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By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

Just 24 hours ago, the UMass men’s basketball team hadn’t brought in a single transfer to replace the players who departed the program in the offseason. Now, after Wednesday’s signing of forward Akil Watson from Arizona State, the Minutemen have added...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

Just days after UMass forward Matt Cross announced his transfer to SMU – one of five players to transfer away from the program this offseason – the Minutemen finally added their first piece to the 2024 roster on Tuesday night.Bryant’s Daniel Rivera...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST – Gateway second baseman Willow Hicks connected on an 0-2 pitch and drove it deep to left field.She never saw the ball but figured Amherst left fielder Maggie Collins was going to catch it. Instead, the ball flew over Collins’ head and Hicks...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST – The Northampton girls lacrosse team hadn’t been in a game like this all year. They hadn’t faced Amherst in three seasons.But despite two separate five-goal deficits early in the second half, the Blue Devils came all the way back to beat the...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

The top-seeded UMass women’s lacrosse team advanced to the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship game with a 10-9 win over No. 4 St. Joseph’s on Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pa.The Minutewomen will look to re-claim the Atlantic 10 Tournament title on...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

HADLEY – Hopkins Academy’s bats started out strong, but couldn’t keep up over the latter innings as Franklin Tech scored an 8-3 victory in a Franklin County League East matchup Friday afternoon.The Golden Hawks (5-5) held even with the Eagles (10-1)...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST – The UMass men’s lacrosse team never fell behind by more than three goals, but never took the lead and fell 11-9 to No. 1 St. Joseph’s in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament at Garber Field on Thursday.In their regular season meeting...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

HADLEY – The red shed off to the side of the Hopkins Academy softball field has seen some use. For decades, Golden Hawks baseball and softball pitchers used it as a backstop in pregame warmups. But now, with construction on a new athletic field...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

BELCHERTOWN — Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School boys tennis coach Mike Locher has a Star Wars character assigned to each player on his team.After every match, he sends his players a game recap, along with a YouTube video of their Star...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

SOUTH HADLEY – Ella Schaeffer had already tossed nine innings of shutout ball, but when the South Hadley pitcher stepped to the plate against Easthampton in the bottom of the ninth inning with a runner on second base and one out, she still had some...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

Ursula von Goeler likes making calculations.Her favorite subject is physics. She’s decided to major in it next year at Bowdoin College.But that love of matter and its behavior through space and time isn’t just limited to the classroom. It stretches...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

EASTHAMPTON – The Easthampton baseball team is taking a trip to Burger King, and sophomore left fielder Bailey Davis’ usual order of chicken nuggets is going to taste extra special.It’s a tradition the Eagles have after every win, but this season has...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

At the end of the cul de sac on Gooseberry Lane, there’s a basketball hoop. It’s a refuge, a listener and a teacher.A few years back, the hoop’s adjustable lever broke during a storm. It’s held together with duct tape, but it’s sensitive. If the...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

FOXBOROUGH – When I was 8 years old, a Spanish friend of my dad gave me a present. It was a Lionel Messi FC Barcelona No. 10 jersey, with the club’s classic blue and red vertical stripes and the UNICEF sponsor across the front.That jersey was my most...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley boys lacrosse team scored five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to get within striking distance of Agawam (5-3), but the Tigers (4-5) comeback fell short in a 10-6 Valley League home loss on Friday afternoon.Solid...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

EASTHAMPTON – Hopkins Academy sophomore Chace Earle tossed the longest outing of his career and the Golden Hawks blanked Easthampton 13-0 in a Suburban League West baseball contest on a sunny Thursday afternoon.Hopkins (3-2) scored eight runs in the...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

It was the beginning of the 2021-22 hockey season, and Amherst captain Carter Beckwith and assistant captain Nick Paul were tasked with finding a second assistant captain to round out the group.It didn’t take long for the pair of seniors to come to a...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

AMHERST – Amherst’s Miles Jeffries took the first set from Northampton’s Reilly Fowles on Wednesday afternoon, but rain shortened what had the potential to be the best boys tennis match of the season in Hampshire County. Amherst coach Kevin Jeffries...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

GRANBY – Anna Puttick won the draw, sprinted downfield, weaved between a few Granby defenders and then scored to give Hampshire Regional a 6-4 lead on the opening possession of the second half.Then, about 20 seconds later, the Raiders senior captain...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

Rich Ferro has been around Amherst boys lacrosse for decades. He played at Amherst in the 1990s, served as the Hurricanes’ athletic director from 2001-2019 and has been coaching hockey and lacrosse on and off for most of the past two decades.This...

By CONNOR PIGNATELLO

GRANBY – After an even first few frames, the Granby softball team’s bats came to life late against Smith Academy. The Rams captured a 21-8 victory under a consistent drizzle on Wednesday afternoon.With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth...