TURNERS FALLS — Tied 4-4 after seven innings, extra frames were needed to decide a winner between the Franklin Tech and Athol baseball teams on Monday. 

Both teams stranded a runner on third base in the eighth, but it was the Bears that broke through in the ninth. 

A well-executed bunt by Marc Gould scored Hunter Smith to give Athol a 5-4 lead in the ninth. Base hits from Ethan Heuer and Alex Lavigne knocked in a pair of runs before a sacrifice fly from Andrew Robinson scored another run, putting the Bears ahead, 8-4. Athol shut down Tech in the bottom of the frame to hang on for an 8-4 Bi-County North win. 

“I’m incredibly proud of our guys,” Bears coach Josh Talbot said. “We had a pretty big letdown over vacation. We took a few days off and it looked that way. Today we looked like a team that had been practicing and working to get better. This is a young group and this was the first time I saw that competitive fire kick in. They had a couple situations where it didn’t go our way. Young inexperienced teams sometimes roll over and we have in the past. This group impressed me with their will to win. They’re a mentally tough group.” 

It was Logan Cormier who came on to pitch in the seventh, taking over with runners on second and third and the game tied 4-4. Cormier got a pair of fly outs to send the game to extras. 

In the eighth, Tech’s Hunter Donahue singled and stole second. Talbot chose to intentionally walk the next batter, and following a double steal, intentionally walked another batter to load the bases with one out. Cormier didn’t fret, recording a strikeout and a pop out to close the inning and send it to the ninth. 

Cormier got three straight outs in the ninth to seal the win for Athol (2-2).  

“We challenged Logan to be a leader on this team,” Talbot said. “He had a good day at the box and we put him in a couple not great spots pitching. I’m just proud of him for being that competitor in those spots and lifting his teammates up. I’ve challenged him since he was 14 to be a leader and I saw it today. I’m proud of what he’s grown into.” 

It was those missed opportunities that hurt Franklin Tech (3-4). The Eagles left a runner on in scoring position five different times, unable to get the big hit to break the game open. 

“It’s tough to win a ballgame if you can’t make the plays,” Franklin Tech coach Dan Prasol said. “Hats off to Athol. They did a great job. We shot ourselves in the foot too many times today.” 

Franklin Tech took the lead in the first after a Kyle Begos ground out scored Donahue. Athol responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second after Cormier drove in Dominik St. Andre and Raydin Sousa with a base hit to put the Bears ahead, 2-1. 

An error on a pickoff attempt allowed Tech’s Gavin Crossman to tie the game in the third. Athol looked like it scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth after a throw to get Alex Lavigne at third sailed into the outfield, allowing Lavigne and Sousa to score, but batter interference was called to wipe out the two runs. 

Cormier blasted a double in the fifth and the throw to get him on a steal at third sailed into the outfield, bringing him in to give the Bears their 3-2 lead. 

Tucker Hicks opened the sixth with a double for Tech and Tyler Yetter drove him in with a single. A Crossman ground out scored Brody Hicks to put the Eagles ahead, 4-3, going into the seventh. 

A sac fly from Cormier drove in Sousa in the seventh, which ultimately forced extras. 

Anthony Lopez tossed the opening six innings for the Bears, striking out seven. 

“He was great out there,” Talbot said of Lopez. “He’s a super competitive kid. We wouldn’t have been in the game without him.” 

Mason Lehtomaki went six innings on the mound for Franklin Tech, striking out 11. 

Frontier 3, Hopkins 1 – Scoreless into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Redhawks finally broke through against Hopkins Academy ace Beau Elson. Frontier scored three times in the inning, and held off a Golden Hawks rally in the top of the seventh to snag a 3-1 Suburban League West triump on Monday in South Deerfield.

Rosco Palmer was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Redhawks, which also received an RBI from Wyatt Edes and a hit from Nico Fasulo, who scored the game’s first run.

Frontier’s Tyler Cusson went six innings and earned the win, striking out six and walking five while giving up just three hits. Max Skribiski-Banack got the final three outs, striking out two.

“Cusson went with their ace each inning,” Redhawk coach Chris Williams said. “The squad was pumped up with Max’s save. Talk about somebody stepping up to get three big outs.” 

Elson struck out eight and allowed just three hits in a complete-game outing for Hopkins. He also had two hits and an RBI to help himself at the plate.

Mohawk Trail 13, Smith Academy 3 — The Warriors earned their first win of the season on Monday, as Jackson Lilienthal and Grady Patenaude each blasted a two-run double to lift Mohawk Trail to a Bi-County North win in Hatfield. 

Doug Wilcox knocked a pair of hits and swiped a pair of bases while Logan Moore got the win on the mound for the Warriors. 

Turners 9, Mahar 3 – Alex Quezada struck out 12 in five innings of work for the Thunder, which took a 4-0 lead in the second inning and pulled away for an impressive win on Monday in Orange.

Quezada allowed just one hit in a winning effort, walking six. He also smacked a home run at the plate, pacing a Turners Falls offense that feature two hits and two RBIs apiece from Jonathan Ainsworth and Kainen Stevens.

Mahar, which cut the deficit to 4-2 with a pair in the bottom of the second, received a hit and an RBI from Matt Vitello while Sam Connors walked and scored a run.

Hampshire 13, Greenfield 3 (6) — The Raiders blasted seven extra-base hits to knock off the Green Wave in Westhampton on Monday in Suburban League West action. 

Michael Pierce had a hit and an RBI for Greenfield. 

Pioneer 1 5, Easthampton 0 (5) — Hugh Cyhowski’s three hits and four RBIs helped propel the Panthers to  a Suburban League West win over the Eagles in Northfield on Monday. 

Jackson Campbell tallied a pair of hits and RBIs, Ben Werner cracked a pair of hits, Jackson Glazier had a hit and three RBIs, Braeden Tsipenyuk knocked a hit and two RBIs while Ethan Mauthe tripled in the win. Glazier struck out 10 and scattered two hits on the mound for Pioneer.