H.S. Roundup: South Hadley softball snaps 11-game losing streak, shuts out Holyoke

SOUTH HADLEY — The South Hadley softball team snapped its 11-game losing streak with a dominant, 12-0 victory in five innings over Holyoke on Wednesday night. The win was the Tigers’ first since April 6.

Samantha LaFlesh was lights out in the circle for South Hadley in the win, getting the start and throwing a complete-game shutout in five innings of work, allowing just one hit.

The freshman threw 53 of her 84 pitches for strikes, with nine of her 15 total outs coming by way of the strikeout. Ryley McMahon also had a big role in the great start from behind the plate, calling the pitches that led to the great end result.

“[LaFlesh’s] performed very well,” Tigers head coach Colleen Soja said. “She was throwing a lot of different pitches. Her fastball, her curveball, they were looking really good [on Wednesday].”

On the offensive side, South Hadley consistently had traffic on the base paths, in large part due to its patience at the plate. Over the course of the five inning game, the squad worked a whopping 13 walks, putting pressure on the Purple Knights pitchers to not work around the corners.

The conservative approach offensively paired well with five timely hits that helped to drive some key runs in. Adding on three hit-by-pitches and three stolen bases allowed the Tigers to put up three innings with multiple runs scored.

“I talked to them early on in the game [and said], ‘Every inning, it’s an adjustment. You have to be patient, be patient, be patient, wait for it, wait for it,'” Soja said. “Anything that looked good, I told them to swing away.”

Grace Matyszewski led the way offensively for South Hadley, picking up two of the team’s five hits on the night. The junior went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, driving in two runs and tallying a walk and a run scored.

Violet Carillon was active with the bat as well for the Tigers, going 1-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and a walk in the win.

For Holyoke, offense was hard to come by on Wednesday night, with Neyvieliz DeJesus Sanabria tallying the team’s lone hit of the game, along with a walk.

The tough loss puts the Purple Knights at .500 on the season with a 9-9 record. With one game left in the regular season, they’ll look to finish the year on a high note in the Friday, May 15 matchup with Smith Voc. at 5 p.m. on the road.

South Hadley has gone through a long stretch of coming up short on the field, and Wednesday’s victory helped to leave the team on a high note as the season soon comes to a close.

With the win, the Tigers now sit at 5-12 on the year, with just two games left on the regular season schedule. They’ll look to stay hot and finish the year strong, starting with a game on Saturday, May 16, at 3:30 p.m. at home against Turners Falls.

“They haven’t given up,” Soja said.
”They keep fighting. When you’re losing a lot, it’s hard to keep up your team morale. But overall, I think [Wednesday], they were very excited.

“They needed this,” Soja continued. “They needed this win… [Wednesday] is a pick-me-up.”

Hampshire 12, Greenfield 1 — Ryanne Dubay tallied her 500th career strikeout in the Raiders’ dominant victory on Wednesday night. The junior threw the first three innings of the night, tallying seven total strikeouts in the circle.

Reygan Horstmann led the way offensively for Hampshire, going 2-for-5 at the plate with a double and a whopping five runs driven in.

Baseball

Hampshire 13, Ludlow 1 — Colby Cabrini threw a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts and just one hit allowed in the Raiders’ dominant win that clinched spots in the Western Mass. tournament and the state tournament.

The offense tallied 12 hits, led by Brayden Billups, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Vynce Carr, who also had three hits with two runs scored. 

Girls tennis

PVCICS 5, Belchertown 0 — The Dragons completed a clean sweep despite some close matchups against the Orioles. Elisa Shinn defeated Amanda Murray in first singles 6-1, 6-0, while Lien Power-Moran won her second singles matchup with Edith Audette 6-3, 6-0.

Alex Kane took home the win over Madison Lacroix in a tough battle on the third singles court, 7-5, 6-3. First doubles went to Kendall Christenson and Sabina Luinez, winning 6-2, 6-3 over Emma Kornbluth and Allie Randall. Sharlene Ker and Laylah Georges won second doubles 6-4, 6-1 against Harper Bean and Analise Reed.

Girls lacrosse

Granby 13, Monson 2 — Eight different players tallied a goal in the Rams’ offensive outburst. Ava-Elizabeth Loughman led the way with four goals of her own.

Mylin Laliberte had a solid night as well for Granby, tallying two goals and a pair of assists. Emily Durham was the only other Ram with multiple goals, finding the back of the net twice.

Boys volleyball

Granby 3, Longmeadow 0 — The Rams finished out the regular season with a clean sweep, on the back of Jake Gagnon’s 11 kill, 17 assist and four ace performance.

Braeden Gallagher also tallied 11 kills in the win, adding on a pair of digs and an assist. Nathan Walsh had a solid night as well, finishing with five kills, 11 assists and two blocks.

Belchertown 3, Ludlow 1 — The Orioles bounced back after losing the first set of the night 15-25, rattling off three wins in a row, 25-17, 29-27 and 25-20.

Shea MacLean led the team with 14 kills in the win, adding on four blocks. Arda Cayan was efficient setting all night long, tallying 25 assists, while Dara Mao held down the backline with 23 digs.

Boys tennis

PVCICS 3, Lenox 2 — The Dragons’ three singles players carried the team to victory, led by Lee Ferguson, who walked away with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win on the first singles court.

Derek Ye stayed undefeated on the year with a 6-1, 6-1 win at second singles, while Devan Ye had a great showing on third singles, winning 6-0, 6-0.

Late Tuesday Results

Girls lacrosse

Northampton 6, Wahconah 5 — Only one goal was scored in the fourth quarter and it came off a Blue Devils’ stick in their regular-season finale win.

Makayla Fydenkevez (hat trick, assist) and Ainsley Dawson (nine saves) stepped up for Northampton.

Boys tennis

Amherst 3, Minnechaug 2 — The Hurricanes picked up a victory on senior night against the Falcons. Elias Katsuros (second singles) and Noah Magnus (second doubles) were a pair of Amherst 12th-graders who factored into the win.

Girls tennis

Longmeadow 4, Amherst 1 — Mahima Ganesan (second singles) was the lone Amherst point-getter in its loss to the Lancers.

Central 4, Holyoke 1 — The Purple Knights came up short for the third straight match as first doubles of Madison Bruso and Abigail Ngure were their only victors in the defeat.