Sports
Baseball: Frontier handles Greenfield 12-2 in five-inning victory (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
GREENFIELD — All three games between the Greenfield and Frontier baseball teams last spring were decided by one run. The Redhawks made sure to leave no doubt when the two squads met Thursday at Vets Field. Frontier jumped out to a 3-1 lead after two...
The Real Score: Curveballs and casinos rarely save cities
About 10 years ago, the two major urban centers of central and western Massachusetts decided to engage in new regional industrial policy to spur on their local economies. Worcester and Springfield had been effectively hollowed up by decades of...
High schools: Frontier girls tennis picks up 5-0 win over Turners (PHOTOS)
Make it two Tri-County North League wins to open the season for the Frontier girls tennis team. After knocking off Greenfield in their league opener, the Redhawks followed it up with a 5-0 victory over Turners Falls on Wednesday in South...
Florence’s Gabby Thomas gearing up for 2024 Paris Olympics
By JOSHUA SPAULDING
NEW YORK — Gabby Thomas has an Olympic experience under her belt and two Olympic medals she can wear around her neck. And as she gears up for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials ahead of the Paris Olympics, she took part in the Team USA Media Summit on...
High Schools: Two-run first inning propels Pioneer baseball past Turners
Turners Falls pitcher Joey Mosca did all he could to hold down a potent Pioneer lineup on Tuesday. Mosca gave up two runs in the first inning but settled in from there, not allowing a run the rest of the way while striking out six. The Turners bats...
Softball: Hannah Gilbert allows two hits as Franklin Tech knocks off Blackstone Valley, 7-3 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
TURNERS FALLS — It was a unique early season challenge the Franklin Tech softball team faced on Tuesday. The Eagles hosted Blackstone Valley Tech — an unfamiliar Central Mass. team which made it to the MIAA Div. 4 Round of 16 last year and bumped up...
UMass basketball: Matt Cross reportedly enters transfer portal
By GARRETT COTE
AMHERST — The vicious one-two frontcourt punch that helped the UMass men’s basketball team to its best season in a decade is now gone.Forward Matt Cross has entered the transfer portal, according to multiple reports early Tuesday afternoon. Cross...
High schools: Mahar softball can’t stay with Northampton in 20-6 loss (PHOTOS)
The Mahar softball team is working hard to get its first win in a long time. The Senators — which are still searching for their first win post COVID — hosted Northampton on Monday, but the Blue Devils put runs up on the board in a hurry. Northampton...
Baseball: Sam Connors, Mahar get past Smith Academy for win No. 2 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
ORANGE — The Mahar baseball team couldn’t have asked for a better first inning on Monday against Smith Academy. After Sam Connors shut down the Falcons in the top of the frame, it didn’t take the Senator bats long to get going when it was their turn...
High schools: Big fifth inning powers Pioneer baseball past Greenfield
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
NORTHFIELD — Not even the pouring rain could slow down the Pioneer bats in the fifth inning on Friday against Greenfield. It was the Green Wave that kicked off the scoring in the fifth, putting three runs on the board in the top of the frame to take a...
Boys volleyball: Athol can’t stay with Holyoke in 3-0 loss (PHOTOS)
By GARRETT COTE
HOLYOKE — Already down two sets to none against Holyoke, the Athol boys volleyball team was in a do-or-die situation late in the third set. With the frame tied at nine apiece, the Bears used a 7-2 run to storm ahead 16-11 and capture all momentum...
Max Homa is among a group of Masters contenders who are vying for their first major title
By STEVE REED
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Max Homa figures if he can conquer the mental task of playing well in a group with Tiger Woods for 36 holes at the Masters, he can accomplish pretty much anything in golf.That includes winning his first major championship.Homa was at 6...
Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari
By GARY B. GRAVES
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard.Makes sense, since he helped do so as a player.Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s...
Kentucky hires BYU’s Mark Pope as men’s basketball coach to replace John Calipari
By GARY B. GRAVES
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Initially off the radar among Kentucky’s coaching targets, Mark Pope is now entrusted with maintaining the program’s gold standard.Makes sense, since he helped do so as a player.Kentucky hired the BYU coach to guide its men’s...
Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Orioles hand Red Sox a dose of reality
Good morning!Fresh off good reviews in Peoria, the Boston Red Sox returned home this week and got smacked around by their division nemesis the Baltimore Orioles who rolled sevens to beat them in back-to-back games, 7-1 and 7-5.While Boston fretted,...
High schools: Mohawk Trail softball pulls away from Pioneer, 19-4 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
NORTHFIELD — After a big first inning for Pioneer, Riley Giard and the Mohawk Trail softball team shut the Panthers offense down the rest of the way. The Warriors got things going with two runs in the first inning but the Panthers responded by tacking...
High Schools: Frontier track opens season with pair of victory over Athol
The defending Intercounty League track and field champion Frontier Redhawks looked every bit the part in their opening meet of the season on Wednesday against Athol. The Redhawk girls walked away with a 145-0 victory over the Bears while the Frontier...
Baseball: Hugh Cyhowski tosses one-hitter as Pioneer blanks Frontier 10-0 (PHOTOS)
By THOMAS JOHNSTON
SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier baseball team struggled to solve Pioneer’s Hugh Cyhowski on Wednesday.Cyhowski was dealing from the opening pitch on. He didn’t allow a runner to reach base until the fourth inning (hit by pitch), and through six...
On The Ridge with Joe Judd: Don’t feed those turkeys
MassWildlife reminds us that April through May is the height of the breeding season for wild turkeys and, as a result, turkey activity is increasing daily across the Commonwealth.In some areas turkeys may even act aggressively by pecking, following,...
High schools: Seventh inning rally lifts Turners baseball past Athol
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...
