Winners of seven straight games entering Thursday, the Belchertown baseball team hadn’t been tested in a while. The Orioles’ last six games were all victories by at least six runs. But against a visiting Agawam team, Belchertown found itself in a 2-1 hole entering the bottom of the seventh inning.

Thatcher Rudnik stepped to the plate with Nate Marino in scoring position. Rudnik ripped a single to bring Marino home and tie the game at two apiece. Ian McDonald then followed suit with a single of his own to put runners on first and second for Josh Misiaszek. The senior dug in the box, got in his stance and waited. He received a pitch he liked and crushed it over the fence in Belchertown, giving the Orioles a thrilling 5-2 come-from-behind win to extend their streak to eight in a row.

Misiaszek finished the game going 2-for-4 with four RBIs, McDonald was a perfect 3-for-3 from the dish with two runs and a walk and Ryan Gould added a hit on top of Rudnik’s clutch base knock that started the rally. Misiaszek also pitched a complete-game on the bump, striking out four and giving up only two hits and two runs – both of which were unearned.

Belchertown is in prime position to win the Valley Central League as it sits atop the standings with an undefeated league record. The Orioles are 9-4 and host Chicopee on Monday afternoon (4 p.m.) in another league tilt.

Easthampton 7, Westfield Tech 5 — The Eagles put together their best win of the season Thursday, taking down a one-loss Westfield Tech team on the road in Westfield.

Jason Sigda tripled and drove in three runs for Easthampton (4-11), which won its second game in a row. Trailing 2-0, the Eagles scored two in the fifth and five more in the sixth to jump ahead. Patrick Larson did the job on the mound, going the distance and striking out six while allowing five hits and six walks.

Turners 9, Smith Academy 2 — Ryan McCoy tallied two hits and drove in a run for the Falcons, which fell to the Thunder on Thursday in Hatfield. 

Robert Slysz finished with two hits, Garret Willard doubled and Harry LaFlamme struck out five for Smith Academy. 

Wahconah 10, Granby 0 — Jaedyn Pike and Jack Crawford each had a hit for the Rams in a five-inning loss to Wahconah on Thursday.

The Warriors led just 2-0 into the top of the fourth before scoring four times in both the fourth and fifth frames.

Chicopee Comp 13, Amherst 5 — The Hurricanes dropped to 1-13 on the season with a loss on the road in Chicopee Thursday.

Softball

Franklin Tech 8, Frontier 1 — The Eagles showed their power against the Redhawks on Thursday, hitting five home runs to take down Frontier in an independent contest in South Deerfield. 

The game was called two pitches into the seventh inning due to lightning. 

 Alison George and Hannah Gilbert each put two over the fence, George finishing with four RBIs while both of Gilbert’s homers were solo shots. Lindsey Taylor added a solo home run as well for Tech.

Delaney Fifield and Addie Ehle had the hits for Frontier, with Raine Wonsey striking out seven and Ashley Taylor adding two strikeouts in the circle during the loss.

Northampton 22, Mahar 0 (5) — The Blue Devils won their second game in as many days, this time cruising past the Senators on Thursday afternoon in Orange. Greta Lepore struck out 10 batters and surrendered only one hit in a five-inning shutout in the circle.

Northampton got on the board in the top of the first inning after Ella Daillie singled, scoring two runs, Emily Kajka drew a walk, scoring one run and Ella Subocz grounded out, scoring one run. The Blue Devils then added eight runs in the second and six more in the third. Jayda Alejandro blasted a home run in the win.

Granby 17, Smith Academy 9 (6) — Mabel Carillon collected four RBIs on two hits and scored three runs while Kaitlyn Curran and Cassie Flaherty each had a pair of hits, scored four runs and drove in four apiece to lead the Rams to a win in a game that was called in the sixth inning due to lightning.

Katie Grabherr and Marcela Tapia tallied two hits each and Alexis Lapite drove in two runs on two hits for Granby. Meredith Bartosz recorded five strikeouts in the circle.

For Smith Academy, Caitlin Graves doubled and scored two runs, Marissa Belina recorded one hit, one run, two RBIs while Sofia Cestero knocked two hits, scored and plated two. Nataly Slysz (one hit, one run, RBI), Alexa Jagodzinski (one hit, one run), Madelyn Barrett (one hit, one run) and Lily Harrington (one hit, RBI) all contributed for the Falcons as well.

Palmer 10, Holyoke 1 — Kylie Blaha had a hit and an RBI for the Purple Knights in Thursday’s loss to Palmer. Samantha Rodriguez smacked a double for Holyoke.

South Hadley 5, Longmeadow 0 (5) — Sophia Butler had two hits and two RBIs, and Ella Schaeffer struck out nine in a five-inning shutout of the Lancers on Thursday.

The game was halted early due to weather. South Hadley led 2-0 into the fifth before a three-spot put things out of reach. Samantha LaFlesh had a hit and an RBI for the Tigers, and Karli Carmody scored a pair of runs.

Monson 6, Easthampton 3 — Summer Routhier struck out nine in the circle for the Eagles, which fell to Monson on Thursday.

Girls lacrosse

Granby 20, Lee 4 — Four different Rams players tallied hat tricks on Thursday, including Kalli White’s 10-point day (eight goals, two assists), to lead them to a decisive victory over the Wildcats.

Ava-Elizabeth Loughman scored three times, Mylin Laliberte (one assist) put up three goals as did Kelly-Lynne Kennedy (three assists). Ava Saunders, Margo Healey and Emily Durham each scored while Faith Ramos stopped two shots in net for Granby.

Hoosac Valley 12, Amherst 11 — Ava Carey (three), Emilia Luetjen (two) and Kiko Bhowmik (two) each scored multiple goals for the ‘Canes, but it wasn’t enough on Thursday afternoon.

Amherst’s Ursula Lundquist, Elise Woodruff, Zoey Candito and Aliyah Kenney each tallied goals as well.

Boys tennis

Northampton 5, Amherst 0 — The Devils secured a rivalry-match sweep, led by Reilly Fowles’ 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 1 singles.

Other winners for Northampton were Durrell Patrick (6-2, 6-2, No. 2), Eli Wool (6-4, 6-3, No. 3), Oliver Levine/Reed O'Connor (6-0, 6-0, No. 1 doubles) and Emiliano Hidalgo/Jude McCutcheon (6-1, 6-1, No. 2 doubles).

Frontier 4, Chicopee Comp 1 — In a match featuring a pair of teams with only one loss, the Redhawks swept singles to move to 10-1 with a 4-1 triumph in Chicopee Thursday.

Casey Bestler won in No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-1), Brayden Reipold took No. 2 singles (6-0, 6-1), Oliver Brown came back to earn a win in No. 3 singles (7-5, 6-2) while Xavier Fripp and Liam Well picked up a win in No. 1 doubles (6-2, 7-5) for Frontier. 

Boys volleyball

Belchertown 3, Athol 1 — Shea Maclean put down 15 kills and made three blocks as the Orioles earned a 25-21, 25-15, 14-25, 25-19 win over the Bears on Thursday in Athol. 

Brian Burns recorded seven kills, Noah Yankson tallied six kills, Colin Mullen dished 20 assists while Daro Mao had nine assists and three aces in the winning effort. 

Longmeadow 3, Frontier 1 — Tegan Dexter smashed 14 kills and came up with nine digs for the Redhawks, who fell to the Lancers 25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 25-15 at Goodnow Gymnasium Thursday. 

“We celebrated our seniors tonight,” Frontier coach Courtney Parent said. “Congrats to our six seniors. The boys worked hard tonight and we took a set off a tough Longmeadow team.”

Tavo Vincent-Warner distributed 30 assists, Nate Rivera tallied seven kills and 15 digs, Will Reading put down seven kills, Will Petrin put down six kills while Jonathan Olvera added a kill in the loss.

Girls ultimate

Amherst 6, Four Rivers 6 — Less than a week after their epic final in the Amherst Invitational, the Hurricanes and Otters met again on Thursday in Amherst.

After two quick holds, the Otters broke twice – forcing a ‘Canes timeout. Out of the break, three more holds ensued to make it 4-3 in favor of Four Rivers. The ‘Canes scored the next two points to take a 5-4 lead into halftime. After the break, the teams held three times to bring the score to 6-6.

Just then the lightning came on strong and the fields needed to be cleared. With only 15 minutes left of game time and the forecast for lightning for the next two hours, the coaches decided to end the game and call it a draw.

Amherst was led by senior Isla Cusick (three assists) and juniors Leah Kalman (two goals, one assist) and Myla Peltier (two goals). The game brought the ‘Canes to a 13-3-1 record on the season.