H.S. Roundup: Amherst boys lacrosse snaps losing streak, routs Northampton

AMHERST — The Amherst boys lacrosse team dominated its first rivalry matchup against Northampton of the season, winning 16-1 at home on Thursday night.

Offense came easy for the Hurricanes, getting out to an early lead and never looking back. Time of possession weighed heavily in favor of the home squad, who truly dictated the pace of the game throughout all four quarters.

“We’ve had a little time to work on some new systems with our rides and our clears, so we were really trying to get those down [on Thursday],” Amherst head coach Rich Ferro said. “I thought the guys started doing them real well. Our offense started clicking in the second half, and the two man games we’ve been working on, starting to work with our off ball guys.”

The attack was spread out among a long list of players for the Hurricanes, who had 11 different players find the back of the net in the win.

Sawyer Ferro led the way with a hat trick for Amherst, continuing the hot start to his junior campaign. The attacker has found success working alongside Tri Nguyen as an offensive duo, with similarly impressive results on Thursday.

“When [Sawyer’s] moving his feet and he’s and he’s doing his thing, he’s definitely a big part of it,” Rich Ferro said. “He and [Nguyen] as a pair, they’re a dangerous pair when they get going, but we have to have our off ball guys moving. I am real proud of Sawyer and how he’s been doing, and really starting to put the ball away.”

Nguyen tallied two goals of his own against the Blue Devils, working with his partner and feeding four assists. Nathan Desbien was the only other Hurricane to score multiple goals, netting two from his midfield spot.

With a big lead, Amherst emptied its bench to get its younger, more inexperienced players in the game.

Daxton Holden and Chase Coutre each scored the first goals of their varsity careers in the win, while Lathan Cruz earned a shutout throughout his time in net for the first two quarters.

“We managed to get everybody in off the bench, which I was really psyched about, being able to get all the guys in,” Ferro said. “… It was great to be able to get some guys in and run some of our new systems and put the ball away when we needed to.”

Brady McGinn-Stevens scored the lone goal of the night for Northampton, avoiding the shutout with a second-half score.

The loss for the Blue Devils is their sixth in a row, continuing a slow start to the season where they now sit at 1-7. Northampton will look to get back in the win column on Monday, April 27, at 5 p.m. on the road against South Hadley.

Thursday night’s victory for the Hurricanes puts an end to a two-game losing streak, giving them a .500 record now at 4-4. Amherst takes the field again on Saturday, April 25, at 11 a.m., back at home to host Oakmont.

“With this group, we’ve been able to do things that we haven’t been able to do in the past couple of years,” Ferro said. “… We’ve got a big test on Saturday against Oakmont, because they’re the real deal.”

Baseball

South Hadley 8, Westfield Tech 7 (nine innings) — The Tigers got back to .500 with the extra-inning victory.

South Hadley trailed 7-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but made it a one-run game plating three runs. Now down 7-6, the Tigers tied it in the seventh to force extras, before winning the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Memphis Huertas-Febles (home run) and Lincoln Belsky combined for four hits and five RBIs for South Hadley. Noah Carillon and Logan Carpenter added a pair of hits for the hosts.

Griffin Soderbaum secured the win for the Tigers, pitching the final 1 2/3 innings.

Softball

Frontier 13, Hopkins 1 (five innings)— Lexi Hawkins got the win in the circle for the Redhawks in Hadley. Hawkins struck out eight hitters in the Franklin East matchup with the Golden Hawks.

Raine Wonsey went 3-for-4 with four RBI and a home run for the Redhawks (12-0, 7-0). Skyler Steele added four hits in four plate appearances with two RBI. Addie Ehle went 3-for-4 with a two RBI and double.

Lily Ellia went 3-for-3 for Hopkins.

Girls lacrosse

Belchertown 14, Chicopee 9 — The Orioles got great games from Lily Tellier and Kenzie LePage to grab their sixth win of the season.

Tellier scored a game-high seven goals while LePage pocketed five goals.

Goalie Emma Almeida totaled 10 saves for Belchertown.

Wahconah 10, Northampton 9 — The Blue Devils let a 7-3 halftime lead slip in the loss against the Warriors.

 Imanni Power-Greene (five goals, two assists) and Makayla Fydenkevez (four goals, assist) sparked Northampton on offense.