H.S. baseball: Justin Rivera excels for Holyoke in 15-1 victory over Granby

HOLYOKE — The Holyoke baseball team dominated its first home game of the season against Granby on Wednesday night, winning 15-1 in five innings.

With just four runs of offense played for the Purple Knights, their 15-run output was the product of production throughout the whole lineup. Out of 11 hitters who saw at least one plate appearance, nine found a way to reach base at least once.

Through those four frames, Holyoke mustered 11 hits and eight walks, while adding on six stolen bases with the influx of base runners.

“We came out hungry, and we battled,” Purple Knights head coach David Guzman said. “We had a really good approach at the plate. The kids hit well with runners in scoring position, and we took advantage of their mistakes.”

On the other side, the Rams did struggle to deal with runners on the base paths, with numerous wild pitches and passed balls giving Holyoke free bases throughout the contest.

Justin Rivera led the way for the Purple Knights offensively, coming away a home run short of a cycle in four at-bats. His triple, double and single helped tally three runs scored, driving in two runs of his own in the victory.

As the lone senior in the lineup, Rivera did well to lead his young team by example, as the rest of the group followed suit.

“I’m proud of our guys, and we’re still improving,” Guzman said. “We’re a really young team, but my kids are getting better every day, and they come ready to work every day, so I’m glad it’s paying off.”

Holyoke’s big win also came in large part to its success on the mound, with three different arms seeing time on Wednesday and allowing a combined two hits through five innings.

Jeremy Francisco got the start for the Purple Knights on the bump, throwing 61 pitches across 3.2 innings pitched. He tacked on five strikeouts and just one earned run, setting his bullpen up with a big lead after getting great run support.

“[Francisco] pitched great [on Wednesday],” Guzman said. “He can really throw, has good off-speed stuff and he’s really learning how to pitch, so I’m really proud of him.”

Carter Felsentreger needed just three pitches to retire the one batter he saw out of the bullpen, with Jossue Adorno shutting the door with a one-two-three inning to cap the game off in the fifth.

Granby’s lone run came in the fourth inning off a Liam Everson triple to right field, with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Anthony Santiago driving him in.

It was a game to learn from for the Rams, with the early April rust showing in the tough loss. Despite the lopsided finish on the scoreboard, just one error being committed this early on is a positive sign.

Now at 0-2, they’ll look to put the losses in the rearview mirror, continuing a three-game road trip on Friday, April 3, at 4 p.m. against Mahar.

“At times we looked good, and at times not so good,” Granby head coach James Woods said. “It is what it is, with the score being what it is, but we played pretty well on a Monday, and we’ve got a game on Friday, so I needed to have enough arms to get through Friday, and hope that’ll help out.”

Holyoke now looks ahead to Monday, April 6, at 4:30 p.m. for another home game against Northampton.