BELCHERTOWN — Make it seven wins in its last eight games for the Belchertown softball team, which came out of the gates firing with 13 runs in the first inning and cruised to a 16-0 victory over Hampden Charter on Wednesday afternoon.

Orioles ace Lila Roy hadn’t allowed a base runner heading into the fourth inning, but a walk and a bloop single from the Wolves in the top of the frame stole her bid for both the perfect game and no hitter. Both base runners were thrown out by catcher Kina Roy as they attempted to take second. Lila Roy ended with seven strikeouts and surrendered only two hits and the one walk in her five-inning shutout. Senior Vivian Ross cracked the first home run of her career to pace a balanced offensive attack.

“I think they were pretty locked in right from the beginning today,” Belchertown head coach Mike Lafayette said. “Lila Roy on the mound was great. She had two innings where she threw about 10 pitches, and had three strikeouts in each. Just getting off to a big lead helped the girls. Vivian Ross hit her first-ever home run today, that was huge. I think the girls knew from the quick start that we had it in the bag. It felt good.”

It wasn’t that long ago the Os only won four games in a season (2023), but this year, they are 9-3 and clinched a spot in the MIAA Division 3 tournament with Wednesday’s win.

Last season, Belchertown fell 21-3 in the preliminary round of the state tournament to Wilmington. With more experience and a deeper roster, the Orioles are eager to get back in the big dance and give it their best shot.

“Two years ago we won four games, so where we are right now at 9-3, it’s impressive,” Lafayette said. “We still have four games to go, so my goal is to get to 13-3 come the playoffs. We want to get to that play-in game. We were in one last year but I don’t think we were quite ready. This time, we’re thinking about winning that first one and seeing where we can go from there.”

Sophia Mitus drove in a game-high four runs on two hits, Abby Almeida (single, run) recorded three RBIs, Emily Waller ripped a pair of hits and scored three runs and Ross’ home run brought in two runs. Kina Roy added two singles while Natalie Rose (three runs) ripped a base hit.

Aside from the clear ability to hit and field that Lafayette’s bunch has, they’ve improved tremendously when it comes to thinking the game of softball as the season has progressed. Belchertown is no longer relying solely on its talent to win games, the Os are also gaining a leg up on their competition with strategy and constant communication.

“The understanding of communication within the team and how important that is, that’s been the biggest growth,” Lafayette said. “They could always hit and field, but it’s all about how you work together and communicate as a team; how does the shortstop and second baseman communicate, or the pitcher and catcher working on signs and where or when to call certain things. Our outfield is learning when to shift for certain batters and they back of everything that happens in the infield. We’ve really come a long way.”

Turners Falls 5, South Hadley 1 — Samantha LaFlesh got the start for the Tigers instead of Ella Schaeffer, and she more than held her own in a battle with Thunder ace Madi Liimatainen on Wednesday.

LaFlesh threw 5 2/3 innings, giving up five hits and three earned runs while striking out four. Schaeffer came in for relief, going 1 2/3 and recording all five outs via strikeout. She gave up just one hit.

Grace Matyszewski recorded South Hadley’s only hit. A three-run third inning from Turners Falls was the difference.

Franklin Tech 10, Northampton 0 — The Devils were held hitless by Eagles ace Hannah Gilbert, who struck out 16 in a no-hitter. Greta Lepore struck out six in the circle for Northampton.

Amherst 11, Westfield Tech 10 — Make it two wins in as many days for the Hurricanes, which entered this week 0-10. Wednedsay’s victory came in dramatic fashion.

Amherst scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to come from behind and win by one.

Springfield Central 7, Granby 3 — Ellie Szlosek had a huge game at the plate, tallying three singles and scoring a run, but Central prevailed for a close win on Wednesday. The Rams cut the Golden Eagles’ 4-0 lead to 4-3, but Central scored the next three runs to pull away.

Katie Grabherr added two hits and an RBI while Mabel Carillon and Alexis Lapite both singled.

Ludlow 10, Holyoke 3 — The Lions scored four runs during the first and never looked back as the Purple Knights dropped their fifth straight.

Kylie Blaha and Lily Tapion doubled for Holyoke in the loss.

Baseball

Easthampton 12, Palmer 2 (5) — The Eagles scored in every inning and continued their recent strong performances with another dominant outing on Wednesday afternoon.

Pat Larson was a single shy of the cycle and added three RBIs in a monster outing at the plate, Anthony Incampo went 4-for-4 with two RBIs while Jake Kostek, Ethan Mullaly and Chris Gallagher all recorded two hits apiece.

Pittsfield 7, Hopkins 0 — JJ Scanlon and Nate Rickles were the only two Golden Hawks players to tally hits in the loss. Tucker Russell pitched the whole game for Hopkins and struck out five Pittsfield hitters.

Granby 6, Smith Academy 1 — The Rams led 2-1 entering the seventh, and added four insurance runs in the top of the frame to put the Falcons away on Wednesday in Hatfield.

Brodie Funk (three), Anthony Misiaszek (two) and Jack Crawford (two) had multiple hits for Granby, while Garret Willard (two hits) and Harrison LaFlamme (one hit, one RBI) led the way for Smith Academy. Joseph Barrett pitched a complete game for Granby, giving up only four hits.

Wahconah 3, Frontier 2 — Trailing 2-1, the Warriors scored one in both the fifth and sixth innings to take down the Redhawks in South Deerfield Wednesday. 

Porter Hall recorded an RBI single while Jack Cusson, Ben Caron, Shawn Baumann and Henry Drinker hit safely for Frontier. Joey Hutkoski struck out three in the loss.

Holyoke 7, Chicopee Comp 4 — Three runs in the first and three more in the fourth helped the Purple Knights get past the Colts on Wednesday afternoon.

Matthew Dumoulin and Aiden Robinson combined for four hits and three RBIs while Arthur Mazzu, Jovaughn Rivera and Nolan Judd drove in runs for Holyoke.

Hampshire 4, Southwick 3 — Southwick’s Aidan Daughtery was poised to be the star of the game with a well-pitched complete game and go ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning, but the Raiders rallied for a come-from-behind, walk-off victory. 

Zach Phakos (2-for-4, double) brought home Riley Florek with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Jacob Sicard scored the winning run on a daring dash home on a wild pitch. Vynce Carr, Joe Moro, Colin Hogan and Phakos all had doubles for Hampshire.

Ludlow 15, Amherst 3 — The ‘Canes lost their senior night under the lights to the Lions on Wednesday.

Boys lacrosse

Northampton 14, Chicopee Comp 8 — Keller Mahoney was on one Wednesday, as he erupted for 11 points to carry the Blue Devils to a win. Mahoney netted eight goals and dished out a trio of assists.

Nick Biddle scored three times, Jackson Oravec had a goal and three assists while Bryce McGinn-Stevens and Ryland Breen rounded out the goal scoring. Henry Fallon made six saves in goal.

Westfield 14, South Hadley 9 — The Tigers tied a season-high for goals scored in a loss in Wednesday’s defeat. South Hadley dropped to 2-12 overall.

Girls lacrosse

South Hadley 17, Monson 3 — Seven different Tiger players scored two goals, with Ava Asselin (two assists), Raquel Losty (two assists), Hannah Haesaert (three assists), Caitlin Dean (one assist), Margo Watkins (six draw controls), Ella Haber (one assist) and Willa Camp potting a pair each.

Kelcey Zraunig, Kylie Sierra and Lauren Montemagni (one assist) also scored South Hadley goals, while Dee Haber (two) and Riley Nestor (one) combined to make three saves in the cage.

Pope Francis 16, Belchertown 6 — The Orioles allowed double-digit goals for the third straight game in the defeat to the Cardinals. Belchertown was tied 6-6 with Pope Francis before the Cardinals opened things up.

Lia Pikul, Lily Tellier and Aubrey McCain scored two goals apiece.

Amherst 14, Lee 3 — The ‘Canes defense was stellar on Wednesday, giving up only one goal in the first half to leave room for their offense to take care of the rest.

Ava Carey scored six goals, Kiko Bhowmik netted a pair and added three assists, Zoey Candito potted a hat trick and Emilia Luetjen scored twice. Ursula Lundquist (one goal, two assists) and Claire Kennedy (three assists) both had three points in the win for Amherst.

Eden Polak was near-perfect in the cage, stopping 20 of the 23 Lee shot attempts.

Boys tennis

Northampton 4, Belchertown 1 — Reilly Fowles (6-0, 6-0), Oliver Levine (6-3, 6-2) and Reed O’Connor (6-0, 6-0) swept singles play to pace the Blue Devils in a gentlemen’s sweep of the Orioles on Monday afternoon in Belchertown.

Arlo Bourdon Levy and Emiliano Hidalgo won via forfeit at No. 2 doubles to round out Northampton’s winners while Belchertown’s first doubles pairing of Josh O’Connor and Liam Sherwood picked up the lone win for the Os, 6-2, 6-2.

PVCICS 4, Palmer 1 — All three singles matches were won by the Dragons, as Lee Ferguson (6-0, 6-0), James Scott (6-1, 6-1) and Teddy Scott (6-0, 6-0) sailed to victories on Wednesday afternoon.

Jack Herman and Gabe Loinaz won via forfeit at No. 2 doubles, while Jimmy Wu and Quinn Jimenez made their PVCICS debuts at first doubles, losing a marathon match in a three-set tiebreaker, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6.

Frontier 5, PV Christian 0 — The Redhawks got back in the win column, sweeping singles to pick up a victory in South Deerfield Wednesday. 

Brayden Reipold was a 6-2, 6-0 winner at No. 1 singles, while Oliver Brown (6-1, 6-1) and Noah Nichols (6-1, 6-2) rounded out the singles winners. Xavier Fripp and Matt Sibley teamed for a 6-0, 6-0 sweep at No. 1 doubles.

Girls tennis

Frontier 4, Greenfield 1 — A dominant performance from their two doubles teams keyed the Redhawks’ victory on Wednesday at the Davis Street Courts in Greenfield.

Frontier’s Esther Ehle and Aylen Shaw teamed for a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 1 doubles over Greenfield’s Adele Bross and Lizzy Derivolkova. At second doubles, Brooke Charest and Hailey Fernandez cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win against Greenfield’s Stella Longe and Vera Jackson.

Kayla Fagan took a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles for the Hawks, and Ella Sibley won at third singles 6-3, 6-4.

Northampton 4, Agawam 1 — The Blue Devils swept singles play to get past Agawam on Wednesday, as Bess King-Pollet (first singles, 6-0, 6-2), Emmi Warren (second singles, 6-1, 6-1) and Ruth Pollin-Gray (third singles, 6-3, 6-2) took care of business.

Casey Barber and Giselle Ohm rounded out Northampton’s victors with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph at No. 1 doubles.

Amherst 5, Westfield 0 — Katie Gromacki won 6-0, 6-0, Emma Learned-Miller earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory and Mahima Ganesan won 6-1-, 6-0 in a dominant singles showing from the ‘Canes on Wednesday.

Amherst’s doubles pairs of Daniella Sherman and Aliya Osman (No. 1) and Janaki Ewoton and Elena Ruiz (No. 2) picked up straight-set victories of their own.

Boys volleyball

Frontier 3, Granby 0 — The Redhawks were crisp and precise all night in a sweep of Granby on Wednesday. Nate Rivera finished with 16 kills, Tegan Dexter put down 12 kills, Will Reading recorded nine kills while Tavo Vincent-Warner dished 33 assists in the winning effort.

Set scores were 25-17, 25-23, 25-19.

Braeden Gallagher (seven) and Brandon Chatel (four) combined for 11 kills for the Rams, while Daniel Santiago added three. Chatel, Santiago and Nathan Walsh each added two aces while Walsh dished out 15 assists in the loss.

Youth baseball

Northampton 12, South Hadley 2 — The Northampton Koufax baseball team excelled in all areas of the game on Wednesday, defeating the Tigers in convincing fashion.

Oliver Yau, Miller Cobrich, Elliot Frankl all had RBI hits, as did Braydn Rios and Dylan Lawrence-Riddell. Lawrence-Riddell earned the win on the bump, allowing one hit and zero runs over four innings. He struck out eight and walked three. Northampton piled up a baker’s dozen (13) hits.

Late Tuesday results

Boys lacrosse

West Springfield 17, Amherst 6 — Tre Bowman recorded a hat trick for the Hurricanes, however they dropped Tuesday’s contest to the Terriers under the lights and on the road in West Springfield.

Sawyer Ferro tallied three points (one goal, two assists) of his own for Amherst, while Brian Cruz (one goal, one assist) and Tri Nguyen (goal) chipped in offensively. Jason Kim did all he could in the cage, stopping 15 West Springfield shots.

Girls lacrosse

Northampton 16, Belchertown 5 – Seven goals during the second quarter catapulted the Blue Devils to their fifth straight win. Makayla Fedenkevez starred for Northampton with five goals, plus picked up her 100th career point in the victory. Imanni Power-Greene led the Blue Devils with nine points while Teagan McDonald (two goals) and Kayden Braman (two goals, assist) also played well.

For the Orioles (1-12), McKenzie LePage and Aubrey McCain each scored twice in the defeat.

Track

South Hadley 94, Monson 41 (girls) — Maggie Crawford took first in the 400 hurdles (1:04.8) and 100 hurdles (16.3) while Emma Levreault won the shot put (27 feet, eight inches) and dsicus (73 feet, four inches) to aid the Tigers to victory on Tuesday afternoon.

Other South Hadley winners included Addison Hill (2 mile, 13:18.6), Grace Cooney (mile, 6:20.6), Grace Sherman (400, 1:06.9), Izzy Scott (800, 2:31.0), Aimee George (javelin, 88 feet, 1 inch) and Quinn Cook (high jump, 4 feet, 6 inches).