H.S. Roundup: Hampshire baseball sputters out of the gate, falls to Drury

WESTHAMPTON — The Hampshire baseball team struggled to surmount a comeback after a rough start on Thursday night, leading to a 9-2 loss to Drury.

Right out of the gate, in the top of the first inning, the Raiders found themselves in a tough situation. With two outs and a runner on third for the Blue Devils, Hampshire’s first error of the ballgame allowed a run to score, extending the inning in the process.

Four straight walks allowed the second and third runs of the game to score for the Blue Devils, with each one making the error harder to stomach. With the bases loaded, Drury smacked a single, cashing in runs four and five for a big lead to start the night.

“Against a good team, you can’t spot them a bunch,” Raiders’ head coach Mark Baldwin said. “… [The young players] were sad because [we started] bad. But then they bounced back, and they were like, ‘All right, we have [six] more.'”

Hampshire found a spark of offense in the fifth inning, starting the frame with three straight hits. Joe Moro capped off the streak with a single to left field, driving in Riley Florek for the team’s first run of the game.

With the bases loaded and one out, the Raiders looked to continue building on the positive momentum. Back-to-back strikeouts stranded the three runners, sending the Blue Devils dugouts into jubilation.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Hampshire once again worked the bases loaded with just one out. Moro walked to score the Raiders’ second run of the night, but again, a strikeout and a groundout left three runners stranded.

“We just left a lot of guys on base,” Baldwin said. “We couldn’t get [the big] hit… Our less experienced hitters struggled. At some point, they’ll handle it, but they didn’t [on Thursday].”

Drury added insurance as the game progressed, getting out to an 8-0 lead, which was capped off by a two-run homer in the top of the third inning.

Hampshire utilized four different arms in the loss, with Colby Cabrini getting the start. The sophomore was relieved by Jonny Angers, who threw a team-high 3 1/3 innings after entering in the first. Moro threw an inning of his own, followed by Cal Gworek, who rounded out the final two frames for the Raiders.

“I thought [Gworek] really saved the bullpen with two good innings,” Baldwin said. “He hadn’t pitched much. He started the game in the J.V. game, playing in the field… And he did a really nice job. So that was good for him.”

Despite the seven-run deficit on the scoreboard, Hampshire out-hit the Blue Devils six to four. The big first inning, combined with a few missed opportunities, proved to make all the difference.

With the loss, the Raiders fall to 7-5 on the year to this point. They’ll look to get back on track on Saturday, May 9, at 1 p.m. when they take on South Hadley at Dunkin’ Park in Hartford, CT.

“You always want to try to win them all,” Baldwin said. “This one felt worse than it should have because it started poorly. But we’re about where we need to be.”

South Hadley 7, Northampton 2 — Noah Carillon went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored in a big win for the Tigers. Memphis Huertas held things down on the mound, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Blue Devils were led by Charlie Agostino-Pierce, who had the team’s lone RBI and one hit. Northampton’s only other hit came off the bat of Matt Walko.

Softball

Smith Academy 21, Athol 6 — Runs were easy to come by for the Falcons in a dominant victory, led by a three-hit, three-run scored and two RBI performance from Olivia Barrett.

Marissa Belina finished with a team-high three runs driven in, including a double and a single, along with two runs scored. Quinn Carlson had six strikeouts in the circle.

Smith Voc. 18, Mount Everett 5 — The Vikings had a hit parade on Thursday night, with 14 total hits as a team and five different players who finished with multiple hits.

Addison Ducharme went 4-for-4 in the win with a double, a triple and two RBIs, while Leah Franklin finished 2-for-2 with a homer, three RBIs and two walks. Holly Sampson led the team with four runs driven in with two hits, including a double.

Granby 10, SICS 6 — Despite being outhit seven to eight, the Rams came through when it mattered to walk away with a big win on Thursday.

Kara White led the way, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the win. Jaidyn Roberge had two hits of her own, one being a double, along with one RBI and a pair of runs scored.

Junior pitcher Meredith Bartosz recorded her 200th career strikeout in the bottom of the second inning of Granby’s victory, finishing her night with 11 total strikeouts.

Girls tennis

East Longmeadow 4, Belchertown 1 — The Orioles put together competitive sets up and down each matchup in a tough loss on Thursday night.

Allie Randall and Emma Kornbluth were victorious in first doubles, comfortably winning the first set 6-2 before narrowly taking the second set 7-5.

Amherst 4, Ludlow 1 — The Hurricanes whirled past the Lions, winning two singles matches and both doubles competitions.

Amherst got victories from Emma Learned-Miller (6-1, 6-2), Mahima Ganesan (6-1, 6-2) and doubles pairings of Micayla Shefftz and Janaki Ewoton (6-2, 6-0) and Cynthia Tian and Aliya Nazirova (6-1, 6-0).

Girls lacrosse

Hampshire 14, Belchertown 11 — The Raiders took the season series against the Orioles, off the backs of hat tricks from Rylie Simmons and Reese O’Connell.

Belchertown received four goals from Aubrey McCain.

Longmeadow 11, Northampton 8 — A 4-2 first-quarter lead was short-lived for the Blue Devils, who were outscored 8-2 in quarters two and three on the way to their first loss in four games.

Ainsley Dawson starred for Northampton in goal despite the score, totaling 16 saves.

Imanni Power-Greene (three goals, two assists), Makayla Fydenkevez (three goals, assist) were on active on offense.

Boys volleyball

Southwick 3, Granby 1 — The Rams dropped their penultimate match of the regular season in the road loss.

Jake Gagnon pounded 11 kills and added 13 assists for Granby.