HATFIELD — An enormous fourth inning powered the Smith Academy softball team to a 17-4 win over Athol in five innings on Wednesday.
The Falcons scored 13 runs in the fourth. Smith Academy trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the third inning.
“We struggled with that last season,” Smith Academy coach Moira Pitrat said. “Getting down earlier in the game and struggling to come back and fight. It was great to see them come back from that and finish really strong.”
Athol pitching walked 10 hitters during the decisive fourth inning. Emma Tisdell and Marissa Belina had RBI singles in the inning. Nataly Slysz added an RBI the hard way, taking a pitch right off the helmet. With Athol struggling to find the strike zone, the Falcons stayed patient.
“I told them to be patient and to be aggressive on the basepath,” Pitrat said. “They all stepped up.”
Starting pitcher Quinn Carlson picked up the win in the circle. The sophomore gave up three hits with seven strikeouts and six walks. Carlson had a pair of 1-2-3 innings but ran into some trouble in the top of the third.
“I was really nervous coming in,” Carlson said. “Last season we didn’t have a great season. Everyone wanted to come in and get a win. Start us off right. I thought it was important for me to stay calm. Even if there is a walk, focus on the next pitch so we can stay calm as a team.”
The lefty got Kaya Stinehart to ground out with the bases loaded to get out of the third inning and limit the damage.
“I am just working on consistency,” Carlson said. “Staying positive. Mindset is a big thing and it’s important, so you don’t get down in the circle. It was great. We haven’t felt that in a while.”
Athol pitcher Ella Reed had five strikeouts but had some control issues with 12 walks. Ava Adams had a nice offensive outing, going 2-for-2 with a walk and three RBI. Makenna Geyer had an RBI on a ground out in the top of the fifth for the Bears.
Melissa Goss coached her first game with the Athol program.
“I think our biggest thing is that we beat ourselves,” Goss said. “We got down and one inning can impact the whole game. Learning how to bounce back and learning how to not let your mentality affect your game is the biggest thing from today.”
Adams laced an RBI double in the top of the third to give Athol a 3-1. Madelyn Barrett tied the game for Smith Academy in the bottom half of the third with an RBI single. Tisdell’s bloop single later in the inning scored another run for the Falcons, giving them a 4-3 lead.
Smith Academy had 20 batters get to the plate in the fourth inning.
Hampshire 14, Westfield 0 — If anyone had any doubt about the Raiders this spring, that thought quickly vanished following their season-opening shutout against the Bombers.
Lucy Trombley led the offense with four hits and three RBIs while Ryanne Dubay pocketed the win from the circle, striking out five in five innings of work.
Mariah Pacinella, Ryanne Dubay and Raegan Dubay each assembled three RBIs along with Trombley.
Easthampton 8, West Springfield 2 — Summer Routhier shut down the Bulldogs from the chalk as the Eagles earned their first win of the season.
Routhier went all seven innings and finished with 13 strikeouts while allowing just four hits.
Routhier also carried the offense for Easthampton, going 3-for-3 from the plate.
Baseball
Amherst 11, Chicopee 4 — Trailing 4-2 to begin the bottom of the fifth, the Hurricanes scored nine unanswered runs to seal win No. 1 on the season.
Brady Klaes went 3-for-4 (three RBIs) from the batter’s box as Amherst’s most dangerous hitter, while Daniel Lebron and Cyrus Arwade each drove in a pair of runs for the ‘Canes.
Greg King (six innings, four runs, two earned, four walks, eight strikeouts) got the win for Amherst on the mound.
Hopkins 12, Southwick 1 — Tucker Russell turned in a strong performance from the bump for the Golden Hawks in their victory over the Rams.
Russell sat down eight Southwick batters on strikes in four innings of work.
Aiden Keeling-Lococo and Chace Earle provided four hits altogether for Hopkins.
Lenox 8, South Hadley 4 — The Tigers dropped their second straight after the loss to the Millionaires at home.
South Hadley’s Jaxson Pueschel poked two hits in the losing effort.
Late Tuesday Results
Girls lacrosse
Northampton 18, Westfield 4 — Imanni Power-Greene was all over the stat sheet for the Blue Devils, racking up 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in the victory over the Bombers.
Northampton’s huge win occurred during its season opener.
Baseball
Gateway 22, Smith Academy 2 — The Gators plated nearly two dozen runs in its convincing season-opening win over the Falcons.
Jacob Maynard, Weston Anderson and Zack Hess each contributed three hits for Gateway.
