High schools: 10-run inning lifts Franklin Tech baseball past Mohawk Trail; Greenfield’s MacKenzie Paulin notches 400th strikeout

Staff Reports

Published: 05-18-2023 9:32 PM

A 10-run top of the second inning proved to be just enough for the Franklin Tech baseball team on Thursday.

The visiting Eagles turned a 5-1 deficit into an 11-5 lead thanks to the huge inning, then they held off a furious Mohawk Trail rally over the final few innings to snag a 13-11 victory in Buckland.

Gavin Crossman provided some insurance in the top of the seventh inning for Franklin Tech (7-11), as his two-run single made it a 13-10 game. The Warriors rallied with a run in their final at bat but Nate Fuess held on to earn a six-out save.

Mason Lehtomaki earned the win on the mound for the Eagles, while Sam Knight had two doubles and Ben Dodge added a double of his own.

Mohawk Trail’s Brody Hicks struck out six in an impressive relief outing, while Deven Buchanan was 3-for-5 with a double and Grady Patenaude added two hits, including a double.

Softball

Greenfield 13, Mount Greylock 0 (5) – Sophomore MacKenzie Paulin recorded the 400th strikeout of her young career, lifting the Green Wave to a bounce-back five-inning victory on Thursday.

Paulin, who pitched Greenfield to a state title last spring, finished six punchouts in five innings, walking two and allowing two hits. She entered Thursday’s game needing just one strikeout to reach the 400-mark, and accomplished it just two batters into her outing.

Offensively, Brielle Widelo had two hits and drove in three runs, while Amber Bergeron smacked two hits and drove in a pair. Ivy Rae (two hits, RBI) and Carly Blanchard (double, three RBIs) also keyed the double-digit offensive output.

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The win halted a three-game losing streak for Greenfield, which finished its regular season with a 13-5 record. The club will be the No. 1 seed in the WMass Class C tournament, which begins next week.

Franklin Tech 12, Athol 0 (5) – Hannah Gilbert struck out 14 batters in a five-inning shutout, including the 200th strikeout of her career in the circle.

The Eagles finished their regular season 16-2 overall, co-champions of the Franklin County League East along with Hopkins Academy. They’re also guaranteed a top two seed in the state vocational tournament.

Leading 5-0 in the fourth, Franklin Tech scored six times to put things out of reach. Kaitlin Trudeau had three hits, including a triple, to pace the offensive output, while Cordelia Guerin added two hits in the win. Kendra Campbell drove in a pair of runs, while Lilly Ross, Kylee Gamache and Gilbert all had a hit and an RBI.

Jaylynn Chapalonis walked twice for the Bears in the loss.

In Middle School action, Athol got past Frontier, 23-12, on Thursday thanks to a pair of home runs from Ella Reed. Ava Adams doubled and Clare McNamara pitched well for Athol, while Morgan Brailey made several nice plays defensively along the infield.

Taconic 16, Turners Falls 4 (6) – Holding a 3-0 lead after two innings, things went south for the Thunder on Thursday in Pittsfield.

Host Taconic scored three runs in the third to tie the game, then followed with three in the fourth and four in the fifth to snatch control. A walk-off grand slam ended things in the sixth for a run-shortened Franklin County League West victory.

Holly Myers paced Turners (11-7) with two hits, including a double, and two RBIs, while Marilyn Abarua also had two hits for the visitors. Addison Talbot added a hit and an RBI, and Madi Liimatainen struck out 10 and walked eight in a complete-game outing in the circle.

The Thunder still held on to win the FCL West title with an 8-2 mark in league play. They’ll be the No. 1 seed in next week’s WMass Class D tournament.

Boys volleyball

Frontier 3, Longmeadow 1 – The Redhawks shook off a second-set loss on Senior Night to capture their 16th victory of the season on Thursday.

The defending champion Redhawks (16-2) will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s WMass Class C tournament.

Setter Tavo Vincent-Warner dished out 39 assists for Frontier, while Aleks Carey put down 13 kills and Jesse Kurkulonis joined him in double figures with 11. Jack Carey added eight kills, and Owen Babb chipped in with five. Ngawang Deter amassed a team-high 17 digs.

Kurkulonis, Deter, Brady Burch and Asa Jackson were honored on Senior Night.

Ware 3, Athol 1 – The Bears took a set from Ware, but dropped their regular-season finale on Thursday.

Set scores were 25-18, 23-25, 25-12, 25-17.

Athol (1-17) will wait and see if it earned the final Class C tournament berth in the four-team field.

Girls tennis

Palmer 4, Greenfield 1 – The second doubles team of Lily Duong and Jessica Mihailicenco combined for the lone point of the day for the Green Wave, as they captured a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory.

Greenfield (8-5) also had a tight match at first doubles, where Lydia Wood and Isabella Semonelli played two tiebreakers before falling.

Track & field

Vocational championships

Relay qualifiers (4x100-meter) Sam Bodenstein, Josiah Little, Brayden McCord and Cameren Candelaria finished fourth in their division out of a total of 21 entries in the MVADA Vocational Championships at Blue Hills Technical High School on Thursday.

Candeleria added a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter dash.

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