NORTHAMPTON — Tied up at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth inning, fresh off losing a five-run lead, the Northampton baseball team needed a big two-out hit with a pair of runners in scoring position against Chicopee Comp on Monday night.
The top of the order came up at the perfect time, with Oliver Yau strolling into the left-handed batter’s box. Coming up sitting at 0-for-3 on the day, the freshman was due.
Yau found a pitch to hit, lacing a hard ground ball down the first base line. The ball’s speed and spin made it a tough play to make for the Colts’ first baseman, who chased after the single into right field as the Blue Devils scored a run to take the lead back, 6-5.
“Especially in a game where you lose the lead, it’s really easy to get deflated,” Northampton head coach Ariel Guitron said. “But they bowed their necks, answered back, and held the lead, and that was just big time.”
Yau came in to pitch in relief of Dylan Lawrence-Riddell with two outs in the fourth inning, and came back out after driving in his team’s sixth run at the plate.
The freshman shut the door on any comeback attempt at that point, allowing a few baserunners, but working his way through the final pair of innings to hold on for a 6-5 victory.
At the conclusion of the seventh inning, Yau’s day on the bump included 3 1/3 innings without allowing a run, picking up four strikeouts in the process. Lawrence-Riddell was solid in his starting role as well, allowing just one earned run through his 3 2/3 innings pitched.
“They’ve been working really hard on the little things,” Guitron said. “The mental game, their mechanics, getting stronger in the gym. They’ve just been dedicated to their craft, and it’s starting to show.”
The Blue Devils’ first five runs of the night came from a three-spot in the first inning, followed by a run in each of the next two innings to get out to a 5-0 lead.
Chris Weismoore, Jackson Romanowski and Lawrence-Riddell each picked up an RBI at the plate in the win, each finishing with one hit as well.
Despite holding a sizable lead to start the night, Northampton struggled to find the final out of the top of the fourth inning against the Colts.
After allowing one run off a double and a single to start the frame, the bases were loaded before an error extended the inning and let another run cross the plate. A passed ball allowed the third to score before Chicopee Comp tallied back-to-back singles to drive in its fourth and fifth runs with two outs.
“It’s huge, especially with young guys, that are inexperienced [to get the early lead], because you know that they’re gonna probably make a mistake or two along the way,” Guitron said. “You just hope it doesn’t cost you. But they just continued to battle.”
After squeaking out the win, the Blue Devils got redemption over a Colts squad that beat them 8-2 just two games prior. They are now one game from being .500 on the year through the first ten games, sitting at 4-5-1.
Northampton will look to continue building off the positive momentum when it takes on Lenox less than 24 hours later on Tuesday, April 28, at 4 p.m. on the road, beginning a five-game road trip.
“After the last three years, they’ve only won three games total, and then this year, [they believe] that they are good baseball players, and we have a good baseball program,” Guitron said. “Why not us? Why not be that story? A team that just turns it around and squeaks it to the playoffs and does some crazy stuff.”
Gateway 19, Commerce 0 — Levi Savoy put up six RBIs, finishing a triple shy of the cycle in a blowout, four inning victory for the Gators.
Weston Anderson and Jackson Renaud each drove in three runs of their own in the win for Gateway, with Cole Przybyla leading the way on the mound, pitching four shutout innings.
Softball
Smith Academy 11, Putnam 10 — Quinn Carlson picked up her 100th career strikeout in a performance with 10, leading the Falcons to a nail-biting victory.
The offensive output was spread throughout the lineup for Smith Academy, with Marissa Belina leading the way with a double, one RBI and a run scored in the win.
Easthampton 12, Springfield Central 2 — Summer Routhier’s 17-strikeout, two earned run performance in the circle led the Eagles to a massive victory.
Lily Foster had a huge day at the plate for Easthampton, going 3-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, while Maddy Urban went 2-for-3, driving in four runs in the win.
Boys tennis
PVCICS 5, Lee 0 — Monday’s shutout for the Dragons was closer than the score indicated as both doubles matches were lengthy.
Simon Speek and Jack Herman claimed first doubles with a pair of tiebreakers 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-4), while second doubles of James Ferrer and Alexander Rachele won a third-set tiebreaker 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 10-8 to make it a clean sweep for PVCICS.
Amherst 4, Frontier 1 — The losing streak was snapped for the Hurricanes in the victory against the Redhawks.
Elias Katsuros and Amitav Dhingra won in singles for Amherst, while Tim Sun and Dawson Wu and Walter Phillips and Archer Young grabbed doubles victories.
First singles went to Frontier’s Casey Bestler.
Girls tennis
Pope Francis 3, Belchertown 2 — The Orioles lost their fourth five-set match of the season in the defeat against the Cardinals.
Points were earned by Edith Audette in second singles and first doubles of Allie Randall and Emma Kornbluth.
Boys lacrosse
South Hadley 12, Northampton 2 — A lockdown performance on defense sparked the Tigers versus the Blue Devils.
Brayden Blais made 12 saves in goal for South Hadley, while the offense was paced by Hunter Skibel (four goals, assist).
Girls lacrosse
Belchertown 14, Hoosac Valley 4 — Lia Pikul finished Monday’s dominant victory with five goals and a pair of assists for the Orioles.
Lilly Tellier found the back of the net four times of her own for Belchertown, with Aubrey McCain’s three and McKenzie LePage’s two goals capping off a big offensive night.
Weekend Results
Baseball
Palmer 19, Smith Voc 3 — The Vikings were overrun by the Panthers, getting out-hit, 8-4, while committing three errors.
Boys volleyball
Athol 3, Belchertown 2 — Gavin Couchon (11 kills) and Arda Cayan (26 assists, 11 digs) played well for the Orioles in the five-set defeat.
Boys lacrosse
Oakmont 11, Amherst 5 — The Hurricanes dropped their third decision in four games in the non-league loss.
Jason Kim was active, totaling 21 saves in goal for Amherst.
