NORTHAMPTON — Smith Vocational ace James Lavallee entered Tuesday's game against Franklin Tech needing 10 strikeouts to reach the 200-strikeout mark for his career. 

In the sixth inning, he hit the milestone. 

Lavallee struck out eight batters in the first five innings and punched out the first two batters he faced in the sixth to put him at 200 for his career. 

“It felt good to finally get it over with,” said Lavallee. “Going into that last inning I knew I was close.”

With the pressure off, Lavallee struck out the next three batters he faced and recorded a groundout to close out the game and help the Vikings improve to 7-0 with a 6-3 victory at Arcanum Field. 

“That is a great hitting team,” Smith Vocational coach Luis Bonilla said of Franklin Tech. “They beat us last year 7-3 with James pitching. It's insane that he was able to get to 200 strikeouts. He didn't pitch much his freshman year. He was able to do it over three years which is very impressive. He's the best pitcher in our league.”

Lavallee said he was proud of reaching the milestone, especially being able to do it in about three varsity seasons. 

“I only pitched one game as a freshman,” Lavallee said. “It's been hard at times but it's always fun being out there on the mound. That's a great team. They hit the ball. We made some errors in the field but that happens. It's baseball.” 

Smith Vocational got its bats going early on Tuesday. Pat Millin opened the bottom of the first with a single and Jared Baer followed with a triple to give the Vikings the opening lead of the game. 

A failed pickoff attempt allowed Baer to score and after a pair of walks and errors loaded the bases, Josh Cole grounded out to score Lavallee and Brayden Kukucka singled to bring home Kaleb Jorritsma to give Smith its 4-0 lead after one. 

Franklin Tech got two back in the third. Zaydrien Alamed drew a walk and Hunter Donahue blasted a drive deep to center field that bounced out of the fielder’s glove, scoring Alamed as Donahue used his speed to get to third. George Gutierrez followed with a single to drive in Donahue and cut the lead to 4-2. 

In the fifth, Tyler Yetter cracked a double and an error off a ball put in play by Donahue scored Yetter to make it a 4-3 game. 

The Vikings responded with two in the bottom of the frame, as Jorritsma singled to score Baer and Jorritsma later scored on a base hit from Gavin Kukucka to give Smith its 6-3 lead. 

Lavallee did the rest on the mound, finishing the game with 13 strikeouts and just four hits allowed. 

Smith Vocational hopes to keep things rolling when it faces South Hadley on the road Friday at 4 p.m. 

Belchertown 11, Holyoke 4 — The Purple Knights held a slim 4-3 lead through two and a half innings, but the Orioles responded with five runs in the bottom of the third to pull ahead and they would eventually capture the win on Tueday in Belchertown.

Josh Misiaszek went a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs and two RBIs while Ian McDonald and Ryan Gould knocked two hits and combined for three RBIs for the Os. Holyoke’s Jaden Diaz tallied a pair of hits – including a home run and double – and two RBIs and Justin Rivera added an RBI hit.

Evan Ferguson pitched three flawless innings for Belchertown, allowing no hits and no runs on five strikeouts to close the game out.

Hopkins 14, Amherst 4 — The Golden Hawks picked up their seventh win of the year in decisive fashion against the Hurricanes in an independent contest in Hadley on Tuesday.

Hopkins (7-4) hosts Easthmapton on Thursday while Amherst (1-8) hosts Belchertown on Friday.

Southwick 7, Easthampton 4 — Andrew Symolon hit a two-run double, Jason Sigda tallied two hits and Christian D’Onofrio drove in a run for the Eagles, but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Rams on Tuesday.

Easthampton trailed 4-3 after four innings, but Southwick pulled away with three runs across the fifth and sixth.

Hampshire 7, Wahconah 0 — Zach Phakos smacked a two-run home run in the first inning, and Vynce Carr followed that up with a two-run long ball of his own. Carr also hit an RBI triple while Phil Morin and Thomas Moore recorded RBI singles in the Raiders’ shutout victory on Tuesday.

Ethan Kudelka, Cameron Hunsicker (2runs) and Jonny Angers (2runs) all picked up their first varsity hits, and Kudelka and freshman Colby Cabrini combined for the shutout on the mound.

Monument Mountain 10, Frontier 0 (5) — Braeden Dion pitched well for the Redhawks, walking just one, but the Mounties were able to pull away from the Redhawks in an independent contest in Great Barrington on Tuesday. 

Ben Caron doubled while Kaden James hit safely in the loss. 

East Longmeadow 12, Northampton 0 — Matthew Walko recorded a pair of hits and Aiden Keeling-Lococo drew a walk but that was all the Blue Devils could manage in a loss to the Spartans on Tuesday.

Northampton is still in search of win No. 1 on the year, and it’ll try for it again on Thursday against Springfield Central.

Softball

Hampshire 11, East Longmeadow 6 — Teagan Charles (single), Ryanne Dubay (double) and Lucy Trombley (single) all drove in runs in the first inning to start the Raiders off on the right foot in Tuesday’s victory in Westhampton.

Charles, Trombley, Reagan Dubay and Kalin Dubay each hit safely multiple times while Caroline Payson drove in two runs. Hampshire’s eight runs in the first two innings were enough to improve its record to 8-0.

Belchertown 29, Commerce 7 (5) — A whopping 29 runs came off the Orioles’ bats in a blowout win on Tuesday afternoon in Springfield.

Kina Roy tallied five hits, five RBIs and four runs, Emily Waller (three hits, two walks) reached base five times and both Sophia Mitus (two RBIs) and Lila Roy (four RBIs) connected for two hits each. Eight different Belchertown players drove in at least one run, while Madeline Williams earned the win in the circle.

Westfield Tech 22, Amherst 3 — Corinne Charlebois doubled and singled for the ‘Canes, coming around to score both times as she went 2-for-3 at the plate in Tuesday’s loss.

Amherst’s Maggie Collins also scored while Ava Eddy ripped a single.

Ware 16, Smith Academy 4 — Quinn Carlson struck out five in the circle for the Falcons, but the Ware offense was too much on Tuesday afternoon.

Caitlin Graves led the way offensive, blasting a home run as part of her two-hit, two-run, one-RBI day at the plate. Marissa Belina recorded an RBI double while Sofia Cestero and Millie Barszcz scored one run apiece.

Agawam 8, Easthampton 2 — The Eagles haven’t scored more than three runs since their season opener, and Tuesday was no different in a loss to Agawam on Tuesday afternoon.

Easthampton’s schedule doesn’t get any easier as it next heads to Westfield on Thursday.

Minnechaug 5, South Hadley 1 — Ella Schaeffer recorded 16 strikeouts in the circle, but the Tigers didn’t have enough offense to keep up with the Falcons in a home loss on Tuesday.

Schaeffer drove in South Hadley’s lone run, which Karli Carmody (single) came around to score on. The Tigers defense made six errors in defeat.

Boys tennis

PVCICS 5, Maimonides School 0 — The Maimonides School of Brookline traveled to Hampshire College on Tuesday afternoon to take on the Dragons, and PVCICS won without dropping a single set.

Lee Ferguson (first singles, 6-0, 6-1), Derek Ye (second singles, 6-0, 6-0) and Devan Ye (third singles, 6-3, 6-1) made quick work of their singles matches while Teddy Scott and James Scott (No. 1 doubles, 6-1, 6-2) and Gabe Loinaz and Simon Speek (No. 2 doubles, 6-1, 6-1) earned a pair of victories in doubles play.

Girls tennis

Belchertown 4, Springfield Central 1 — Doubles dominance continued for the Orioles, as their two tandems lost only one game combined to lead Belchertown to a win on Tuesday.

Edith Audette and Katie Collins (first doubles) won 6-0, 6-0 while Allie Randall and Emma Kornbluth (second doubles) grabbed a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Amanda Murray (first singles) and Gianna Picardi (second singles) rounded out Belchertown’s winners.

Boys lacrosse

Northampton 11, Belchertown 2 — Hat tricks from Bryce McGinn-Stevens, Nick Biddle and Jackson Oravec were plenty for the Blue Devils to get past the Orioles on Tuesday afternoon. Keller Mahoney (one goal, four assists), Jack Carpenter (one goal, one assist) and Eli Reid (two assists) also contributed offensively for Northampton.

Patrick Fuller and Adam O’Rourke scored for Belchertown, but the Os struggled to get shots past Blue Devils goalie Henry Fallon (eight saves).

Girls lacrosse

South Hadley 13, Wahconah 9 — Margo Watkins (four goals, two assist), Ava Asselin (three goals, two assists) and Raquel Losty (four goals) each had huge games for the Tigers in a victory on Tuesday in South Hadley.

Kelcey Zraunig scored two goals and Lauren Montemagni dished one assist to round out the scoring. Riley Nestor recorded 10 saves in the cage.

Amherst 15, Brattleboro 7 — The ‘Canes defense locked down Brattleboro in the second half, allowing just one goal after starting the second half ahead 8-6.

Offensively, Kiko Bhowmik scored six goals, Emilia Luetjen added five points (hat trick, two assists) and Ava Carey found the back of the net three times. Elsie Woodruff (one goal, two assists), Claire Kennedy (three assists) and Ursula Lundquist (two assists) each recorded multiple points for Amherst as well.

Boys volleyball

Frontier 3, Ludlow 0 — The Redhawks got back in the win column on Tuesday, snapping a five-game skid with a 25-17, 25-20, 25-19 sweep of the Lions in Ludlow. 

Tegan Dexter finished with 12 kills and two aces, Nate Rivera tallied nine kills and 14 digs, Will Petrin recorded three kills and two aces, Evan Maio had three aces and eight digs while Tavo Vincent-Warner added 19 assists and six digs in the winning effort.

West Springfield 3, Belchertown 0 — Gabriel Ibekilo (three), Brian Burns (two), Noah Yankson (two) and David Akodu (two) put down multiple kills in the Orioles’ loss on Tuesday afternoon.

Set scores were 25-14, 25-11, 25-15.

Colin Mullen and Nicholas Ibekilo had three assists each while Burns and Shea MacLean blocked two shots apiece.

Malden 3, Holyoke 1 — The Purple Knights dropped their third straight match in a row in a 3-1 defeat on the road on Tuesday afternoon.

Girls ultimate

Amherst 11, Mount Holyoke Daisy Chain Club 6 — Against the No. 14 team in Division 3, the Hurricanes overcame a slow start to storm from behind and defeat Mount Holyoke’s club team on Tuesday in Amherst.

The ‘Canes led 6-3 at halftime and used strong defense to translate to success on the offensive end, converting on most of their break opportunities. Addie Mager (four goals, three assists) and Isla Cusick (six assists) and sophomore Coral Pope (four goals) played well in the Amherst win.