March has begun, which means that baseball and softball season is upon us! Both the baseball and softball teams did very well last season, the baseball team finishing with an overall record of 12-8 and softball finishing with 1-17. For this coming season it looks like both teams will have very strong rosters, which will enable them to be very successful.

Again, the baseball team finished with an overall record of 12-8 last year, with a League Record of 5-5, which allowed them to finish third in the Hampshire West League behind South Hadley and Frontier. Last season, the team was able to pull off impressive victories over Pioneer Valley (6-1), Sabis (5-4), Athol (9-3), Smith Academy (3-1), Mahar (8-7), Turners Falls (4-2), Frontier (3-2), Greenfield (twice) (1-0, 7-3), Mohawk (7-1), Turners Falls (15-6), Belchertown (2-1), and Ware (2-1). Unfortunately the team came up short twice with South Hadley (3-2, 6-7), Belchertown (0-1), Easthampton (1-4), Turners Falls (2-4), Mohawk (3-6), and Frontier (7-6). The team made it to the post season tournament, defeating Ware in the quarter finals 2-1, but sadly lost to Lenox, 8-1. The team had two All-Western Massachusetts Division IV first team selections (junior, Jon Morrison and former senior Brett Morrison) a second team selection, (freshman Noah Scanlon-Dean), and an honorable mention (former senior Zach Yahman). Despite losing the valuable players of last season (Brett Morrison, Zach Yahman, Brandon Bushey, Patrick Michalak, Riley Morse, Liam Peterson, Antonio Torres, and Caleb Wintsch) there is no doubt that there are some very talented returning players, which will allow them to have a very successful season.

Just like the baseball team, the softball team also had a very good season, finishing overall 1-17 with a League Record of 1-13, allowing them to finish eighth in the Franklin League behind Mahar. Last season, the team was able to defeat Mahar (16-7). The team also had some very close games, but unfortunately fell short to Smith Voc. (11-12), Franklin Tech (4-13), Granby (18-6), Pioneer Valley twice (1-16, 0-12), Turners Falls twice  (5-17, 0-12), Mohawk twice (1-14, 2-14), Athol twice (5-12, 3-10), Frontier twice  (0-15, 12-13), Mahar (7-14), Easthampton (5-7), and Greenfield twice (17-0, 1-13). The team’s record, however, does not reflect the amount of effort each player put forth last season. The team had many dedicated members who always played their best during each and every game, and there is no doubt that this amount of dedication and effort will continue for this coming season. Similarly to the seniors, the team also had two players on the All-League Franklin team, senior, Kelsea Cristoforo, and junior, Erin Tudryn. Kelsea Cristoforo and Erin Tudryn also landed spots on the All-Western Mass. Division 3 team. Despite losing a few valuable players (Caroline Cristoforo, Caroline Judge, Bridget Lashway, and Erin Tudryn), there is no doubt that a powerful roster returns this season.

Good luck to both the baseball and softball teams! Hopkins hopes that you will have a great season!