The Westfield and Pope Francis boys’ lacrosse teams squared off on a dreary day Friday in the Whip City. The final resulted brightened the Bombers’ day though. (Photo by Bill Deren)
WESTFIELD – The Pope Francis boys’ lacrosse team might be known as the Cards, but they probably thought their opponent was stacking the deck against them.
The Westfield Bombers were firing on all cylinders Friday, tripling up the Pope Francis Cardinals, 18-6.
Matt Chlastawa (5 goals), Gentle (3 goals, 6 assists), Mason Balch (3 goals, 3 assists), and Anthony Sullivan (3 goals, 1 assist) led the offensive attack for Westfield.
Bombers’ Kohl Lunardini, Matthew Bonsall, Mike Visconti, and Webster scored one goal apiece. Max Maggipinto and Landon Reyes lent a hand with assists.
Matthew Reynolds (4 saves) and Ryan Reed (7 saves) split time in goal for Westfield.
Bombers’ Mitch Weiss, Mario Metallo, Neil Sheehan, and Zach Cree solidified the defensive front.
BASEBALL
Rams win thriller
Southwick 4, Greenfield 3
Southwick rallied for four unanswered runs – three in the sixth and the game-winner in the seventh – to clip visiting Greenfield.
Eddie Martinez (2-for-4, run scored) and Andrew Mitchell (2-for-2, run, RBI) led the Southwick offense. Mitchell scattered seven hits over seven innings, allowed three runs, struck out five batters and walked one.
Bombers down Spartans
Westfield 13, East Longmeadow 1
Westfield clubbed 13 runs, and left East Longmeadow with a key road victory.
Austin St. Pierre (2-for-4, double, walk, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), Sean Murphy (2-for-4, double, walk, 2 runs, RBI), and Sean Moorhouse (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) landed multiple hits for Westfield.
Bombers’ pitcher Dalen Mochak allowed just two hits, struck out five and walked four in five innings. Mason St. Pierre allowed no hits and struck out two batters in two innings for relief.
SOFTBALL
Lachtara Ks 16 in Rams’ rout
Southwick 12, Smith Academy 3
Emily Lachtara tossed a two-hitter and recorded 16 strikeouts against visiting Smith Academy.
The Rams’ batters were equally impressive with Brittany Penland (3-for-4, double, 3 RBIs), Katelyn Sylvia (2-for-2, walk, 3 runs, RBI), and Tori DellaGiustina (2-for-4, 3 runs, RBI) leading the way on offense.
Stack, Tigers blast ‘Cats
Westfield Technical Academy 21, Sci-Tech 1 (5 inn.)
Cheyenne Stack finished a double short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with a triple, home run, walk, four runs, and seven RBIs to lead Westfield Tech in an outpouring of offense at Blunt Park.
Keisha DeJesus was the winning pitcher. DeJesus allowed just four hits, struck out four batters, and walked one for the Tigers.
Granby tops Gateway
Granby 23, Gateway 3
Gabby Dame (walk, run scored), Dayna Britland, and Alivia Galipeau had the lone hits for Gateway. Gators’ Kayla Priest and Erika Wolfe scored one run apiece, and Grace Van Buren drove in a run.
GIRLS’ LACROSSE
Watson top Saint
Lee 18, St. Mary 8
Jillian Watson led St. Mary with four goals. Saints’ Aisling Butler had two.
BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL
Rams sweep
Southwick def. Smith Voke, 25-14, 25-23, 25-20
Jack Lebo (2 aces, 2 blocks), Nick Chambers (5 kills), Ryan Todesco (11 kills, 7 digs), Andrew Lachtara (16 assists), and Tim Giancola (9 assists) helped lead Southwick at home.
BOYS’ TENNIS
Bombers shut out Purple Knights
Westfield 5, Holyoke 0
Westfield swept match play all-around to improve to 5-0.
Tristin Viale (6-3, 6-1), Lyle Libanan (6-0, 6-3), and Shayne Holloway (6-0, 6-0) won at first, second, and third singles, respectively for Westfield. Bombers’ Jimmy Knapik and Matt Roberts won 6-0, 6-2; Jaylen Bodendorf and Jake Perpetua won 6-0, 6-0.
LATE RESULTS
Thurs., May 6
Saint Mary’s 2 Lee 3
Saint Mary’s Jessica Demers recovered from a first set lose to Lee’s Suriana Lee 4-6, went on to win the next two sets 6-3, 6-3. Demers worked most of the first set figuring out an answer for Lee’s heavy topspin forehand and backhand; and once she did she never lost ground again.
The two young female tennis players played a stunning match.
Lee’s Ava Martin was matched against Saint Mary’s Jessica Crosby. Martin proved to be a strong challenger and defeated Crosby in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
Saint Mary’s Zhenia Chang played her first singles match of the season against Lee’s Michele Beliveau. Chang played a good competitive match that saw several lead changes, but in the end Beliveua prevailed and won in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
In doubles, Kate DelSignor and Angie Nejaime, of Lee, played Saint Mary’s Alexis Shedd and Brianna Rivera. Lee won the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
In second doubles, Saint Mary’s Fiona Chen and Casey Rutledge played a rousing two sets of tennis against Lee’s Karen Reina and Sandra Ortega that ended in tiebreakers.
Deep into the first set, Rutledge hit what had to be the shot of the day – back peddling to return a mid-court shot from Ortega, falling and ending on her back.
Ortega returned a shot that was sailing over her stretched out opponent. Rutledge rose to a sitting position and returned a winning shot down the middle of the court. Rutledge and Chen went on to win the match in straight sets, 7-6, 7-3.
This series of photos details just how the Bombers attacked the Cards Friday. (Photo by Bill Deren)
