It took a few weeks, but Franklin County Technical School was finally able to finish off visiting Pioneer in an independent baseball game, Wednesday.
The Eagles led 8-3 after two innings when the teams first met on May 13, but weather forced a suspension in play and the sides were unable to finish play until Wednesday. Franklin Tech closed it out, surviving a late comeback bid en route to a 10-8 win over the Panthers in Turners Falls.
“I know we had a lead going in, but the kids we had out there really played good baseball and really matched Pioneer today,” Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol said.
Pioneer cut the deficit to 8-5 with a pair in the top of the third once play resumed on Wednesday. But the Eagles pushed single runs across in the fourth and fifth, and limited the Panthers to just three more the rest of the way.
Garret Cole was the winning pitcher for the Eagles (12-6), which used four pitchers to nab the win. Max Leh, Nate Sciandra and Chris Taylor closed the door on the mound.
Sim Maniatty and Mike Patnode had two hits apiece to pace the Franklin Tech offense, with Nate Pelletier tripling and driving in three runs. Prasol lauded the play of Jared Bergmann, who laid down a nice bunt and also provided stellar defense at second base.
Pioneer (9-11) received two hits apiece from Jason Quinn, Jacob Quinn and Jared Hubbard. Jacob Quinn drove in three runs, while Nate Mousseau and Ryan Potter each had a hit and an RBI.
The Eagles travel to play Mohawk today before closing Monday against Athol. The Panthers are done for the regular season, but qualified for the Division 4 tournament thanks to the Sullivan Rule. Seedings will be released Tuesday night.
Greenfield 19, Palmer 6 — Hunter Campbell had four hits and two RBIs, helping pace a Greenfield offense that pounded out 15 hits and scored in every inning but one en route to a 19-6 thumping of Palmer in an independent baseball game played Wednesday at Legion Field in Palmer.
“We hit the ball, they made some mistakes,” offered Greenfield skipper Tom Suchanek, referring to six Palmer errors. “We put the ball in play. I know they ran out of pitching.”
The two teams were tied 6-6 into the fourth inning, before Greenfield (14-5) ran away from there. The visitors scored three in the fourth, four in the fifth and six in the sixth inning, closing the game with 13 unanswered runs.
Kyle Devlin had three hits, while Jared Hart had two hits and three RBIs for the Wave. Nate Haselton registered three RBIs in addition to a double, while Cam Baird and Jake Sak each added a hit and an RBI.
Owen Phelps went six innings to pick up the win on the mound, striking out six and walking one. Cam Baird struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning of relief.
Greenfield, which won its seventh game in a row, closes out its regular-season slate today with a road trip to play Smith Academy (4 p.m.).
Pioneer 19, So. Hadley 1 (5) — The late-season run continued for Pioneer on Wednesday night. The Panthers scored at least three runs in every inning, rolling to a 19-1 independent victory over South Hadley under the lights in Northfield.
“We’re finally coming together and playing like I knew we could all along,” said Pioneer coach Tina Riddell, whose team improved to 7-11 overall. “We’re just muscling away, trying to win out the season.”
Sammie Martinez had three hits and two RBIs to pace the offensive output for the Panthers, which scored three runs in the first, six in the second and five each in the third and fourth frames before the game was called due to the run rule after 4½ frames. Kensey Gibson smacked two hits to go with four RBIs, Abby Briggs had a hit and four RBIs, while Olivia Rowe and Steph Scoville each had a hit and drove in a run.
Scoville struck out 12 in five innings to pick up the win, allowing just one hit and one run in the top of the fifth.
Pioneer heads to Mahar today before closing its schedule against Hoosac Valley on Friday.
• The Panthers also won the JV game, 38-1.
Julia Kovalsick clubbed a three-run home run, while Kate Trudeau and Katie Trenholm both doubled.
FC Tech 7, Pathfinder 6 — Abi Corey did it all, Wednesday.
The Franklin Tech star pitched all seven innings, and drove in the game-winning run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to help the host Eagles edge Pathfinder, 7-6, in a Tri-County League softball game in Turners Falls.
With the score tied 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh, Summer Gaudreau reached base with two outs ito get the rally started. Jocelyn Crowningshield walked to put Gaudreau in scoring position, and Corey drove her in with the walk-off single.
Corey and Brianna Snyder finished with two hits apiece for the Eagles (7-11), while Jennie Currier added a triple. Franklin Tech trailed 6-2 into the sixth inning before scoring four times to tie it in the frame.
Corey struck out four and walked 10, limiting Pathfinder to just three hits in the pitching circle.
Frontier 4, Mohawk 1 — It was an emphatic end to the regular season for Frontier, which won two singles matches and swept the doubles to pick up a 4-1 win over Mohawk in a Tri-County League girls tennis match played Wednesday in South Deerfield.
“It feels good,” said Frontier coach James Fitzgerald of the win, which vaulted his Red Hawks to 9-5 overall. “Everybody stayed on task this season. We didn’t let the weather get to us or deter us. They just kept their focus and stayed on the path.”
Frontier now awaits its postseason seeding, which will be released on Friday.
Tori Speth led the way in the No. 1 singles slot, where she defeated Mohawk’s Avery Dupree, 6-2, 6-0. At second singles, Frontier also scored a straight-sets win as Mary Laurens was a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Sienna Lewis.
Mohawk received its victory at third singles, where Paige King captured a 6-2, 6-1 win over Frontier’s Kayleigh Aucoin.
In doubles play, Frontier’s Sofia Patten and Jalen Sullivan picked up a 6-0, 6-1 win in the top spot over Haley Randall and Maddy Lilly. At second doubles, Frontier’s duo of Ella Hynds and Georgia Sackrey snagged a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lizzy Lynch and Sophie McNeil.
Belchertown 5, Turners Falls 0 — Host Belchertown dropped just one game in total, rolling to a 5-0 victory over Turners under the lights on Wednesday night.
Haleigh Greene won the lone game for the Thunder, dropping a 6-0, 6-1 decision at first singles to Belchertown’s Emily Slater.
FC Tech 10, Pioneer 8
Pioneer …………….. 122 010 2 — 8 8 3
FC Tech ……………. 170 110 x — 10 12 2
Hits: (P) Mousseau, Jas. Quinn 2, Jac. Quinn 2, Emond, Hubbard 2, Potter. (FT) Maniatty 2, Sciandra, Charest, Bergmann, Cole, Pelletier, Patnode 2, Leh, Fritz, Telega.
3B: (FT) Pelletier.
RBI: (P) Mousseau, Jac. Quinn 3, Emond, Potter, McGraw. (FT) Bergmann, Pelletier 3, Patnode 2, Telega.
WP: Cole (2ip, 3k, 1bb), Leh (2⅔ip, 2k, 6bb), Sciandra (1⅔ip, 3k, 0bb), Taylor (⅓ ip, 0k, 2bb).
LP: Jac. Quinn (2ip, 1k, 2bb), Mousseau (4ip, 2k, 0bb).
Greenfield 19, Palmer 6
Greenfield …………… 114 346 0 — 19 15 1
Palmer ……………….. 024 000 0 — 6 8 6
Hits: (G) Phelps, C. Baird, Campbell 4, Peabody, Hernandez, Sak, Hart 2, Devlin 3, Haselton. (P) Hess 3, Smith, Pardo, Williams, Lombardi, Tenczar.
2B: (G) Haselton, Hart, Campbell. (P) Williams.
3B: (P) Hess.
RBI: (G) C. Baird, Campbell 2, Sak, Hart 3, Devlin, Haselton 3. (P) Tenczar 2, Hess, Williams.
WP: Phelps (6ip, 6k, 1bb), Baird (1ip, 1k, 0bb).
LP: Mayberry (3⅔ip, 4k, 4bb), Williams (1⅓ip, 1k, 4bb), Lamberton (1ip, 2k, 2bb), Pardo (1ip, 1k, 0bb).
SOFTBALL
Pioneer 19, So. Hadley 1 (5)
South Hadley ……….. 000 01 —1 1 1
Pioneer ……………….. 365 5x — 19 9 2
Hits: (SH) Wojnarowski. (P) Kahler, Scoville, Rowe, Briggs, Gibson 2, Martinez 3.
RBI: (SH) Vey. (P) Scoville, Rowe 2, Briggs 4, Gibson 4, Martinez 2.
WP: Scoville (5ip, 12k, 1bb).
LP: Rainaud (3ip, 4k, 11bb), Gurek (1ip, 0k, 4bb).
FC Tech 7, Pathfinder 6
Pathfinder …………… 110 031 0 — 6 3 0
FC Tech ………………. 200 004 1 — 7 6 0
Hits: (P) C. Latulippe, E. Latulippe, St. Jacques. (FT) Snyder 2, Corey 2, Currier, Gaudreau.
2B: (P) C. Latulippe, E. Latulippe. (FT) Gaudreau, Corey.
3B: (FT) Currier.
WP: Corey (7ip, 4k, 10bb).
LP: E. Latulippe (6⅔ip, 3k, 9bb).