Monday afternoon’s game between the South Hadley and Southwick baseball teams quite literally was the definition of a pitcher’s duel. Tigers ace Justin Moskal and Rams ace Keith Drzyzga were flawless, as each pitcher went the distance and then some.

Heading into the ninth inning deadlocked in a scoreless tie, South Hadley finally broke through. The Tigers scored one run in the bottom of the frame to earn a hard-fought 1-0 walk-off win at home for their second consecutive victory.

Moskal pitched nine innings, giving up only four hits and one walk while striking out five on 96 pitches in one of the more impressive outings on the mound in Hampshire County this spring. The South Hadley defense made no errors behind him, as the Tigers played their best game defensively all season.

Gavin Carpenter led the South Hadley offense, cracking three hits in his four plate appearances and scoring the game-winning run. Memphis Huertas tallied a pair of hits and Jackson Keller added one.

For Southwick, Drzyzga pitched 8 2/3 innings before Carpenter – who scored on an error – raced home to win the game for South Hadley. Drzyzga gave up six hits, no walks and struck out seven, but his defense committed four errors behind him. That was the difference in the game.

South Hadley (4-3) returns to the diamond on Thursday against an undefeated Ware team on the road and under the lights at 7 p.m.

Mount Everett 9, Smith Academy 7 — The Falcons put up a good fight in a Bi-County League North battle on Monday afternoon, but they fell a couple runs short in their third consecutive loss.

Smith Academy (1-5) travels to Turners Falls on Thursday afternoon.

Ludlow 6, Easthampton 4 — At Dunkin’ Park in Hartford, the home of the Hartford Yard Goats (Double A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies), the Eagles put up a fight against the Lions but fell short on Monday afternoon.

Easthampton (1-7) has now lost three straight games, all by three runs or less.

Pathfinder 20, Gateway 9 — After leading 3-1 through one and a half innings, the Gators let up nine runs in the second inning in a Monday afternoon defeat.

Gateway added six runs of its own in the top of the third to get back within striking distance (10-9), but Pathfinder put up 11 unanswered to shut the door on any comeback.

Softball

Hopkins 22, Pioneer Valley 3 — After starting the year 1-2, the Golden Hawks have been nothing short of dominant. Hopkins has now won seven in a row, giving up an average of 1.57 runs per contest while scoring 12 or more runs in five of them.

Hopkins (8-2) is officially halfway through its schedule and eyes an eighth straight victory on Friday against Mahar.

Northampton 24, Athol 1 (5) — In the Blue Devils’ four innings at the plate, they scored five or more runs in each frame. Jayda Alejandro went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, Sasha Rodriguez and Haly Doucette-Kaplan tallied two hits each, Lily Pelis drove in three runs for Northampton.

Greta Lepore gave up four hits, one run and struck out 11 in a stellar outing in the circle.

Longmeadow 14, Holyoke 2 — Heading into the seventh inning, the host Purple Knights were behind 4-2. In the top of the frame, the Lancers put up a crooked number (10) to put the game away.

Holyoke’s Jess Maldonado drove in two runs and Alanna Bonilla recorded two hits.

Central 20, Granby 7 (6) — Fourteen runs across the final two innings of the game pulled the Golden Eagles away from Granby on Monday afternoon in Granby.

Katie Grabherr doubled and drove in three runs and Ellie Szlosek ripped a two-run double for the Rams while Kaitlyn Curran (single, run, two walks) and Cassie Flaherty (triple, run, two walks) contributed as well.

Wahconah 13, Frontier 1 — The Redhawks were slow getting off the bus in Dalton on Monday night as they fell via run rule in a Franklin League West contest under the lights.

Frontier (6-3) is back on the road Wednesday for an anticipated rematch with Turners Falls.

 

Boys tennis

Amherst 4, West Springfield 1 — The ‘Canes swept doubles play behind solid days from Eli Ferris and Timothy Sun (first doubles, 6-3, 6-4) and Archer Young and Walter Phillips (second doubles, 6-0, 6-0) to help Amherst to a 4-1 win on Monday.

Elias Katsaros (6-0, 6-0) was strong at second singles while Kai Roopnarine (6-0, 6-0) also didn’t lose a game at third singles.

Girls tennis

Frontier 4, Turners 1 – The Redhawks dropped just one total game between two doubles matches, and ultimately took care of business in a 4-1 win over the Thunder on Monday in Turners Falls.

At first doubles, Frontier’s Jimin Ahn and Esther Ehle cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 sweep and at second doubles, Sofia Hebert and Eleanor Wade scored a 6-0, 6-1 win. Frontier’s Ella Sibley was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at No. 2 singles while teammate Aylen Shaw was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 3.

Boys lacrosse

Agawam 13, South Hadley 3 — Mason Peters (two goals), Brayden Grochowalski (one goal) and Chase Blais (one assist) tallied points for the Tigers in a loss on Monday.

South Hadley’s Brayden Blais saved 16 shots in a strong effort in the cage.

Northampton 12, McCann Tech 5 — Keller Mahoney was sensational on Monday, putting up a total of nine points (five goals, four assists) to lead the Blue Devils to their seventh win in a row (7-0).

Bryce McGinn-Stevens scored three goals and dished out an assist, Nick Biddle had two goals and one assist, Jack Carpenter notched four points (one goal, three assists) and Eli Reid chipped in a goal and two assists. Henry Fallon made six saves.

Amherst 15, Wahconah 9 — The Hurricanes improved t0 4-0 when scoring 10 or more goals this season after defeating the Warriors in a Valley League contest on Monday evening.

Amherst (5-2) will shift its focus to Belchertown as it hosts Orioles on Wednesday afternoon.

Girls lacrosse

Granby 21, Lee 8 — Four different Rams players recorded hat tricks in their win on Monday, as Mylin Laliberte (four goals, two assists), Kelly-Lynne Kennedy (four goals, four assists), Ava-Elizabeth Loughman (three goals, two assists) and Kalli White (four goals, one assist) had terrific performances.

Ava Saunders (two goals, two assists), Carli Zobka (two goals) and Lauren Barlow (two assists) each put up multiple points as well, and Faith Ramos recorded nine saves in the cage for Granby.

Amherst 12, Hoosac 9 — Kiko Bhowmik did what Kiko Bhowmik does on Monday afternoon, scoring five goals and adding two assists as the Hurricanes won their fifth game in a row.

Ava Carey (two goals, two assists), Sylvie Walker (one goal, one assist) and Ursula Lundquist (one goal, one assist) each tallied multiple points while Elsie Woodruff, Emilia Luetjen and Mars Leonard scored a goal apiece in the victory. Eden Polak made 11 saves for the ‘Canes.

Boys volleyball

Springfield Central 3, Frontier 0 — Tegan Dexter put down 11 kills and dug up seven balls for the Redhawks, which fell to the Golden Eagles 26-24, 28-26, 25-19 in Springfield on Monday. 

Nate Rivera tallied six kills, four aces and seven digs, Will Reading put down three kills while Tavo Vincent-Warner dished 20 assists in the loss for Frontier.

Granby 3, Sci-Tech 1 — The Rams bounced back from their second loss of the spring with a clean performance against Sci-Tech at home on Monday afternoon.

Granby next hosts SICS on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. in its fourth of six consecutive matches at home.

Late weekend results

Softball

Hopkins 20, Easthampton 2 (5) — The Eagles only trailed 5-2 after four innings, but the Golden Hawks unleashed nine hits and 15 runs in the fifth inning to pull away and win their sixth in a row Saturday afternoon at Nonotuck Park.

Cassandra Dion fanned 10 Easthampton batters in the circle for Hopkins.