Pioneer Valley Regional School’s Steph Scoville has been one of the most dominant pitchers in Franklin County over the past few weeks and on Friday she ended her season with an exclamation mark.
Scoville pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the the Panthers past one of the top teams in the WMass Division 2 field, as they pulled out a 1-0 victory over Hoosac Valley High School in Northfield.
The Panthers (9-11) wound up one win away from qualifying for the WMass tournament this season but ended the year playing well, especially the pitcher, who continued her dominance with a 12-strikeout performance with no walks.
“She works really hard on the field and off the field, she’s been an inspiration for our team,” Pioneer coach Tina Riddell said.
Pioneer broke through off Hoosac pitcher Maddie Puppolo in the fifth inning. Eighth-grader Julia Kovalsick, who came on to play first base for Olivia Rowe after she was injured in a collision, struck out but reached on a dropped third strike to start the inning. Eighth-grader Hannah Perlberg came on to pinch run and the move paid off when junior Abby Briggs laid down a perfect bunt with a hit-and-run on. Perlberg did not stop at second and made her way to third with one out. That set the stage for freshman Kensey Gibson, who roped a line drive to right field to score Perlberg.
The Gibson hit was the only one for the Panthers but the Hurricanes (16-4) were unable to muster a run off Scoville. Puppolo had a pair of hits, and Riley Bishop had the other hit. Puppolo finished with 11 strikeouts and no walks.
McCann Tech 9, Mohawk 1 — Back-to-back big innings from the McCann Tech offense was enough to keep visiting Mohawk from qualifying for the WMass Division 3 tournament, Friday.
The host Hornets scored four times in the third inning and five more in the fourth, putting up more than enough offense to propel them to a 9-1 independent victory over the Warriors in North Adams. The loss keeps Mohawk out of the postseason, as the visitors needed to win its finale to finish with a .500 mark and earn a spot in the tourney.
The Warriors (9-11) were limited to just one run on seven hits by McCann Tech (15-5) pitcher Meg Goyette, who struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter in a complete-game outing. Mohawk scored its lone run in the top of the sixth, when Grace Ward drove in Reagan Dupree to cut the deficit to 9-1.
Mya Lesieur led Mohawk with two hits. Dupree, Caitlin Johnston, Nola Bloomer, Isis Moon and Ashley Reynolds all added singles.
Lesieur took the loss, walking four in six innings of work.
Frontier 9, Amherst 7 — Visiting Frontier scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning, rallying late to shock Division 1 Amherst for a 9-7 independent victory Friday night under the lights in Amherst.
The Hurricanes (9-11) needed a victory to earn a postseason berth, and they looked destined to do just that with a rally of their own in the home half of the sixth. The squad trailed 6-4 but pushed three runs across, taking a 7-6 advantage against the Frontier bullpen.
Needing three outs to seal the deal however, Amherst was unable to stamp the win. A lead-off walk to Corbin Blight saw the Hurricanes bring Justin Masteralexis on in relief, and the Hawks kept the rally going with a Jacob Bryant single. Matt Hildreth laid down a sacrifice bunt that went for an error, allowing the tying run to come across. It also put two runners in scoring position, both of which came around. Garrett DeForest drove in Bryant on a bunt that again went for an error, and Kyle Barnes made it 9-7 with an RBI single.
Connor Waitkus, who came on in relief in the sixth inning, finished the victory for the Hawks (17-3) in the top of the seventh. He worked around trouble, as Amherst put a pair of runners on, but Alex Irizarry flew out to left field to end the game and give Frontier its 17th victory of the season.
“Guys went into their at-bats with confidence,” said Frontier coach Chris Williams of the seventh-inning rally. “That goes a long way, when you’re playing in this postseason-type atmosphere. They trusted the guy in front of them and the guy behind them in the lineup and got the job done.”
Kalen Evans started and went four innings for the Hawks, which led 6-1 in the fourth before Amherst came charging back.
BASEBALL
Frontier 9, Amherst 7
Frontier ………………. 023 100 3 — 9 11 3
Amherst …………….. 100 303 0 — 7 9 3
Hits: (F) Waitkus, Freeman, Blight 2, Bryant 2, Hildreth 2, DeForest, Barnes 2. (A) Essig, Irizarry 2, Masteralexis, Hu 2, Leonard, Katz 2.
2B: (F) Blight, Hildreth. (A) Katz.
RBI: (F) Freeman 2, Hildreth 3, Evans, DeForest. (A) Essig, Irizarry, Hu, Leonard 2, Katz 2.
WP: Waitkus (1 2/3ip, 5k, 2bb), Evans (4ip, 3k, 1bb), Santiago (1 1/3ip, 2k, 3bb), Gochinski (0ip, 0k, 1bb).
LP: Masteralexis (1/3ip, 1k, 0bb).
SOFTBALL
Pioneer 1, Hoosac 0
Hoosac ………………… 000 000 0 — 0 3 2
Pioneer ………………. 000 010 x — 1 1 0
Hits: (H) Puppolo 2, Bishop. (P) Gibson.
RBI: (P) Gibson.
WP: Scoville (7ip, 12k, 0bb).
LP: Puppolo (6ip, 11k, 0bb).
McCann Tech 9, Mohawk 1
Mohawk …………….. 000 001 0 — 1 7 3
McCann ……………… 004 500 x — 9 12 0
Hits: (Mo) Lesieur 2, Dupree, Johnston, Bloomer, Moon, Reynolds. (MT) Daigneault 4, Quinones 2, Goyette 2, Stack, Tetlow, Fortini, Miller.
2B: (Mo) Dupree. (MT) Goyette, Quinones.
3B: (MT) Miller.
RBI: (Mo) Ward. (MT) Goyette 3, Daigneault 2, Miller 2, Quinones, Vanuni.
WP: Goyette (7ip, 8k, 0bb).
LP: Lesieur (6ip, 0k, 4bb).