HADLEY — With the pressure mounting in Monday afternoon’s softball game between Franklin Tech and Hopkins Academy, you could cut the tension with a knife. 

A game that initially seemed over in the first few innings – the visiting Eagles raced out to a 5-0 lead after two innings and held a 10-3 advantage after 3½ frames – quickly turned into a barnburner as the Golden Hawks clawed their way back into the contest. 

Down two runs and needing three quick outs to get back to the plate, the Golden Hawks entered the top of the seventh inning with laser focus and rattled off three consecutive outs. Center fielder Daisy Vendetti caught two long fly balls and shortstop Taylor Barry and first baseman Jessie Markowski teamed up for a cleanly-executed 6-3 putout to end the inning. 

The momentum seemed to be with Hopkins Academy. What the hosts didn’t account for was Eagles pitcher Hannah Gilbert.

“I just knew I had to throw strikes,” the Franklin Tech pitcher said. “I struggled a little bit. And then I just knew I had to get serious.”

With ice in her veins, Gilbert got three strikeouts to leave one Hopkins runner stranded on first and the tying batter swinging at air as the Eagles escaped with an 11-9 win.

The visitors’ priority on Monday was hitting the ball better than their last game [a 1-0 win over Lee on Friday], and they certainly achieved that, finishing with 15 hits to improve to 6-1 on the season.

“We needed to hit the ball a little bit better than we did on Friday and we certainly hit the ball well,” Franklin Tech head  coach Joe Gamache said. “Defensively, we made a couple of mistakes and [Hopkins] hit the ball well. This game was probably just about everything we expected. We figured it would be a tight game. They've got a lot of experience on their side.” 

The Golden Hawks (5-2) took advantage of some of those defensive errors to get back into the game, and stole a dozen bases to put runners in prime scoring positions. Down 11-5 going into the sixth inning, the bats came alive for Hopkins – Markowski singled, Izzy Palmisano walked and both Vendetti and Barry drilled singles to keep the scoring coming. They plated three runs to make it a two-run game before Gilbert got a strikeout to end the inning. 

“(The energy) was really high. We were hitting, so that's contagious,” Barry said on the sixth inning. “Everyone just started hitting that inning and we were able to come back pretty good.” 

Gilbert, Kendra Campbell, Shelby O’Leary, Kylee Gamache and Kyra Goodell all had two hits in the win for the Eagles, which racked up 15 hits as a team. Kaitlin Trudeau tripled and Cordelia Guerin added a double in the win.

Athol 26, Mahar 14 — It was a second inning to remember for the Bears on Monday against their rivals.

Host Athol scored 16 times in the home half of the frame, sending 22 batters to the plate to turn a 6-4 lead into a 22-4 advantage that ultimately set the tone for a 26-14 slugfest.

Hailey Cummings was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored to aid the Athol offense, while Jenna Bonenfant had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Alyssa Logan drove in three runs and walked four times, scoring four runs.

Dakota Cleveland was 2-for-5 atop the lineup for the Senators, while Gabriella Matthews had two hits and two RBIs. Alivia Patch also roped two hits and scored a run for the visitors.

Frontier 6, Wahconah 3 — A bases-loaded, two-out over the left shoulder diving catch by center fielder Jazzy Hayes ended the seventh inning scoring threat from visiting Wahconah and lifted the Redhawks to a solid 6-3 victory on Monday at Zabek Field in South Deerfield.

Frontier had multiple-hit games from Ashley Taylor, Hailey Hutkoski, Skyler Steele and Addy Wood. Lu Fifield smacked a two-run home run (her second of the season) in the bottom of the second inning that put the hosts up 4-0.

Taylor struck out two in a complete-game effort in the circle, walking two and scattering seven hits. She also added a triple at the plate as Frontier racked up 10 hits in the win.

Pioneer 10, Smith Academy 2 — Eighth grader Brayleigh Burgh struck out 15 batters, and the Panthers won their second game in a row on Monday thanks to a 10-1 rout of the Falcons on the road in Hatfield.

Pioneer (2-4) led 3-1 into the fifth inning when Kel ly Baird smacked a two-run hit and Burgh drove in another to make it a 6-1 game. In the sixth, Natalie Johnson and Burgh both drove in runs to help put things out of reach.

Smith threatened in the seventh with a triple, but Burgh got a strikeout and back-to-back flyouts to end the game and secure the victory.

Wachusett 10, Turners 1 — Madi Liimatainen struck out 10 batters in six innings of work for the Thunder, which trailed just 3-0 until a six-run top of the fifth enable Division 1 power Wachusett to pull away for the victory on Monday at the Bourdeau Fields Complex.

Liimatainen walked six and allowed eight hits before Holly Myers tossed in the final inning, striking out one.

“I thought Madi threw very well for the first four innings,” Turners coach Gary Mullins said.

Turners plated its lone run when Liimatainen singled and scored on a Morgan Dobias RBI hit. Addison Talbot notched her first career varsity hit for the Thunder, which host Greenfield in another high-powered matchup on Wednesday night.

Weekend results

Pioneer 14, Athol 1 — Burgh struck out eight and limited the host Bears to just six hits as Pioneer notched a 14-1 win on Saturday in Athol.

The Panthers scored two in the first inning, two in the second and four in the third to set the tone. The visitors racked up 13 hits on the afternoon, paced by three apiece from Laylah Goulston, Cobi Tyminski and Avery Johnson.

Alyssa Logan and Jaylynn Chapalonis had two hits apiece for the Bears.

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