BELCHERTOWN — The Northampton girls tennis team battled through a chilly afternoon to narrowly defeat Belchertown, 3-2, on the road on Monday.
The No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches told the story of the day for both teams, with back-and-forth contests on either side. Each duel went three sets, playing into the night under the lights until an eventual winner came out on top.
Chiara Ohm manned the No. 2 spot for the Blue Devils against Allie Randall for the Orioles. Ohm dropped the first set 6-3, before back-to-back 6-2 wins left her victorious.
As the lone singles player to win for Northampton on Monday, Ohm’s success was huge. The eighth grader has been an important piece for her squad through their first three contests, helping her team get off to a hot start.
“[Ohm] is really doing very well,” Blue Devils head coach Miryam Kabakov said. “… We’re doing better than I thought we’d be doing at this point in the season. It’s still very early on.”
The No. 1 singles court featured Belchertown’s Edith Audette taking on Margaux Galvin. The pair battled with each other, with neither able to truly pull away at any point. Audette ended up victorious after a long, competitive matchup, winning 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Emma Kornbluth defeated Ana-Lucia Ohm for the Orioles in the No. 3 singles contest, confidently controlling the match with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.
“This was a match in which I think everyone in the lineup was playing in a different spot than they had played before,” Belchertown head coach Alanna Grady said. “Nobody’s really played in the positions that they were in until today. To have the leadership of our seniors take those three single spots and to see how well they did… was really fun to see.”
On the doubles courts, Northampton handled business, taking home a win in both matchups. The Blue Devils’ pairs worked well with each other, showing off their chemistry en route to both victories.
Northampton’s Sara Stanley and Emmie Vinard took on Harper Chotkowski and Quinn McNamara in No. 1 doubles, winning 6-4, 6-4, while Sofie Cosme and Zia Beaudry defeated Jocelyn McMahon and Linnea Anderson 6-1, 6-2 on the No. 2 doubles court.
“Their communication is amazing,” Kabakov said of her doubles pairings. “They really talk to each other a lot, and they love playing together. They’re friends outside of court, and they have great camaraderie on the court. So that’s nice. It’s really nice to see.”
With the win, the Blue Devils improve to 2-1 on the season to this point, with their next game coming up on the road against Westfield on Wednesday, April 8 at 4 p.m.
The Orioles will look to bounce back after a tough loss, now sitting at 1-1 so far this spring. They’ll be back in action on at home versus Ludlow on Wednesday, April 8, at 5 p.m.
“To just hear them laughing, to see the positive energy, that’s what it’s really all about at the end of the day,” Grady said. “The only way we can be successful is if the kids are having fun. So that’s number one for me.”
Baseball
Hampshire 13, Southwick 12 — The Raiders narrowly squeaked out a walk-off win on a suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Cam Hunsicker walked to lead off the bottom of the inning, stole second base and was sacrificed to third by Grayson Noel. Patrick Schmidt laid down the suicide squeeze bunt, with Hunsicker coming in to score.
On the mound, Tom Moore picked up the win for Hampshire with a scoreless inning of relief. He also added two hits and two RBIs at the plate. Joe Moro had three hits of his own in the win, along with three RBIs.
Hopkins 12, Pioneer Valley Regional 0 — Tucker Russell’s five-inning perfect game led the Golden Hawks to cruise to a dominant victory on Monday. The junior struck out seven batters in his 62-pitch outing.
Aiden Keeling-Lococo went 2-for-3 for Hopkins offensively with a double, one RBI, two runs scored and a walk.
Derek Gromacki also went 2-for-3 with an RBI, two runs scored and a walk of his own, while Carter Styspeck finished the day 3-for-3 with one run scored and a walk in the win.
St. Mary’s 4, Easthampton 0 — A four-run first inning proved to be all the difference in the Eagles’ loss, with the team unable to surmount the early deficit.
Anthony Incampo settled in on the mound after the first for Easthampton, finishing with a final line of seven innings pitched, four hits and four runs allowed (two earned), six strikeouts and three walks on 102 pitches.
Bailey Davis was the only Eagle to reach base more than once, tallying one of the team’s four hits along with a walk in the loss.
Gateway 17, Commerce 0 — The Gators dominated Monday night’s victory, off the back of a five-inning combined no-hitter from Jacob Maynard and Weston Anderson.
Maynard threw the first four innings, striking out 11 of the 12 batters he faced. He added two hits at the plate in the win, along with a pair of runs scored.
Roan Boeri had a big day from the batter’s box as well for Gateway, with his three hits leaving him a home run away from hitting for the cycle.
Softball
Belchertown 12, Monson 0 — Samantha Letzeisen finished 3-for-3 from the plate as one of six Orioles who recorded a hit in their huge win over the Mustangs.
Sophia Mitus and Kina Roy each belted two hits for Belchertown. Madeline Williams picked up the win in the circle for the O’s, fanning four Monson batters in five innings.
Hampshire 21, Agawam 10 — The Raiders brought in 11 runs in the sixth inning to blow past the Brownies.
Seven Hampshire batters notched two or more hits, highlighted with home runs from Reygan Horstmann–who totaled six RBIs–and Raegan Dubay (two). The Raiders recorded 19 hits altogether.
Ryanne Dubay received the win despite allowing nine hits and six runs in six innings while picking up five strikeouts and three walks.
Granby 21, Holyoke 1 — The Rams raced past the Purple Knights, scoring 17 runs in the bottom of the second to end this one in five innings.
Jaidyn Roberge (three RBIs), Ellie Szlosek (2-for-3) and Kaitlyn Curran (3-for-3, two RBIs) held the hot bats for Granby.
Meredith Bartosz tossed all five innings for the Rams, sitting down nine Holyoke batters on strikes while surrendering just three hits.
Kierstin St. Lawrence brought in the Purple Knights’ lone run.
Central 5, Easthampton 4 — The Eagles allowed an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the seventh to fall to the Golden Eagles.
Easthampton pitcher Summer Routhier struck out 14 Central batters in the losing effort.
Girls lacrosse
Belchertown 11, Granby 5 — Five goals from Lia Pikul pushed the O’s to their third straight win.
Brenna Moreno led the Rams in the defeat with a goal and two assists.
Belchertown goalie Emma Almeida (nine saves) outdueled Granby keeper Faith Ramos (seven saves).
Boys lacrosse
South Hadley 7, Wahconah 4 — The Tigers returned to the win column after dropping their first game of the season last Thursday.
Tyler Quist (two goals, two assists) and Mason Peters (two goals, assist) carried South Hadley’s offense. In between the pipes, Brayden Blais compiled 16 saves.
Late Weekend Results
Ultimate
The Amherst Gx (girls division) Ultimate team acquired its first win of the season in its 9-4 victory against Amherst College Sparkle Motion on Friday.
Eliza Zimmerman (goal, two assists) and Raquel Mazur (three goals) led the ‘Canes in points in the victory.
Boys Volleyball
Minnechaug 3, Granby 2 — The Rams came up short in a back-and-forth affair with the Falcons.
Set scores read 12-25, 25-22, 22-25, 30-28, 10-15.
Braeden Gallagher (12 kills, 10 digs), Daniel Santiago (15 digs) and Jake Gagnon (21 kills, 12 assists) were busy for the Rams.
