Aleks Carey fired home 11 kills, as the top-seeded Frontier Regional boys volleyball team took down No. 4 Athol 3-0 in the Western Massachusetts Class C semifinals Tuesday in South Deerfield.
He had four bocks in the 25-15, 25-16, 25-12 win.
Frontier’s Jesse Kurkulonis put down 10 kills with 13 digs and five aces.
Tavo Vincent-Warner distributed 29 assists with four digs for Frontier.
Deter Ngawang had 13 digs and eight kills for Frontier, which will face either No. 2 Southwick or No. 3 Ware in the finals at 5 p.m. on May 31 at Chicopee Comp. The Rams host the other semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Hopkins Academy 5, Ware 0 – Andrew Ciaglo put the Golden Hawks on his shoulders in the Western Massachsuetts Class D quarterfinals. He threw a one-hit shutout, striking out 16 of the 21 batters he faced.
Ciaglo also secured two pop outs and added two hits, including an RBI double, and a sacrifice bunt.
“He was the most dominant I’ve ever seen a pitcher look,” Hopkins Academy coach Dan Vreeland said.
Hopkins lost to Ware four days ago with Ciaglo on the bump. He ensured a different outcome Monday.
“He was a different level of angry,” Vreeland said.
The third-seeded Golden Hawks will travel to No. 2 Pioneer Regional in the semifinals.
Ware’s only hit came with one out in the seventh on a double that just sailed over the center fielder’s head.
Patrick Fitzgibbons crushed a three-run opposite-field homer in the third inning and doubled for the Golden Hawks. Hopkins’ Cody West added an RBI single, and Jack Dyjach singled and was hit by a pitch.
Granby 13, Palmer 1 – Connor Asselin hit a home run and singled, driving in three runs for the top-seeded Rams in the Western Massachusetts Class D quarterfinals. They’ll host either No. 4 Mount Everett or No. 5 Smith Academy, who play at 4 pm. Tuesday in Sheffield, in the semifinals.
Joshua Chateneauf also had three RBIs for the Rams, who put up four runs in each of the second, third and fifth innings. They had 11 hits.
Granby’s Ryan Gaughan added three hits and two RBIs. He struck out three and allowed just two hits and a walk.
Raymond Toth doubled and drove in a run for Granby. Jayden Santiago singled twice and scored two runs.
Pittsfield 4, Belchertown 3 — The No. 7 Orioles rallied to tie the Western Massachusetts Class B quarterfinals in the top of the seventh with two runs, but the No. 2 Generals walked them off to reach the semifinals. They’ll host No. 3 Monument Mountain on Thursday.
Aiden Torna led Belchertown with two hits, while Eli Sayball-Wimmer (RBI, run), Tim Mitus (RBI) and Chris Misaszek had a hit each.
Pittsfield pitcher Cameron Sime didn’t allow a walk and struck out nine.
“Their guy threw 72 percent of his pitches were strikes. He didn’t walk anybody. That is huge,” Belchertown coach Evan Berneche said. “It’s like the bug that’s been getting us all year. We couldn’t get the big hit.”
Smith Vocational 7, McCann Tech 0 — Race Drobiak struck out nine and allowed just three hits to lead the No. 5 Vikings to a road upset victory in the Western Massachusetts Class C quarterfinals. They’ll face No. 1 Mount Greylock in the semifinals.
He also drove in a run.
Caelan Finnie had two hits and two RBIs, while Cole Boisvert added two hits and an RBI for Smith Vocational.
Frontier 13, Westfield Tech 0 (5) — The second-seeded Redhawks found a way to put the ball in play early and often in the Western Massachusetts Class C quarterfinals.
Frontier scored one in the first and added five in the second before exploding for seven runs in the fourth inning to run away from the No. 7 Tigers. The Redhawks will host No. 3 Greenfield in the semifinals on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
“I wouldn’t even call it timely hitting, it was just all-around hitting, one-through-nine,” Redhawks coach Chris Williams said. “Everyone was putting the ball in play. We weren’t watching strikes. When there were two strikes we put the ball in play. Our base running was flawless. I couldn’t be happier with our offensive production today.”
Frontier’s Liam Skribiski-Banack and Tyler Baranowski each doubled and singled with two RBIs.
Eathon Bryant added a triple and three RBIs for the Redhawks.
“We’re coming off a great offensive game against Hampshire,” Williams said. “Everything came together today. This is how we play baseball. If we can continue to do this at this level, we have a good shot against anybody in whatever tournament it is.”
West Springfield 13, Northampton 10 — The defending WMass champion Blue Devils fell on the road in a high-octane Class A quarterfinal.
No. 7 Northampton rallied with six runs in the top of the seventh but couldn’t make up the ground. Jack Kelleher-Mochak, Marty Maslowski, Nate Kelleher-Mochak, Brady McDonald and Caleb Steiniger each had two hits for Northampton.
The No. 2 seed Terriers will host No. 3 Pope Francis in the semifinals.
Taconic 15, Hampshire 0 (5) — The top-seeded Thunder boomed too powerfully for the No. 8 Raiders with 13 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning in the Western Massachusetts Class B quarterfinals.
Hampshire didn’t register a hit in the game.
Taconic will host No. 4 Southwick or No. 5 Easthampton in the semifinals.
Hampshire Regional 14, Monument Mountain 2 (6) – Jocelyn Mettey drove in four runs, including a three-run homer, as the top-seeded Raiders prevailed in the Western Massachusetts Class B quarterfinals at home. They’ll host No. 5 Southwick in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
She also struck out nine in the circle, allowing seven hits and three walks.
Hampshire’s Theresa Saltis doubled twice and drove in three runs. Hailey Wodecki was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Raiders.
Smith Academy 10, Monson 7 — Haley Springman went 3-for-4 at the plate and Amanda Novak crushed a home run to pick up an upset win for No. 6 Smith Academy in the Class D quarterfinals against No. 3 Monson.
Novak added a single for the Falcons and Emilia Neves drilled a triple and a single in the win. Smith Academy will face either No. 2 Hoosac Valley or No. 7 Ware in the semis.
Turners Falls 16, Gateway 0 (5) – Alexi Bonenfant had the No. 8 Gators’ lone hit in the Western Massachusetts Class D quarterfinal. The top-seeded Thunder will host either No. 4 Hopkins Academy or No. 5 Lee in the semifinals.
Amherst 5, Pope Francis 0 — The defending champion Hurricanes never lost more than two games in any set to sweep the Western Massachusetts Class B semifinals. Top-seeded Amherst will face either No. 2 Belchertown or No. 3 Northampton for the title Friday. The Orioles and Blue Devils face off at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Belchertown.
Amherst’s No. 2 doubles team of Josh Kellogg and Ben Oates bested John Sitnik and Ryan Davis 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets.
Rohan Shenoy and Siddu Sitaraman won the No. 1 doubles match 6-0, 6-1 over Joey Dewey and Matt Cogswell for the Hurricanes.
Aengus Cox beat Maj Goncalves 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, while Zach Richards bested Mac Mahoney 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
At No. 3 singles, Pierre Katsaros won 6-1, 6-1 over Mackenzie Lopes.
Lee 4, Frontier 1 — Robert Fuqua picked up the No. 2 Redhawks lone win at No. 3 singles in the Western Massachusetts Class C semifinals. He bested Josh Perrier 6-3, 6-0.
The No. 3 Tigers will face either No. 1 PVCICS or No. 4 St. Mary’s in the final Friday at 3 p.m, The Dragons host the Saints at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Holyoke.
Northampton 3, Belchertown 2 — The No. 3 Blue Devils rode a controlling singles performance on the road in the Western Massachusetts Class B semifinals. They will face No. 1 Ludlow for the championship at 3 p.m. Friday.
Northampton’s No. 1 player Jenne Mei Mangan Larouche bested Belchertown’s Ava Shea 6-2, 6-1. Daria Warren picked up a 6-2, 6-1 victory for the Blue Devils at No. 2 singles over Amber Drummond.
Summer Sorenson of Northampton defeated Ellie Gelinas 6-0, 6-0.
No. 3 Belchertown captured its two points in tight doubles matches. No. 1 Orioles pair Kasey Gibbons and Brooke Burrows beat Roxana Clauson and Sara Ryan 6-1, 7-6 (14-12), while No. 2 team Alena Karabestos and Emalee Chaisson prevailed 6-1, 4-6, 10-8.
Ludlow 3, Amherst 2 — The top-seeded Lions narrowly edged the No. 4 Hurricanes in the Western Massachusetts Class B semifinals.