WESTHAMPTON — The Hampshire Regional girls lacrosse team battled through the rain to defeat Belchertown 11-8 on Monday night.
After a back-and-forth first quarter that ended with the score tied 3-3, the Raiders came into the second quarter with a new mentality. The group boasted a more patient approach, controlling the pace of the game while maintaining possession throughout.
With just three total goals scored throughout the 12-minute quarter, the slow attack proved to be successful. Hampshire went into the half with a 5-4 lead, but even more impactful was the momentum gained from controlling the game.
“Having that success in the second quarter really showed them that, ‘We can do this, and we can match up against a strong opponent, and be there for each other and help each other out and do what we need to do,” Raiders head coach Grace Ahrensdorf said. “ I feel like we fed off of that in the third and fourth quarters.”
Rylie Simmons led Hampshire offensively with four goals in the win, two of which came in the third quarter. The junior captain was also a major factor in terms of draw controls, finishing the night with nine wins in the face-off circle.
Fellow captain Reese O’Connell helped keep the game out of reach with two second-half goals of her own for the Raiders. The pair of veterans helped to keep the team on track through some heavy rain in the second half, coming out on top.
“When their energy is up, and they are having a positive mindset, the other girls feed off that,” Ahrensdorf said of her leaders. “Having their confidence to go to the goal and take some good shots really got everyone excited. You could hear our bench nice and loud tonight.”
The Orioles didn’t go down without a fight on Monday, outscoring Hampshire in the fourth quarter but just running out of time. The deficit that was built over the course of the middle of the game proved to be too much to overcome.
Aubrey McCain led Belchertown’s attack with four goals in the loss, with two in each half. Lia Pikul was close behind with three goals of her own, with the late push coming up short.
“We were just stuck in the mud, not really executing what we thought a viable game plan would be,” Orioles head coach Jarrod Lemke said. “[The Raiders] did a very good job of shutting down our main offensive threats, and I did a not-so-great job of adapting to that.”
Belchertown’s (4-2) tough defeat puts an end to a four-game winning streak, looking to get back in the win column on Thursday, April 16, at 5:45 p.m. on the road against Chicopee.
With the win, Hampshire improves to 3-4 on the year, hoping to continue the positive momentum on Thursday, April 16, at 4:30 p.m. on the road against Hoosac Valley.
“We were waiting for things to click and for us to gel, and [Monday], it happened,” Ahrensdorf said. “I’m really proud of how hard they played. We were just talking about playing all four quarters, all the way through, with intensity and energy. So it was, it was a good, good win.”
Smith Voc 12, Pittsfield 8 — The Vikings put together a balanced offensive attack led by four goals from Erin Miller in their second win of the season.
Kaylin Dumas had three goals of her own in the victory, along with a goal and two assists from Katelyn Hennessy. Three other players scored at least one goal for Smith Voc.
Granby 18, Chicopee 12 — The Rams tied their season high in goals in their fourth win of the year to this point. Seven different players tallied a goal in the offensive explosion.
Brenna Moreno and Mylin Laliberte led the way with four goals each, while they were supported by hat tricks from Carli Zobka and Kaelynn Slapski.
Westfield 12, South Hadley 11 — The Tigers came up just short of their third win of the season despite seven different players contributing a goal in the loss.
Willa Camp found the back of the net twice for South Hadley, adding on four draw controls. Kelcey Zrauniq, Ella Haber and Lauren Montemangni each also had a pair of goals despite the loss.
Boys lacrosse
Amherst 11, Wahconah 5 — Taylor Levia’s hat trick helped lead the Hurricanes to a substantial win on Monday night.
Brian Sibrian Cruz and Ethan Montouri each had two goals from their midfield positions as well in the victory for Amherst.
Softball
Hampshire 7, East Longmeadow 3 — The Raiders outlasted the Spartans to get back in the win column.
Rachael Hickox (3-for-4), Lucy Trombley and Caroline Payson (2-for-3 each) were active at the plate while Ryanne Dubay had a respectable performance in the circle (seven innings, four hits, three runs, six strikeouts).
Belchertown 13, Easthampton 1 — Sophia Mitus (3-for-4, four RBIs) was stellar for the Orioles in the victory over the Eagles.
The junior led all players in hits and RBIs, with two triples tossed in as well. Belchertown scored eight runs across the fifth and sixth innings to blow the game open.
Granby 22, SICS 3 — The Rams boat-raced the Bulldogs thanks to 15 hits on the afternoon.
Kaitlyn Curran (3-for-3, three RBIs), Ellie Szlosek (4-for-5, three RBIs) and Rowan Cook (home run) put together impressive games.
Meredith Bartosz allowed six hits and struck out five in the circle for Granby.
Smith Academy 17, Holyoke 11 — Millie Barszcz and Nataly Slysz combined for eight RBIs in the Falcons’ win over the Purple Knights.
Quinn Carlson collected 13 strikeouts for Smith Academy in the circle.
Samantha Rodriguez registered three hits for Holyoke.
Baseball
South Hadley 5, Easthampton 4 — The Tigers needed eight innings to take down the Eagles.
South Hadley trailed 4-0 entering the bottom of the seventh, evened the score, then won the game an inning later.
Logan Carpenter, Noah Carillion and Lincoln Belsky each earned two hits for the Tigers.
South Hadley’s Matthew Butler and Easthampton’s Patrick Larson each fanned seven batters.
Amherst 12, Granby 5 — Seven runs in the top of the sixth inning proved to be the difference for the Hurricanes.
Daniel Lebron and Oliver Howard each smacked two hits and totaled five RBIs for Amherst.
Oscar Reich received the win for the ‘Canes, while Joe Barrett took the loss for the Rams.
Franklin Tech 12, Smith Voc 2 — A disastrous second inning doomed the Vikings.
Kaleb Jorritsma and Nolen Ingram posted two hits each.
Hopkins 7, Greenfield 1 — Chace Earle and Derek Gromacki combined for a no-hitter for the Golden Hawks at Vets Field. Greenfield (4-2, 2-1 Suburban East) got five innings from Bodie Burke, who had four walks and six strikeouts.
Boys volleyball
Belchertown 3, Chicopee 1 — The Orioles battled back from a first-set loss to win their second straight.
Set scores were 24-26, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23.
Gavin Couchon was dynamite on the attack, finishing with 21 kills for Belchertown.
Boys tennis
Longmeadow 5, Amherst 0 — The Hurricanes were outmatched by the Lancers in the shutout defeat.
Weekend Results
Baseball
Longmeadow 14, Belchertown 1 — Nine errors sank the Orioles in the loss to the Lancers on Saturday.
Nathan Marino recorded two hits for Belchertown.
St. Mary’s 9, Smith Voc 7 — The Vikings blasted 10 hits but couldn’t bring in enough runs in the loss.
Chase Dionne went 3-for-4 with two RBIs as Smith Voc’s top hitter.
Girls lacrosse
Billerica 11, Northampton 8 — The Blue Devils traveled to the Merrimack Valley on Saturday and dropped a close contest.
Makayla Fydenkevez (hat trick) and Imanni Power-Greene (five points) played well on offense while Ainsley Dawson registered 10 saves.
Outdoor track
Holyoke competed at the Lady Hawks Invitational in Bloomfield, C.T., over the weekend where multiple Purple Knights performed well.
Addison Rodriguez set new personal-bests in shot put, discus and javelin while Mya Yates grabbed seventh in the 400-meter race.
The boys 4×100 relay team of Jaybriel Rivera-Soto, Jose Feliciano, Byron Gaudalupe, and Ryan Kennedy sprinted to second place.
Boys tennis
Mount Greylock 3, PVCICS 2 — Derek and Devan Ye won matches for the Dragons in their defeat against the Mounties last Friday.
Boys volleyball
PVCA 3, Granby 2 — Both of the Rams’ losses this season have been in five sets as the Eagles remained perfect following Friday’s contest.
