High schools: Seventh inning rally lifts Turners baseball past Athol

Turners Falls catcher Kainen Stevens tags out Franklin Tech base runner William Ainsworth last week in Turners. 

Turners Falls catcher Kainen Stevens tags out Franklin Tech base runner William Ainsworth last week in Turners.  STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Staff Reports

Published: 04-09-2024 9:17 PM

It wasn’t looking good for the Turners Falls baseball team heading into the bottom of the seventh inning against Athol on Tuesday. 

The Bears held a 2-0 lead while Logan Cormier had held the Thunder to just three hits through six innings. 

Cormier came out of the game for the seventh and Joey Mosca instantly got on with a walk. Jackson Cogswell then reached on an error and following a ground ball by Deven Sloan, Cogswell was thrown out at second but runners remained on first and third for Julian Kaiser, who came in to pinch hit. 

Sloan took second to put runners on second and third, but Kaiser, a freshman, found himself in an 0-2 hole. Kaiser dug in and belted a ball to short and the throw to first sailed away, allowing both runs to score and tie the game. 

Dylen Richardson came up and drilled a line drive into the left center gap on the next at bat to score Kaiser, with Turners walking it off for a 3-2 Bi-County North victory. 

“Joey Mosca kept us in the game on the mound,” Thunder coach Scott Minckler said. “He did a great job out there. We turned things around defensively. We played better out there and just kept fighting. That’s something we preached and we did a little bit of it against Tech in our opener by coming back late. We have to have the confidence to keep plugging away and I’m proud of them for doing that today. To see our 6, 7, 8 and 9 hitters get the job done late is something I’m very happy with. Glad we got the win.” 

Mosca tossed the opening six innings for Turners, striking out eight and giving up six hits. Richardson tossed the seventh and didn’t give up a hit, striking out one. 

Athol took the lead in the third off a bomb by Oliver Johnson, who smashed a two-run home run to give the Bears the opening lead. 

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Cormier struck out eight in his six innings on the mound. Young and Johnson both finished with two hits while Cormier and Ethan Heuer hit safely for Athol. Quezada and Mosca finished with base hits for Turners. 

Franklin Tech 4, Mohawk Trail 3 — The Eagles put three runs on the board in the first two innings but the Warriors didn’t quit there, getting a run back in the third before tying the game with a two-run fourth. 

That score held to the bottom of the seventh, when Franklin Tech put two runs on the board to walk it off with a 4-3 Bi-County North victory in Turners. 

Tyler Yetter reached on an error to open the bottom of the seventh before Gavin Crossman was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second. Ben Dodge laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases and Hunter Donahue hit a line drive double to right to win the game. 

Donahue added a single, Jacob Martin and Dylan Young both had a hit and an RBI while Yetter, Crossman, Dodge and Levi Clark hit safely for the Eagles. Brody Hicks struck out four, Crossman added a strikeout while Clark pitched the seventh to earn the win. 

Logan Moore pitched the first six innings for the Warriors, striking out six and giving up six hits. Noah Sprague singled, doubled and drove in two runs while Moore, Jackson Lilienthal, Grady Patenaude, Brady Gancarz and Jed Niquette hit safely for Mohawk Trail. 

Pioneer 16, Monson 5 — The bats were rolling for the Panthers on Tuesday in Monson. 

Pioneer finished the game with 19 hits and 16 RBIs, with Braeden Tsipenyuk knocking four hits, one a double, and five RBIs while his brother Evan Tsipenyuk recorded a double, two singles and drove in four runs, helping the Panthers earn an independent victory. 

Ethan Mauthe homered, singled and brought in two runs, Alex McClelland finished with three hits and an RBI, Heath Gomez tallied two hits and three RBIs while Hugh Cyhowski and Jackson Glazier both cracked a pair of hits in the win. 

Evan Tsipenyuk, McClelland, Glazier and Jackson Campbell each pitched for the Panthers, combing to give up eight hits while striking out 10. 

“Some arm trouble made us go deep into the pitching staff to help some hurt arms,” Pioneer coach Kevin Luippold said. “They’ve all worked on command bullpens and they stepped up when asked today, didn’t shy away and threw strikes. The boys have worked hard to pack each other’s parachutes both mentally and physically early on this year and I couldn’t be more proud of these young men.” 

Softball

Turners 22, Northampton 2 (5) — The bats were on fire for the Thunder on Tuesday, scoring eight runs in the first, three in the second, six in the third and five in the fourth to run away with a five inning independent win over the Blue Devils in Northampton. 

Madi Liimatainen pitched the first inning and struck out two and at the plate, crushed a home run, two doubles and two singles. Seventh grader Autumn Thornton pitched the final four innings for Turners, allowing four hits and striking out seven. At the plate, Thornton tallied a double and two singles. 

Madisyn Dietz recorded three hits, Anne Kolodziej tallied two hits while Mia Marigliano, Holly Myers and Addison Talbot hit safely in the victory. 

Taconic 5, Mohawk Trail 2 — Riley Giard struck out four and added a double for the Warriors in an independent loss to the Thunder in Pittsfield on Tuesday. 

Adddie Loomis knocked a triple, Abi Dobias tripled and singled while Kaylin Sumner added a base hit for Mohawk Trail. 

Boys volleyball

West Springfield 3, Frontier 0 — Aleks Carey finished with 12 kills for the Redhawks in a 25-16, 25-17, 25-21 loss to the Terriers in West Springfield on Tuesday. 

Jack Carey tallied nine kills, Dean Gray recorded two kills while Tavo Vincent-Warner dished 22 assists for Frontier. 

Boys tennis

PV Christian 5, Turners 0 — Mike Boyle had the top match of the day for the Thunder, falling 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in No. 1 singles as Turners dropped the match to the Eagles on Tuesday in Turners. 

Noah Kolodziej, John Carmichael, Vaughn LaValley, Mario Pareja, Max Briere and Lucas Black also competed for the Thunder. 

Boys track

Mohawk Trail 82, Pioneer 60 — Chay Mojallali won the triple jump (41 feet, .25 inches), the high jump (6-3), the 110-meter hurdles (17.2 seconds) and the 400 hurdles (67.8), helping Mohawk Trail earn a win over the Panthers in Buckland on Tuesday. 

Other winners for the Warriors were Wyatt Alling in the pole vault (8-0), Will VanVleet in the discus (89-8), Peter Healy in the two mile (11:36.2), Tanner Biagini in the 100 (12.3) and 200 (24.8) and Vincent Gauthier in the mile (5:00.3) and the 800 (2:23.1). 

Winners for Pioneer were Carter Berthiaume in the long jump (17-6), Noah Gamache in the shot put (38-1), Jayden Tyler in the javelin (110-2) and Ryan Spofford in the 400 (61.4). The Panthers won the 4x100 (51.7) and 4x400 (4:13.9) relays. 

Girls track

Mohawk Trail 82, Pioneer 62 — Virginia Krezmien took the mile (5:48) and the two mile (13:30.3) as the Warriors pulled away for a victory over the Panthers in Buckland Tuesday. 

Heidi Helenek won the pole vault (6-6), Avery Johnston took the shot put (26-10), Sofiya Slocik-Gritzner took first in the discus (80-9), Anya Read won the 800 (2:47.4) while Zephyr Jetzon finished in first in the 200 (29.2) for Mohawk Trail. The Warriors won the 4x100 relay (58.9). 

Pioneer winners were Natalie Rios in the long jump (15-1.5) and javelin (103-5), Sahanah Heilman in the triple jump (31-1.5) and 100 hurdles (17.9), Louise Flagollet in the high jump (5-2), 100 (13.2) and 400 (66.9), and Emmanuelle Flagollet in the 400 hurdles (74.1). The Panthers took the 4x400 relay (4:36). 

Ultimate

Four Rivers 15, Northampton 2 — Isaiah Goleman scored five goals, Atticus Peters scored an assisted on a goal while Sam Whitney added an assist for the Otters in a victory over the Blue Devils on Tuesday in Greenfield. 

Late Monday results

Girls tennis

Mohawk Trail 3, Turners 2 — Hazel Foucault earned a win in No. 1 singles (6-0, 6-0) while Ivan Hillenbrand and Eliza Crowell picked up a win in No. 1 doubles (6-1, 6-2) and Sawyer Thurber and Landon Clark won No. 2 doubles (6-0, 6-0), helping the Warriors earn a win over the Thunder in Turners on Monday. 

Sam Carr won in No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-1) while Lydia MacMunn-Seaman won in No. 3 singles (6-1, 6-0) for Turners.