Thea Hanscom made her varsity debut on the mound for the Hopkins Academy baseball team in a 11-3 loss to Mahar Regional in Orange on Thursday afternoon.
Hanscom went 3⅔ innings for the Golden Hawks and did not give up an earned run with five strikeouts. She likely became the first girl in school history to start for the varsity baseball team.
“The competition was definitely harder,” Hanscom said. “The boys are older, bigger, which is a little nerve-wracking.”
Hanscom allowed one walk and two hits and left the game down 3-1 in the fourth inning.
“I was hitting the corners with my fastball,” Hanscom said. “I was just playing my game. I’ve been playing it for so long that I am used to it. It was just another game.”
The Golden Hawks made four errors with Hanscom on the mound and seven in the game.
“I think she looked great The only problem with how it worked out is how we played behind her,” Hopkins Academy coach Dan Vreeland said. “We beat her more than they beat us. She was out there throwing strikes.”
Vreeland went to Caleb Graves in relief when Hanscom’s pitch count started to climb.
“I would have left her out there if her pitch count wasn’t up,” Vreeland said. “The reason her pitch count was up was we left some balls on the field that we could have made outs on.”
Aidan Michalak had an RBI ground out in the top of the fourth for Hopkins.
In the top of the seventh, Hopkins Academy forced a pitching change. Liam Higgins had an RBI single in the inning, and Graves added a sacrifice fly.
Wahconah 14, Hampshire Regional 1 — Jacob Labrie drove in the Raiders’ lone run in the sixth. Jake Constantine, Greg Sarna-McCarthy and Nick Pellegrini singled for Hampshire (0-1).
Belchertown 12, Smith Academy 7 — Jacob Torna was 2-for-5 with a double and four RBIs, as the Orioles won their season opener. Zackery Bohnet had three hits, scored two runs and drove in a run for Belchertown (1-0). Zach Jenks struck out five in 5⅓ innings, allowing just two hits with three walks.
Brett Graz had two hits for Smith Academy (0-1), adding an RBI and scoring a run.
Collin Ferrara and Nate Moynihan each had an RBI single and scored a run.
Easthampton 12, South Hadley 2 — Zack Kugler (hit, two runs), Nic Soucy (hit, run) and Matthew Arroyo (two hits, run) each had two RBIs as the Eagles cruised at Daley Field. It was the opener for both teams.
Easthampton answered South Hadley’s two-run second with nine runs in the bottom of the frame.
Nathan Morse struck out three and walked two over two innings in the start. Liam Burke fanned three and walked three over the next three innings for the win.
Aiden Sullivan had two of the Tigers’ three hits.
Northampton 7, Southwick 4 — The Blue Devils ripped off five runs in the top of the seventh to win their first game of the season.
Emilia Pelis sparked that rally with a three-run triple.
Katelyn Ramdath added a two-run double. Jill McGrath singled twice and scored two runs.
Marissa Badorini struck out eight and allowed just one earned run for the Blue Devils (1-1).
South Hadley 15, Belchertown 4 — Liam Dawson amassed six goals and one assist, while Hunter Borowski had five goals and an assist for the Tigers in a road win. Sean Mitchell scored twice, while Hunter Carey found the net for South Hadley (1-1). Jacey Rondeau stopped four shots.
Owen Sedlacek had two goals and an assist for the Orioles (0-1). Tony Martell dished two assists. Jake Condon and Justin Pendrick also found the net, while Nick Fellion made seven saves.
Minnechaug 14, Amherst 3 — Ty Borrell, Justin Guaytanof and Dimitris Son all found the net for the Hurricanes (0-2). Connor Bowen stopped six shots.
Agawam 15, South Hadley 3 — Hannah Bisson scored twice, as the Tigers (0-3) fell on the road. Abigail Hartely also found the net, while Bridget Sears and Emilee Sowers added assists. Alyson Cote made six saves.
East Longmeadow 11, Amherst 8 — Téa LaRaja scored five goals in a road loss. Rachel Kawall found the net twice, while Zora Dallman added two assists. Malina Kern had one goal for the Hurricanes (1-1). Cleo Hein stopped seven shots.
Baseball
Mahar 11, Hopkins Academy 3
Hopkins 000 100 2 — 3 7 7
Mahar 023 006 x — 11 7 2
WP—Peredina LP—Hanscom
Records: Mahar (1-0) Hopkins (0-1)
Wahconah 14,
Hampshire Regional 1
Wahconah 510 071 0 — 14 10 0
Hampshire 000 001 0 — 1 4 7
WP—Frazier LP—Sarna-McCarthy
Records: Wahconah (1-0) Hampshire Regional (0-1)
Belchertown 12,
Smith Academy 7
Belchertown 001 326 0 — 12 11 5
Smith Academy 000 120 4 — 7 7 4
WP—Jenks LP—Dobson
Records: Smith Academy (0-1) Belchertown (1-0)
Easthampton 12, South Hadley 2
South Hadley 020 000 0 — 2 3 4
Easthampton 090 030 x —12 7 5
WP—Burke LP—Sherwood
Records: Easthampton (1-0) South Hadley (0-1)
Softball
Northampton 7, Southwick 4
Northampton 011 000 5 — 7 10 4
Southwick 100 111 0 — 4 5 2
WP—Badorini LP—Hough
Records: Southwick (1-1) Northampton (1-1)