Jared Hubbard led the way on the mound and at the plate, and host Pioneer stayed unbeaten on the young season behind a solid 8-4 victory over Mahar in a Hampshire League East baseball game Thursday in Northfield.
Hubbard earned the win on the bump for the Panthers (3-0, 3-0), striking out seven over five innings while walking just one. At the plate, he was 4-for-4 with two RBIs and five stolen bases. Peter Loud was 2-for-3 with three stolen bases out of the No. 9 spot in the Pioneer lineup.
“It’s nice to have a strong lineup all the way through,” Pioneer coach Jordan Branson said.
The Panthers pushed four across in the second inning before Mahar answered with a three-spot in the top of the third. Pioneer never relinquished the lead however, pushing across two in the fourth to regain a cushion. Jalen McGraw nailed down the win with two scoreless innings of relief.
Mahar’s Noaha Chabot had two hits on the afternoon, while Liam O’Donnell doubled and drove in a pair of runs for the Senators.
Athol 6, Mohawk Trail 5 — It was a home run Jack Bonenfant will never forget.
With the game tied 5-5, Bonenfant came up to bat in the bottom of the seventh for the Bears and made sure there wouldn’t be extra innings, crushing a walk-off home run that gave host Athol a 6-5 victory over the Warriors in a Hampshire League East showdown.
“Such a great moment for Jack,” Bear coach Josh Talbot said. “As a baseball player we all dream of a game-winning/walk-off home run and he came through in the clutch.”
The hit was the final piece of a comeback for Athol, who trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth. The Bears rallied and put up four runs in the inning to take a 5-4 lead into the seventh, but Mohawk Trail put up a run to even the score.
Bonenfant had three hits in the win, with Noah Pottinger hitting a homer and driving in a trio of runs while Evan Mayer also had an RBI for Athol.
Tyler Dubreuil and Wyatt Edes each hit safely for the Warriors, with Edes knocking in a pair of runs. Cam Lococo struck out seven for Mohawk Trail.
Greenfield 10, South Hadley 6 (8) — The Green Wave bats came alive on Thursday and the strong hitting carried into extra innings.
Tied 6-6 after seven innings, Greenfield came up to bat in the top of the eighth and put up four runs, with MJ Paulin, TJ Thibeault, Carlos Cardenales and Jake Petrin driving in runs. Petrin retired all three Tigers in the bottom of the eighth to give the Green Wave a 10-6 Hampshire League West victory, their first win of the season.
“We needed that,” Greenfield coach Tom Suchanek said. “We hit the ball well. It was sloppy on both sides but we’ll take the win. Hopefully this can get our confidence going.”
Brody Baird pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Green Wave, striking out six. Greenfield had a strong game at the plate, with Petrin reaching base four times, David Carey, Cardenales and Paulin each finished with three hits and Thibeault hit safely twice.
■ In JV action Hugh Cyhowski went the distance, striking out 14, allowing just one hit and adding a double himself as the Green Wave defeated the Tigers, 7-2.
Michael Pierce hit a three-run homer in the win while Jayson Smith had an RBI single and Luca Siano had a pair of hits.
Frontier 15, Turners 1 (5) — Visiting Frontier registered 15 hits, and used a nine-run top of the third inning to knock off Turners Falls on Thursday night at the Bourdeau Fields Complex.
Jacob Bryant and Ben Martino each launched home runs in the victory for the Redhawks. Jake Dodge and Kyle Barnes each had three hits, while Martino finished with two hits and drove in three runs. Alex Gochinski was 2-for-2 with two runs scored in the victory, while Shane Prusak had a big night with two hits and four RBIs. Conner Hoffman amassed three RBIs to also aid the offensive effort.
Sam Schreiber and Liam Skribiski-Banack combined to strike out nine batters in five innings of work for Frontier.
Turners’ Cam Burnett drove in his team’s lone run in the bottom of the first, while Alex Quezzad and Anthony Kerrivan each had a hit.
Franklin Tech 3, Smith Voke 1 — In a tightly contested Tri-County North contest, defense turned out to be the difference for the Eagles.
Cayden Lehtomaki threw a Vikings player out at home from left field to save a late run for Franklin Tech, and Ty Sadoski came up with a deep fly ball in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 3-1 win in Northampton on Thursday.
“We played really well,” Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol said. “They had some kids who could really hit the ball but defensively we played really well.”
Jake Whitney pitched four and two-thirds innings for the Eagles, striking out five. Nate Sciandra came on in relief and retired three batters.
Gavin Rubio drilled a double in the first that brought Sciandra home to put Tech up 1-0 early. The Eagles extended their lead in the top of the third with Rubio once again bringing Sciandra in to score. Lehtomaki then drove Rubio in on a sac fly to put Franklin Tech up, 3-0.
Smith Vocational scored its lone run in the bottom of the fifth.
Greenfield 3, St. Mary’s 1 — Petru Cojocaru got the day going with a 6-0, 6-1 win in No. 1 singles over Saint John Baillargeon, helping lead the Green Wave to a 3-1 win over St. Mary’s in a Tri-County North match on Thursday in Wwe.
Greenfield’s Daniel Pena-Chadee earned a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Matt Sabat in No. 2 singles and Ethan Bross tallied the third win of the day for the Green Wave, defeating Ben Howes 6-2, 7-5 in No. 3 singles.
Jacob Frank and Matt Lavoine fell to St. Mary’s Ryan Sweeney and Evan Durkee, 6-2, 0-6, 11-9, in a tightly contested No. 1 doubles match. The second doubles match was not contested.
Frontier 15, Pioneer 4 — Brady Burch, David Gray, Ngwang Deter and Matt Sicard led the attack as the Redhawks topped the Panthers, 15-4, at Platt Field in Bernardston Thursday.
Max Rajballie played strong defense for Frontier while Ben Caron made some key offensive plays in the win.