It was a pitchers’ duel between Pioneer’s Hugh Cyhowski and Franklin Tech’s Alex Sulda on Tuesday in Northfield. 

Cyhowski allowed seven hits and struck out nine while Sulda came in after the Eagles had allowed three runs in the first and shut it down the rest of the way, allowing just one hit in five and two-thirds innings work while striking out eight. 

In the end the three runs scored by the Panthers in the first was enough to get the job done, with Cyhowski holding Tech to two runs as Pioneer held on for a 3-2 Bi-County League North win. 

“It was a good game,” Panther coach Kevin Luippold said. “Tech played us hard and hit the ball. Hugh got the ball on the ground for the most part but they were putting the bat on the ball. We’re lucky that we got a couple runs in the first inning.”

The Eagles scored the opening run of the game in the first. Ty Sadoski got on with a walk, stole second and made it home after Ryan Demers smacked a single up the middle to give Tech a 1-0 lead. 

It was a hit and a series of walks that got the job done for Pioneer in the first. Alex McClelland walked, Braeden Tsipenyuk knocked a single and Cyhowski drew a walk to load the bases, where Ian Simpson walked to bring McClelland home and tie the game. Ethan Mauthe and Peter Loud then drew back-to-back walks to score Tsipenyuk and Cyhowski, giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead. 

Sulda came in after that and got Ben Werner to ground into a fielders choice before earning a strikeout to close out the inning without any more damage done. 

“I’m really proud of the way the kids fought,” Eagle coach Dan Prasol said. “We had a lot of adversity to start the game. Alex Sulda really stepped up and did a phenomenal job. We’ve been looking for a leader and he stepped up as a leader today.”

Franklin Tech got a run back in the top of the second. Mason Lehtomaki got on with a walk and Tyler Yetter and Sulda cracked consecutive hits to load the bases, with Sadoski drawing a walk to score Lehtomaki. 

The Eagles tried to put a bunt down with Yetter stealing home but the bunt was unsuccessful and Tsipenyuk was able to tag Yetter out just before he reached home to end the inning. 

Pioneer loaded the bases on three straight walks in the bottom of the second but Sulda got a ground out to end the inning. It would be the final time a Panther reached third in the game, with Alex Sulda knocking the lone hit off Sulda in the bottom of the fourth on an infield single. 

“It was a pitchers duel with Sulda coming in and shutting us down,” Luippold said. “He’s a hard throwing lefty. When a kid comes in in the first inning and only allows one hit the rest of the way, it’s just good to be able to grind out a win.” 

Simpson came on in the top of the seventh to earn the save for the Panthers. Sam Knight tried to spoil the save attempt by blasting a double with one out, but Simpson got a pair of strikeouts to close out the game and earn the win for Pioneer. 

Mohawk Trail 8, Smith Academy 7 — The Warriors have their first win of the season. 

Mohawk Trail put five on the board in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game, 6-6. The Warriors took the lead in the bottom of the sixth but the Falcons rallied to score a run and tie the game back up, 7-7. 

Weston Den Ouden got following a bobbled ball in the infield, stole second and moved to third on a bunt. Brady Gancarz came up and launched a fly ball to center that allowed Den Ouden to score from third for the walkoff sac fly, lifting Mohawk Trail to a Bi-County League North win. 

“This team didn’t quit,” Warrior coach Doug McCloud said. “They do not quit. I’m very proud of them. I just stood there and watched them celebrate. I’ve coached a long time but this one was a big one. They showed a lot of character today.”

Logan Moore pitched well to hold the Smith Academy lineup down while adding two big hits that helped rally Mohawk Trail. 

After winning one game last year and this being the first win this year, McCloud says he hopes this is a confidence builder for his program. 

“We’re trying to re-jumpstart this program,” McCloud said. “They’re young and make mistakes but they always give 100 percent. That’s all I can ask for as a coach.” 

Mahar 7, Turners 4 — The Sens put six runs on the board in the second, helping propel them to a Bi-County League North win over the Thunder in Turners on Tuesday. 

Nate Danielson got the win on the mound, going the distance and striking out four. At the plate Lucas Isrow crushed a home run and kncoked in three runs, Jeremy Vezina singled and doubled, Morgan Softic knocked two hits, one a double, and brought in a pair of runs, David Vitello had a hit and an RBI while Will Barnes hit safely for Mahar. 

Jake Lavin struck out four for Turners. Ledwin Villafana doubled, Devin Sloan and Lavin each had two hits and an RBI, Kainen Stevens and Levin Prondecki each had a hit and an RBI while Alex Quezada added a hit in the loss. 

Girls tennis

Frontier 3, Greenfield 2 — The Redhawks took all three singles matches to earn a win over the Green Wave at the Davis Street Courts on Tuesday. 

Sydney Scanlon earned a 6-1, 6-1 win in No. 1 singles, Maddie Powers took No. 2 singles 7-5, 6-4 against Mireb Gheorghita and Hashini Ratnatunge defeated Jessica Mihailicenco by a score of 6-1, 6-1 in No. 3 singles for Frontier. 

The Greenfield pair of Lydia Wood and Isabella Semonelli earned a 6-2, 6-0 win in No. 1 doubles over Thanushi Ratnatunge and Amelia Dickson while Virginia Rahubenco and Amy Mihailicenco picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win over Cece Yazqinski and Aylen Shaw in No. 2 doubles. 

Late Monday results

Softball

Franklin Tech 9, Turners 3 — Hannah Gilbert limited the Thunder to just six hits while striking out 11 while Kylee Gamache led the way at the plate with two hits and three RBIs as the Eagles earned an independent win over host Turners on Monday. 

It was the Eagles’ first win over Turners in over 15 years. 

"We got a great pitching performance out of Hannah," Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. "We played some pretty solid defense, made some plays when we needed to and got timely hits. Those are the three keys we preach that we need to do to be successful and girls executed in all three phases." 

Kyra Goodell knocked an RBI single while Hannah Gilbert also hit safely for the Eagles. Kendra Campbell had a big throw in the bottom of the first by throwing a runner out from center field who was trying to take third on a base hit. 

Madi Liimatainen struck out 15 for Turners. Holly Myers had a pair of hits and an RBI while Morgan Dobias, Janelle Massey, Addison Talbot and Mia Marigliano each had a hit for the Thunder. 

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