WESTHAMPTON — Runs were at a premium through five innings between the Hampshire and Frontier softball teams on Friday afternoon, as star pitchers Ryanne Dubay (Raiders) and Raine Wonsey (Redhawks) dueled it out in the circle. Heading into the bottom of the sixth with the game tied at one apiece, Hampshire head coach Brian McGan turned to small ball – the exact way his team scored its first run.

After Lucy Trombely singled, Chelsea Vanasse laid down a perfect bunt that not only advanced Trombely, but allowed her to reach first safely. Caroline Payson then drew a walk to load the bases. Kalin Dubay was hit by a Wonsey pitch to bring in a run which brought the top of the Raiders order to the dish with no outs. It was their fourth time seeing Wonsey.

Rachel Hickox laced an RBI single down the left-field line, then CC Thayer ripped a two-run single. Two batters later, Reagan Dubay drove in a run as Hampshire plated five in a game-changing sixth inning. The Raiders survived a late Redhawks surge to win 6-4 on opening day.

“We knew playing Frontier was not going to be easy, it’s a tough first game,” McGan said. “You want to play all good opponents for sure, and we knew they could play. I always tell these guys, it’s not a sprint, not a marathon. You learn from your mistakes and try to be a little more educated as far as what you do moving forward.”

McGan gave his team a pass for putting it in cruise control after jumping in front 6-1 with three outs to go from a victory, chalking it up to early-season rust.

Ryanne Dubay, who had a dozen strikeouts and looked almost untouchable through six frames, retired Frontier’s first batter of the seventh. Then came the top of the Hawks’ lineup. Ashley Taylor and Liv Machon earned walks and both advanced into scoring position with Delaney Fifield at the plate. Fifield punched one into the outfield to score both runners with a single. Skyler Steele then walked and Sophia Pinardi singled to load the bases. Wonsey drew a walk to bring home Fifield and make it 6-4, and Frontier still had the bases loaded with only one out.

McGan made the decision to bring in Hickox for a fatigued Ryanne Dubay, and the sophomore who typically plays center field came in firing. Hickox struck out her first batter and forced her second one to pop up to the catcher, Reagan Dubay, to shut the door on the Redhawks.

“You can’t gauge your whole season by one game,” McGan said. “They’re a little disappointed that things went bad there at the end, but sometimes when things go bad, it’s good. You don’t get complacent.”

Frontier head coach Gary Deane was extremely pleased with his team’s effort, especially in the last inning when they could have easily mailed it in facing a sizeable deficit. Instead, the Redhawks dug their cleats in and forced Hampshire to earn it.

“The coaching staff is proud of them, and they’re proud of themselves,” Deane said of Frontier’s effort. “We’ve played against top teams in the past, and being down a few runs is nothing, we know that. So that was a point of emphasis, that comes from the girls themselves – just staying positive. We were fouling off pitches and worked the count, so her pitch count went up and you could tell [Ryanne Dubay] was kind of gassed in that last inning. So we’re proud of making almost a comeback. It’s great to play a really good team right away.”

Hampshire’s first run came in the bottom of the third, with Kalin Dubay coming around to score on a Thayer sacrifice fly. The two sides went scoreless in the fourth until Frontier knotted it up in the fifth. It was the bottom of the Redhawks lineup that did damage. Addie Ehle kicked off the inning with a single, and Abigail Schreiber reached safely two batters later.

With Redhawks occupying first and second, Taylor sent a ball into the outfield. Hampshire tried to throw Ehle out at third, but the ball sailed out of play – bringing home Frontier’s first run of the ballgame.

Eight of the nine Redhawk hitters reached safely, and all of them put the ball in play against one of the best arms in western Massachusetts in Ryanne Dubay. Deane wants to see more of that moving forward.

“Kids are stepping up, and that’s what we need,” Deane said. “We need everybody, one through nine, to contribute. We’re in a tough league, so they have to be hitting.”

Trombely (three hits) and Hickox (two hits) both recorded multiple hits to pace the Raiders offense while Skyler Steele, Taylor and Fifield all reached base at least twice to lead Frontier.

Wonsey finished the game with five strikeouts and kept a potent Hampshire offense at bay through five innings before they ultimately erupted in the sixth.

Frontier (0-1) hosts Mohawk Trail next Tuesday in its home opener at 4 p.m.

Hampshire (1-0) has a week off before heading to Agawam next Friday.

Springfield Central 32, Amherst 3 — The Hurricanes suffered a season-opening loss at the hands of a dominant Golden Eagles squad on Friday afternoon in Amherst.

Amherst hits the road to play Monument Mountain on Monday afternoon.

Baseball

Hopkins 11, Palmer  1 – A five-run fourth inning, highighted by a double from Matt Vassallo, powered the Hawks to a their season-opening victory. Vassallo went 3-for-4 with a pair of two-baggers, while Chace Earle and Nate Rickles each batted 2-for-3.

On the bump, Earle struck out eight of the first 10 Palmer batters and finished the outing with 11 strikeouts in five innings.

“It's just good to get off on the right foot,” Hopkins head coach Daniel Vreeland said. “We came in with the right mentality and attacked all game. Chace delt in there and stayed composed. I'm proud of the total team effort.”

Frontier 7, Hampshire 3 — The Redhawks moved to 2-0 on the season following a 7-3 triumph over the Raiders in South Deerfield on Friday. 

Frontier led 3-0 after two innings and 7-2 going into the seventh. 

“Definitely pleased to start the season this way,” Redhawk coach Chris Williams said. “That was our goal to play our best baseball right out of the gate. Give credit to [starting pitcher Joey Hutkoski]. The guy got up in his pitches and kept throwing strikes.” 

With a young team playing its first game of the season, Hampshire coach Mark Baldwin said the Raiders did some things he liked but have plenty to clean up moving forward. 

“We have to adjust to the offspeed stuff,” Baldwin said. “It takes time. Especially our younger players. They have the concept of it but we’ll get there. We made a couple errors but they didn’t kill us. We made some good plays in the field too. There’s always things to fix but there’s things to build on.”

Joey Hutkoski got the win on the mound and struck out five. Braeden Dion drove in a run with a double while Kaden James and Austin D'Urso knocked hits for Frontier. 

Jacob Sicard drove in a pair with a base hit while Colin Hogan and Phil Morin each cracked a pair of hits for the Raiders. 

Boys lacrosse

Minnechaug 14, South Hadley 2 — Mason Peters and Bush Camacho scored the lone Tigers goals on Friday, one in the first quarter and one in the fourth.

The Tigers only trailed 3-1 after one, but Minnechaug outscored South Hadley 11-0 over the second and third frames.

Belchertown 14, Granby 4 — The Orioles handed the Rams a 10-goal season-opening loss on Friday afternoon.

Belchertown put together a complete performance both offensively and defensively to open its season.

Girls lacrosse

Mount Greylock 19, Granby 5 — Kalli White scored a hat trick while Kelly Lynn Kennedy added a pair of goals for the Rams in a losing effort on Friday afternoon.

Granby used four different goalies, led by Ava-Elizabeth Loughman’s five stops.

Boys volleyball 

Southwick 3, Holyoke 2 — The Purple Knights stormed from behind to force a fifth set after dropping the first two, but ultimately dropped the rubber set 15-10 in their season-opener on Friday.

Set scores were 25-16, 25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 15-10.

Nicholas Spina put down a whopping 36 kills for Southwick.

Boys tennis

Frontier 3, Palmer 2 — Casey Bestler earned a 6-2, 6-0 victory in No. 2 singles during his first ever tennis match, helping the Redhawks pick up a road win over the Panthers on Friday. 

Xavier Fripp and Noah Nichols earned a 6-1, 6-3 victory in No. 1 doubles while Frontier won No. 2 doubles via forfeit. 

East Longmeadow 5, Belchertown 0 — The Orioles were unable to pick up a win in their season-opening loss to East Longmeadow on Friday afternoon.

Girls tennis

Belchertown 5, Northampton 0 — The Orioles looked strong against the Blue Devils on Friday, winning every match.

Amanda Murray (three sets), Mia Corish and Gianna Picardi each won their singles matches for Belchertown. In doubles, Katie Collins and Edith Audette (6-1, 6-0) and Allie Randall and Emma Kornbluth (6-2, 6-0) were victorious for the Orioles.

Amherst 4, East Longmeadow 1 — Katie Gromacki cruised to a first singles victory, winning 6-0, 6-1 to be first off the court on Friday afternoon. Emma Learned-Miller (6-1, 6-2) and Mahima Ganesan (6-1, 6-2) were dominant in their matches as well as the ‘Canes swept singles to earn the win over the Spartans.

Both doubles matches went to third-set tiebreaks, with Janaki Ewoton and Elena Ruíz squeaking out a 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 win at second doubles for Amherst. Aliya Osman and Daniella Sherman fell just short in a 4-6, 6-2, 14-12 loss at first doubles.

Late Thursday results

Girls lacrosse

West Springfield 16, South Hadley 9 — Three multi-goalscorers weren’t enough for the Tigers in the defeat in their season opener.

Margaret Watkins (10 draw controls), Ava Asselin and Caitlin Dean each slotted a pair for South Hadley while Kelcey Zraunig, Lea Agudelo and Hannah Haesaert tallied single strikes.

The Tigers got 11 saves from Riley Nestor.

West Springfield was led by Audrey Canata’s six goals and one assist.