SOUTH HADLEY — Nobody has had an answer for the Amherst Regional boys lacrosse team through three games this season, and South Hadley was no exception on Monday afternoon.

The Hurricanes raced out to a 4-0 lead after one, and doubled it (8-0) heading into halftime before coasting to a 10-4 road win over the Tigers to improve to 3-0. Monday marked the first time the ‘Canes had defeated South Hadley since 2017. In all three contests this season, Amherst has scored over 10 goals while its opponents have yet to score more than seven.

“We’ve got a really good team with some nice camaraderie right now,” Hurricanes head coach Rich Ferro said. “These guys get along, they back each other up, they’re listening and running the systems we’re asking them to. Our attacking midfielders are playing everywhere. This offense is a little different from last year, it’s easier for them to understand.”

Amherst’s Taylor Alfaro Leiva played in his first varsity game, and he did not disappoint. Alfaro Leiva scored three goals in the first half, helping the Hurricanes jump in front early.

Several Amherst players were out of Monday’s contest due to sickness, so Ferro only had 17 players to work with. Alfaro Leiva was just one of many who stepped up and played really well in the Amherst win.

“It was his first varsity game ever,” Ferro said of Alfaro Leiva. “So that was pretty awesome to see. We didn’t have a ton of guys today, and we had a lot of people chip in. Every guy is stepping up when they need to, and that’s what it takes to be a good team.”

Amherst led 9-1 after the third period before South Hadley showed life. The Tigers scored three of the game’s next four goals to make it 10-4, but it was too little, too late against a stingy Amherst defense.

South Hadley head coach Jeff Marion was upset with how his team played for the better part of three quarters, but complimented their intensity in the fourth — which allowed them to string together a few goals. In the second half alone, the Tigers outscored the ‘Canes 4-2.

“They didn’t give up, they still kept fighting at the end,” Marion said. “But I think we were just totally flat today, not ready to play the game. Give credit to Amherst, they’re good. They moved the ball well, they transitioned real well. We just didn’t have our normal day, I would have to say... We didn’t put in the effort that I had hoped to see.”

Mason Peters scored a pair of goals for South Hadley, Rush Camacho scored and Avery Haber added one to round out the hosts’ scoring. Brayden Blais was terrific in the cage in the second half. He totaled nine saves, including three in the fourth quarter.

Aside from Alfaro Leiva’s four tallies, Tre Bowman added a pair for Amherst, Sawyer Ferro and Brian Cruz scored one each and Cruz added a hat trick of assists to facilitate the visitors’ offense.

Defensively, Amherst’s zone stifled South Hadley. It’s a style of defense Ferro has always liked to play, but he tweaked it to shift his long-pole defenders to the middle and bring his defensive-midfielders up top to trap opponents on the perimeter. So far, the Hurricanes have given up an average of 5.3 goals per game.

Junior goalie Jason Kim has a lot to do with that as well.

“We’re going to let other teams take shots from the outside and let Jason eat those up,” Ferro said. “We’re running a different kind of zone this year, and it’s worked really well so far. They’re getting it, they’re buying into it. And we have a nice rotation that allows us to always have fresh legs in.”

Amherst (3-0) travels to Agawam on Friday for a 4 p.m. face-off, while South Hadley (1-3) plays on the same day at the same time, home against West Springfield.

Girls lacrosse

Chicopee 9, Amherst 8 — The Pacers and Hurricanes showed they were about as evenly matched as possible on Monday evening, as the game was tied 4-4 at halftime before Chicopee outscored Amherst 5-4 in the second half to pull out the nail biter.

Kiko Bhowmik scored five goals for the ‘Canes, while Emilia Luetjen (one assist), Sylvie Walker and Ursula Lundquist all tallied scores as well. Eden Polak made 13 saves in the cage for Amherst.

Baseball

Franklin Tech 8, Smith Academy 1 — The Falcons couldn’t slow down a red-hot Tech team that moved to 3-0 to start the season.

Garret Willard led Smith with two hits while Jake Wilcox drove in the Falcons’ lone run during the third inning. Harry LaFlamme got the start but walked seven batters in four innings of work.

Softball

Granby 15, Southwick 11 — Ellie Szlosek went 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Rams to their second win this season. Kaitlyn Curran and Meredith Bartosz also recorded multi-hit games for Granby while Mabel Carillon earned the win in the circle.

Both teams managed 11 hits but the Rams’ six-run fifth inning proved to be the difference in their home victory.

Boys volleyball

Longmeadow 3, Belchertown 0 — The Orioles dropped their third straight in the road defeat. Collin Mullen (seven assists), Noah Yankson (six kills) and Nicholas Ibekilo (six assists) played well for Belchertown in the three set (25-13, 25-17, 25-10) loss.

Late weekend results

Baseball

South Hadley 9, Granby 5 — The Tigers scored seven runs in the first two innings to pull ahead of the Rams, and stayed in front to win 9-5 on Friday afternoon in South Hadley.

Logan Carpenter had two hits, three runs and an RBI to pace the Tigers while Jackson Keller drove in three runs at the plate. Sophomore Matthew Butler got the start and struck out 10 on the mound for South Hadley.

Joseph Barrett recorded two base hits for Granby, and Gavin Moreno (three) and Brandon Carillon (two) combined for all five of the Rams’ RBIs in the loss.

Youth baseball

Eaglebrook 13, Amherst 2 — The Hurricanes dropped their season opener to a powerful Eaglebrook squad in a Koufax Division bout on Friday evening in Deerfield. The game was tied 0-0 after two crisp innings, with Amherst starter Cyrus Arwade shutting down the Eaglebrook attack.

Eaglebrook took a 4-0 lead in the third, but Amherst fought back to make it 4-2 in the top of the fourth on a Jesse Drinker 2-run single that drove home Arwade and Tristan Feeley. Eaglebrook showed their talent and pulled away to end the game after five innings.