TURNERS FALLS — The Franklin Tech softball team gained valuable postseason experience during the 2022 season. Now the Eagles are hoping those lessons equal deep 2023 postseason runs.

So far, so good.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a tie game on Monday, Kendra Campbell hit a ground ball to third base. The play lasted long enough to enable Hannah Gilbert to scamper home from third with the winning run, lifting No. 4 Franklin Tech to a walk-off 3-2 victory over No. 5 Drury in a Western Mass. Class C quarterfinal contest at Nancy Gifford Field.

“It’s a four versus five [seed] Western Mass. quarterfinal game and it kind of lived up to everything,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “Both pitchers threw the ball well and we were just able to push one more run across to get it done.”

Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Gilbert led off with a single and Kylee Gamache walked. Cordelia Guerin kept things moving with an infield single of her own, loading the bases with no outs. That set the stage for Campbell, who drove in the winning run and punched a ticket to the Class C semifinals.

Franklin Tech (17-2) will play the winner of Tuesday night’s quarterfinal between No. 1 Greenfield and No. 8 McCann Tech in the semifinal round, tentatively set for Friday.

The Eagles, which made their deepest-ever runs in the Western Mass. and state tournaments last year, received a 14-strikeout outing from Gilbert in the circle. Kaitlin Trudeau paced the offense with three hits, including a big solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that gave the Eagles a 2-1 lead at the time.

Drury tied it with a run on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth, but Gilbert scattered just four hits to go with three walks in the complete-game outing. She also had two hits and a double offensively to help her own cause.

“The good news it the majority of our roster is battle-tested so I don’t think they're going to get intimidated by the moment,” Gamache said.

Lilly Ross also had a hit and an RBI for Franklin Tech.

Turners Falls 12, Pioneer 0 (6) — Madi Liimatainen kicked off the Western Mass. tournament on a high note on Monday. 

The sophomore tossed a six inning no-hitter, striking out 13 and walking just two while adding a single, two doubles and four RBIs at the plate to lift the Thunder to the Class D semifinals with a 12-0 victory in six innings. 

Turners scored one in the first and four in the second before exploding for seven runs in the sixth to seal the win. 

“It was great to see us hit the ball tonight,” Thunder coach Gary Mullins said. “Madi pitched another great game for us.”

Holly Myers finished with a double, a single and two RBIs while Cadi Wozniak and Janelle Massey each had a hit and an RBI and Madisyn Dietz hit safely for Turners. Mia Marigliano closed out the game with a two-RBI double. 

Pioneer’s Brayleigh Burgh held the Thunder to nine hits while striking out four in the loss.

Baseball

Pioneer 9, Palmer 1 — The No. 1 Panthers put four runs on the board in the fifth, leading to a win over No. 8 Palmer in the quarterfinals of the Class D tournament on Monday in Northfield. 

Ian Simpson got the win on the mound, striking out eight and surrendering six hits. Ethan Quinn blasted two hits, one a double, Peter Loud brought in three runs off a single and a double, Luc Belhumeur blasted a triple, a single and brought in a run, Ethan Mauthe and Alex McClelland each knocked a hit that drove in a run while Simpson helped himself with a base hit that scored two runs while 

Pioneer will play the winner of No. 4 Mt. Everett and No. 5 Granby in the semifinals. 

Smith Voc 7, Mahar 1 — Sam Connors walked, singled and scored the Senators’ lone  run in the top of the sixth inning during Monday’s 7-1 loss to top-seeded Smith Vocational in the Class C quarterfinals at Arcanum Field in Northampton.

No. 8 Mahar dropped to 9-9 with the loss.

Will Barnes also had a hit for the Sens, which trailed 5-0 until pushing their run across in the sixth. The Vikings (18-1) scored one in the first, one in the second, one in the third and two more in the fourth. They tacked on a pair in the bottom of the sixth to put things out of reach.

Barnes pitched well in relief, striking out two in two innings of work. Matt Vitello started and tossed 3 2/3 innings for Mahar.

Ware 10, Turners Falls 3 – The sixth-seeded Thunder led 2-1 into the bottom of the third but host Ware scored six runs in the frame en route to a 10-3 victory in the Class D quarterfinals Monday night.

Ware will play No. 2 Hopkins Academy in the semifinals.

Dylan Shinall had two hits to pace the Turners offense, while Joey Mosca, Jackson Cogswell and Deven Sloan also had hits.

Turners starter Alex Quezada struck out four and walked three in 2 1/3 innings before exiting the game. Mosca didn’t allow a run in 2 1/3 innings of relief.

Ware pitcher John Mumper struck out 10 in a complete-game outing.

Non-playoff

Baseball

Athol 5, Lee 3 — The Bears scored three times in the third inning and held off the Wildcats in a non-playoff game played Monday.

Shea Brennan had two hits and James Williams singled, walked twice and scored a pair.

Anthony Lopez struck out three batters to earn the victory.

Boys tennis

Chicopee Comp 3, Turners Falls 2 — The Thunder won matches at first and second singles during a tight loss on Monday.

Mike Boyle was a 6-0, 6-4 winner at first singles, while Noah Kolodziej followed with an impressive 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 2 singles.

Girls tennis

Turners Falls 4, Chicopee 1 — A marathon match at third singles saw Olivia Wolbach cap the Thunder’s season in winning fashion.

Wolbach’s match lasted three and a half hours at No. 3, but she pulled out a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory to seal the deal for Turners.

Steph Peterson (6-0, 6-0) was a quick winner at No. 1 singles for the Thunder. Turners swept the doubles matches, with Avery Heathwaite and Jill Reynolds nabbing a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 before Holly Hicks and Emma Harmon followed with a 7-5, 6-3 victory in the No. 2 slot.

Weekend results

Softball

Athol 15, Pathfinder 3 (5) — Jaylynn Chapalonis smashed two doubles that brought in three runs while striking out three in the circle as the Bears earned a non-playoff win over the Pioneers on Saturday. 

Tapanga Chapalonis and Hailey Cummings each knocked three hits while Alyssa Logan, Madilyn Hermes, Jenna Bonenfant, Ally Robertson and Giana Vaillancourt all had two hits in the victory. 

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