It was another exciting year of sports in Franklin County and throughout the Recorder area. 

Some teams brought home state championship trophies, some earned Western Mass. titles. A local legend was inducted into her sport’s Hall of Fame while a number of individuals hit personal milestones. 

Here are some of the stories that shaped the 2024 sports year in our area: 

Turners Falls softball wins 11th state championship

It says a lot about the program Gary Mullins built that three years without a state title feels like a long time. 

Mullins and the Thunder won their 10th state title in 2021 and after a few years knocking on the door, Turners broke through again this past spring. 

After a slow start to the season, the Thunder started to find their groove down the stretch to earn the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Div. 5 field. After bulldozing its way to the semifinals, Turners knocked off Hopedale (4-1) in the semis to get back to Sortino Field at UMass, where it faced off with Georgetown in the championship game. 

The Thunder jumped on the Royals early by putting five on the board in the first and ace Madi Liimatainen did the rest, allowing just one hit as Turners brought home banner No. 11 with a 5-0 victory. 

“In the gym in March, I told the kids I was excited with what I saw,” Mullins said. “It took us a long time to get to what I saw in the athletes. I knew we were good and we started playing softball at the right time.”

Kelly Doton inducted into USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame

Kelly Doton’s legendary field hockey career was honored back in May, when she was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame. 

Doton has won everywhere she’s been, starting with the Green Wave where she helped bring Greenfield a state championship in 1999. She went on to play at Wake Forest, winning back-to-back national championships in 2002-03 with the Demon Decons. 

After graduating from Wake, Doton made over 100 caps with U.S. Women’s National Team, competing in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. In 2015, she took over as head coach of the Boston College field hockey team.

“It is such a great honor,” Doton said. “Not everyone gets to go into the Hall of Fame. I always tell people I didn’t play the sport with the end goal of making the Hall of Fame. I played to win. It was the same thing when I went into the [Wake Forest] Hall of Fame years ago. It’s a team sport. I know this is an individual award but there’s no way this would have happened without the players around me. It’s an individual honor but it’s a team still. Anyone that goes into the Hall of Fame in a team sport can probably say the same thing.”

Noah Gamache wins Keating Award for overcoming adversity

The  Western Mass. Chapter of the National Football Foundation presents the Francis X. Keating Award each year, which goes to a student-athlete who has overcome adversity.

Pioneer’s Noah Gamache was about as fitting a candidate as they could have found. 

Gamache was born with clubfoot, a birth defect in which the foot is twisted out of shape or position. As he grew up, two options emerged: have reconstructive surgery or amputate the leg. At nine years old, he opted to have the amputation. 

Gamache didn’t let that hold him back. He played football in seventh and eighth grade but stopped when he got to high school, as Pioneer did not have a team. 

He joined the co-op with Greenfield his junior year and by the end of his senior year, was not only a contributor for the Wave but a key cog on both the offensive and defensive line. 

“It’s so well deserved,” Greenfield coach Mike Kuchieski said. “It’s pretty amazing to see a guy do the things he can do. If you didn’t know who he was, you wouldn’t think he only has one leg. It’s amazing how mature and grown up he is. He’s a tough kid. He’s strong and he’s a beast out there. He’s a hard worker. You have to be to get that extra edge in. He did a great job and was a pleasure to have on the team.” 

Three area athletes reach 1,000 points

With COVID-19 shortening the 2020 basketball season, the Recorder area did not see anyone reach the 1,000 point plateau in the 2020, 2021-22 or 2022-2023. 

In 2024, three players hit the mark. 

Greenfield’s Amber Bergeron was the first, and it wasn’t particularly easy. She was well on pace to reach the milestone before the regular season ended, but a knee injury put things in doubt while she sat at 984 points. She powered through it and made a free throw late in a game against Drury to finish her career sitting exactly at 1,000 points, becoming the eighth Wave girl to hit the mark. 

Shortly after, Pioneer’s Brayden Thayer became the 20th Panther player to hit the mark. Thayer accomplished the feat as a junior, needing 381 points going into the season to do so. He hit the mark by swishing a 3-pointer during Pioneer’s MIAA Div. 5 Round of 32 win over Fenway. 

This past week saw Greenfield’s Jon Breor become the third local to hit 1,000 points in the calendar year. Breor scored a basket inside against Pioneer on Monday to become the second Green Wave boys basketball player to reach 1,000 points, as only Angelo Thomas had hit the mark before him, doing so in 1993. 

Asa Bouchard competes for Team USA

Asa Bouchard, son of Greenfield hockey coach Adam Bouchard, earned the opportunity of a lifetime this summer. 

Bouchard, a 12-year-old Greenfield resident, got the chance to wear the red, white and blue representing Team USA at the Prospects by Sports Illustrated World Cup in Toronto over the summer. 

There, he got to compete against the best of his age from Canada, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, China, Italy and an All World Team. 

“I’m looking forward to being there and playing for Team USA,” Bouchard said. “I’m just proud to be representing Team USA and proud to wear a Team USA jersey.” 

Field dedication 

Two legends in the Greenfield athletic community had fields dedicated to them this fall. 

Donna Woodcock, a longtime field hockey coach, softball coach and athletic director with the Green Wave, had the fields behind Greenfield High School dedicated to her, as they are now known as “Donna Woodcock Field.” 

Woodcock had her most success coaching the Greenfield field hockey team, where she compiled a 265-83-53 record, won five western Massachusetts titles and made it to four state championship games. Woodcock won two state titles, the first coming in 1989, the second in 1999. 

On the softball diamond, Woodcock went 218-98 over 16 years coaching the Greenfield varsity squad. She won five league championships and brought the Green Wave to four Western Mass. title games. Between the two sports she has a record of 483-181-53, giving her a winning percentage of .711. 

Woodcock died in a car accident in 2023 at the age of 65.

Tom Suchanek, who wrapped up his 51st season coaching the Greenfield baseball team this past spring, also had a field dedicated to him, as the diamond at Veterans Field will now be known as “Tom Suchanek Diamond.” 

The veteran coach has compiled an impressive record of 692-375-1 and has won five Western Mass titles. Just this past year, Suchanek led Greenfield to an MIAA Div. 5 state semifinal appearance. 

He served as a physical education teacher in Greenfield and was also an athletic director for the Wave. 

Josiah Little runs for 1,000 yards for fourth straight season

Rushing for 1,000 yards in a season is an impressive feat. Doing it all four years in high school is nearly unheard of. 

Franklin Tech’s Josiah Little accomplished that this fall, as the senior ran for 1,000 yards in all four seasons donning the Eagle blue and silver. Little went over the 1,000 yard mark on Turkey Day his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons but needed just six games to accomplish that this fall, as he finished the season with 1,870 yards. 

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Little said. “I’m sure when the season starts getting toward the end, I’ll be able to look back and appreciate it. It feels like a little weight off the shoulders and now we can focus on more team goals.” 

Western Mass. Champions

There were a number of Western Mass. champions crowned this past calendar year. 

This past fall the Mohawk Trail volleyball team, Frontier field hockey team and Pioneer boys soccer team brought home Western Mass. championships. In the spring the Turners Falls and Greenfield softball teams won Western Mass. titles and in the winter, the Mahar boys basketball team and both the Mohawk Trail boys and girls ski teams won Western Mass. championships. 

A number of individuals took home Western Mass. titles as well. In the indoor track and field season Pioneer’s Louise Flagollet won the girls high jump championship while Mohawk Trail’s Chay Mojallali won the boys high jump title. 

Frontier’s Alex Schreiber took home a Western Mass. championship on the wrestling mats, winning it at 190. 

This past spring saw six locals win Western Mass. outdoor track titles at the Western Mass. championship meet. Mahar’s Nevaeh Scriber took first in the girls 400, Mojallali won the boys high jump, Mahar’s Mitchell Krasco took home the title in the boys triple jump and 110 hurdles, Pioneer’s Natalie Rios won the girls javelin, Frontier’s Adrien Pazmandy won the boys pole vault while Mahar’s Stellina Moore took first in the girls pole vault. 

Paulin signs with Merrimack 

It takes years of hard work and dedication to become a Div. 1 athlete. Greenfield’s MacKenzie Paulin will be living out that dream next year at Merrimack College. 

Paulin committed to continue her softball career with the Warriors over the summer, joining a Merrimack program on the rise. 

Paulin has had immense success during her time at Greenfield. The right-handed pitcher led the Green Wave to Western Mass. Class C championships each of the last three years, and Greenfield went on to win the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament in 2022 and 2023. 

Paulin eclipsed the 500-strikeout mark as a sophomore, and this past spring went over 100 career hits. While capable both in the circle and at the plate, she’ll be focusing on pitching at Merrimack.

“It’s so exciting,” Paulin said. “It’s a big relief. This year won’t be as stressful and now, I’ll get to live out my dream of playing Division I softball. I’ve been all smiles the last few days and am just super excited.” 

Sebastian Garro sinks Crumpin-Fox Full Court Putt

Let’s end on a fun one. On a personal note, as someone who has attended many UMass basketball games over the years I never imagined anyone would be able to sink the 94-foot putt that Crumpin-Fox sponsors as halftime entertainment. The goal is to sink a putt though a small hole at the bottom of a piece of signage. 

After all, a 94-foot putt isn’t exactly easy on grass never mind on hardwood. Most attempts I’ve witnessed ended up closer to Route 9 than the actual hole. 

The contest starting in 2016 and after 108 tries, nobody accomplished the feat. That was until this past January, when Bement School eighth grader Sebastian Garro was selected to participate during the Minutemen’s game against South Florida. 

Garro felt confident going in and made the putt, becoming the first person to successfully accomplish the challenge and winning $10,000 by doing so. 

“I just went up there and tried to hit the board,” Garro said. “As soon as I got there I thought ‘this isn’t too hard.’ I just had to aim it right toward the hole and hopefully it would go in. I lined it up and put the right pace on it. I’ve been practicing putting since I was five years old. My instincts came in. I knew it would be faster than grass and once I remembered that, I was able to get the right pace on it.”