NORTHAMPTON – Four first-quarter goals in less than a minute gave the Northampton girls lacrosse team all the juice it needed to race by Granby 25-15 on Monday.
Junior Izzy Epstein ripped the back of the net 3 minutes, 9 seconds in unassisted to open the scoring. Then Sofia Ciaglo assisted another Epstein tally 16 seconds later. Ciaglo scored the next two herself – 14 seconds and 17 seconds apart.
The Blue Devils (4-5) opened on a 5-0 run when Eloise Roberts found the net with 19:58 to halftime from Epstein.
“We get that first-goal momentum and it builds on itself,” Epstein said. “This season the best games that we’ve had have been when we score right off the bat and keep collecting the goals.”
Epstein collected seven goals and two assists to pace Northampton. Ciaglo put away six goals and added an assist. She whipped one of them behind her back over her shoulder and bounced it in front of the Granby goalie into the net.
Roberts added four goals and three assists.
“We were passing pretty well and looking up the field and across the field and focusing on the transition,” Epstein said. “We really utilized our draw and dumps and passing and sharing the ball.”
Northampton’s Chloe Denhart, Ellie Mahoney and Theo Starr contributed two goals each.
The Blue Devils led 13-5 at halftime, but Granby (4-4) stormed out with the first three goals of the second half. Gabby Walz cut it to 13-8 with a free position goal with 19:25 left.
Ella Laliberte led the Rams with six goals. Walz and Ari Klekotka put away three goals each.
Hampshire 13, Pittsfield 5 – Skyler Duda scored seven of Hampshire’s 13 goals and added an assist in Hampshire’s comeback victory over Pittsfield. After a shaky first half, the Raiders outscored Pittsfield 8-2 in the second half to secure the win.
Emma Archambault and Sam Moran scored twice and Abby Hennessy made three saves in net in the win.
Amherst 15, Lee 10 – Talia Sadiq contributed six goals and an assist for the Hurricanes in a road win.
Amherst’s Esme Siegel and Emily Ireland each had a hat trick an an assist.
April Schilling (assist), Jenna Schilling (assist) and Caitlin MacDougall each found the net once for Amherst.
Amherst goalie Cedar Conrad saved 17 shots.
Agawam 10, Amherst 4 – The Hurricanes jumped out to a 3-2 lead after two innings before going scoreless in the middle three innings against Agawam, falling 10-4 on Monday in a Valley Central contest.
Elijah Rubinstein threw four innings for Amherst, striking out two and allowing six hits. Ryan Schneider and Nate Mills threw 1.2 and 0.1 innings in relief, respectively.
Mills finished with a hit and an RBI and Thatcher Rudnick and Neil Cunniffe picked up two hits each.
West Springfield 6, Granby 0 – Connor Asselin and Ray Toth got the Rams only two hits in a shutout loss to West Springfield.
Collin Kennedy threw 6.1 innings for Granby, striking out two.
Smith Academy 12, Ludlow 5 – A 10-run second inning propelled Smith Academy to a win over Ludlow.
Sam Dobson threw all five innings for the Falcons, striking out three and allowing just two hits in the win.
Dobson blasted a triple and plated three times, also driving in three RBIs. Both Griffin Smiarowski and Will Dobson picked up a double and drove in one and two runs, respectively. Shannon Whitcomb also went 2-for-2 at the plate, scored once and added two RBIs.
Central 5, Northampton 1 – Dominic Badorini picked up a pair of hits and Marty Maslowski singled in the Blue Devils loss on Monday.
A trio of pitchers took the mound for Northampton – Ryan Crowther threw 3.2 innings, allowing six hits, Caleb Steineger struck out one batter in 1.1 innings of work, and Peter Sullivan threw one inning, allowing no hits.
Pioneer 7, Frontier 6 (9) — It was an extra-inning thriller in South Deerfield on Monday.
Sean Allen scored on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth and Jason Quinn brought Jared Hubbard home on a single to put the Panthers ahead, 7-5. The Redhawks got one back in the bottom of the frame but couldn’t get the game-tying run, with Pioneer coming away with a 7-6 independent triumph.
Sam Schreiber struck out four in seven innings for Frontier (8-3). Tyler Dubreuil had three hits and an RBI in the loss.
Smith Voc 12, Putnam 0 – James Lavallee struck out eight in five innings on the mound for the Vikings.
Carter Blanchette and Cole Boisvert each picked up two hits and Boisvert, Blanchette and Caelan Finni all drove in two runs.
Chicopee 6, Holyoke 4 — Ethan McClain (run) and Eliezer Rosario Lebron each singled twice for the Purple Knights in a road loss.
Braeden Lamirande, Eddie Izquierdo and Anibal Diaz each had a hit and a run for Holyoke (1-9).
Easthampton 16, Chicopee Comp 0
Easthampton 18, Chicopee Comp 3 – The Eagles picked up both wins against Chicopee Comp in a doubleheader series on Monday, outscoring their opponents 34-3 over the course of the two games.
In the first game, Rosie Follet threw all five innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits and one walk. Abigail McClaflin went 3-for-3 at the plate, including a triple and a double, and a trio of Eagles – Ana Growhowski, Lauren Morse, and McKenzie McCarthy – all finished with three hits; Morse also launched the game’s only home run and brought in five RBIs.
In the second, Follet also pitched all six innings, allowing six hits and again striking out ten. McCarthy finished with four hits, three of them doubles, and two RBIs. Growhowski scored four times and grabbed three hits and Jessica Cloutier and Kayley Downie both collected three hits.
Franklin Tech 13, Smith Academy 1 – Bailey McCoy picked up a double and scored the Falcons’ only run against Franklin Tech.
Emilia Neves and Keighley Gworek had a hit apiece in the loss.
Hampshire 13, Minnechaug 1 (5) – Jocelyn Mettey went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a double in a home win. She also allowed just two hits with no walks and struck out four.
Hannah Wodecki (RBI) and Ashley Cortis, (two RBIs) each had two hits and scored twice for the Raiders (8-2).
Chicopee 13, Northampton 1 – Kaliya Valentin struck out 10 and allowed 14 hits in five innings of work for the Blue Devils.
Valentin also secured a double for Northampton, the team’s only hit of the contest.
Amherst 5, Pathfinder 3 – Sofia Holden threw all seven innings for the Hurricanes, striking out 17 batters and allowing four hits to keep Amherst a perfect 8-0.
Maria Konieczny went 2-for-3 at the plate and added two RBIs in the win.
South Hadley 19, Belchertown 8 – South Hadley outlasted Belchertown in a 19-8 victory, improving to 8-0 this season.
Kelli Vey went 4-for-5 at the plate, scoring three runs and one RBI. Sophia Faginski collected three hits and three RBIs, scoring four times, and Halena Theroux got a hit and three RBIs for the Tigers.
Faginski pitched 4.1 innings, allowing 10 hits and striking out one, while Isabella Schaeffer struck out eight in 2.2 innings of work.
Olivia Lafayette threw six innings for the Orioles, allowing 13 hits and striking out eight.
Lex Piwcio picked up three hits, Julianne Cozine drove in four RBIs and two hits, and Eliza Rothstein secured two hits.
SICS 3, Holyoke 2 – The Purple Knights won two of their matches against SICS, but ultimately dropped the contest because of a forfeit in No. 3 singles.
No. 1 singles Kelsey Brainard (6-0, 6-1) and No. 2 singles Brenna Philips (6-1, 6-0) won both of their matches.
The No. 2 doubles team of Ava Tellier and Emiah Garcia needed a tiebreaker to determine the winner of their match. Ultimately, Tellier and Garcia dropped their match in a third-set tiebreaker 6-1, 3-6, 7-10. No. 1 doubles team Allison Jourdain and Maura Dulude (6-4, 6-3) also dropped their match.
Frontier 5, PV Christian 0 – The Redhawks won three matches in straight sets. No. 1 singles player Emma Clancy bested Reagan Horn 6-0, 6-0, and both doubles teams didn’t drop a game. No. 1 pair Sydney Scanlon and Sam Baker took out Aniya Romero and Anna Sprecher 6-0, 6-0 and No. 2 team Grace O’Leary and Chloe Felton Emrick won 6-0, 6-0 over Mariah Duquette and Liah Delgado.
At No. 2 singles, Maddie Powers won 6-1, 6-1 over Charis Smith.
Ludlow 5, South Hadley 0 – No. 1 singles Sean Whalen dropped a close match to Ludlow’s Hayden Potorsky (6-4, 6-3) and No. 2 singles Matthias Lipp dropped his match (6-2, 6-0) as did No. 1 doubles team Xavier Macon and Vincent Calvanese fell 6-3, 6-1
South Hadley lost its No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles matches by forfeit.