunjanin (P), 4-10.
Discus — Bessette (B), 85-2.
Javelin — Loughman (P), 92-6.
Shot put — Bessette (P), 26-10.
Pole vault — Unaitis/Cohen (P), 6-0.