Five local wrestlers still alive after Day 1 of MIAA Division 3 Championships

By JEFF LAJOIE

Five local wrestlers are still in the mix at the MIAA Division 3 Wrestling Championships.Brackets were wrestled down to the semifinal round and consolation round of four after Day 1 action on Friday at Wakefield Memorial High School. Day 2 action...

Void a big name starter, Red Sox hope rotation improves with depth this season

By KEN POWTAK

FORT MYERS, Fla — From Pedro Martinez to Curt Schilling to Josh Beckett to Chris Sale, the Boston Red Sox always seemed to have that big-name starter when they were winning four World Series titles in 15 years.Coming off their third last-place finish...

Keeping Score with Chip Ainsworth: Betting big doesn’t always pay

Good morning!Three days before the Super Bowl, Caleb was headed for work at MGM Springfield. We didn’t have long to converse, but he said his job paid the bills and clothed his children, management was fair and how good the food was depended on the...

PVIAC basketball: Mahar boys earn No. 1 seed in Class C field

By JEFF LAJOIE

The basketball postseason is upon us.The PVIAC released brackets for next week’s sectional tournaments on Friday, and the majority of Franklin County high school programs found their way into the postseason fields.Four local boys’ teams and five...

Big fourth quarter lifts Eagle Hill boys basketball past Four Rivers in RVAL championship game (PHOTOS)

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

BUCKLAND — After Sam Whitney drained a three-pointer to end the third quarter, it looked like the the Four Rivers boys basketball team had gained momentum going into the final eight minutes of the River Valley Athletic League championship game on...

Alpine skiing: Mohawk Trail’s Addie Loomis, Weston Den Ouden earn first place finishes at PVIAC Individual Championships (PHOTOS)

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

CHARLEMONT — The Mohawk Trail alpine ski teams took home plenty of hardware at the PVIAC Individual Championships at Berkshire East on Thursday.The Warriors had the individual winner on both the boys and girls side. Weston Den Ouden captured the boys...

UMass football: Minutemen hire Shane Montgomery as new offensive coordinator

By GARRETT COTE

Following the departure of offensive coordinator Steve Casula, the UMass football team had perhaps the most important decision of its offseason when choosing who was going to fill the hole.Casula left to take the tight ends coaching job for the...

UMass hockey: No. 1 Boston College heads to Amherst on Friday

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

The top-ranked team in college hockey is coming to Amherst. UMass, the No. 10 ranked team in PairWise, will host No. 1 Boston College at the Mullins Center on Friday before heading to Chestnut Hill to play the Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the return...

The Real Score: You Need to Calm Down, Embracing the Taylor Swift Effect on the NFL

Taylor Swift won this year’s Super Bowl. I mean… the Kansas City Chiefs won this year’s Super Bowl. If you don’t know by now, pop star Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce are dating. The relationship caused a media stir as...

UMass basketball: Minutemen suffocate Richmond 69-59, hand league-leading Spiders their first home loss

The UMass men’s basketball team’s biggest win of the season came in convincing fashion.The Minutemen became the first team to win a game at the Robins Center this season, capturing a 69-59 victory over league-leading Richmond in an Atlantic 10...

Indoor track: Pioneer’s Louise Flagollet, Mohawk Trail’s Chay Mojallali score 2nd place high jump finishes at MIAA Division 5 Championships

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

BOSTON — Just as it was at the PVIAC Championships over the weekend, a pair of Recorder area athletes shined in the high jump on Wednesday at the MIAA Division 5 Indoor Track and Field Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center. In the girls’ high jump,...

High schools: Greenfield girls hold off McCann Tech in regular season finale

By GARRETT COTE

NORTH ADAMS — A quick third-quarter run was all the Greenfield girls basketball team needed on the road at McCann Tech on Wednesday night.With the score tied 21-21 midway through the frame, the Green Wave rattled off nine straight points, and ended...

Mohawk Trail caps successful season at MIAA Nordic Ski Championships (PHOTOS)

By GARRETT COTE

WOODFORD, Vt. — It was a beautiful day for one final ski meet.After a winter with very little snow made things challenging for skiers, the MIAA Nordic Ski Championships were finally held at Prospect Mountain Ski Area on Wednesday.On the boys’ side,...

Bulletin board: Amherst Flag Football League wraps inaugural season

The Amherst Flag Football League winter season came to an end over the weekend, with Dope Boyz taking down Elm, 14-7, in the 2024 Bubble Bowl.Playoff MVP Antonio Colon Jr. returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Reni Baez...

Girls basketball: Greenfield pushes top-ranked Hoosac Valley to the brink in 64-60 loss

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

GREENFIELD — It wasn’t the ending the Greenfield girls basketball team hoped for on Tuesday against Hoosac. The Green Wave held a 57-46 lead over the Hurricanes with just over five minutes to go when Greenfield star Amber Bergeron — sitting 16 points...

UMass basketball: League-leading, defensive-minded Richmond next for Minutemen

By GARRETT COTE

As has been said for the last three games, the next one marks the UMass men’s basketball team’s most important game to date on the calendar.Every game from here on out – given the current state of the Atlantic 10 – is the most important one.UMass...

High schools: Pioneer boys charge back late to clip Frontier again

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer boys basketball team needed a second-half comeback to defeat Frontier on Friday. When the two Hampshire League South foes got together for the second time in four days on Monday at Messer Gymnasium, the Panthers once again...

The Chiefs have achieved dynasty status with their third Super Bowl title in five years

By DAVE SKRETTA

LAS VEGAS — This was supposed to be the year when the Kansas City Chiefs were vulnerable. Their wide receivers were dropping passes, their offense was committing penalties, Travis Kelce was supposedly getting old and there was no way that Andy Reid...

Nordic ski, alpine ski, MIAA Div. 5 indoor track championships on tap this week 

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

The high school sports winter postseason officially kicked off over the weekend, with the Athol, Franklin Tech, Frontier, Mahar and Mohawk Trail wrestling teams competing in their respective sectional championships while Turners Falls had swimmers in...

UMass basketball: Minutemen hold off Rhode Island despite free throw woes 81-79

By JEFF LAJOIE

It seems that no matter what happens during a UMass men’s basketball game, all roads lead to a photo finish in the end.Such was again the case on Sunday at the Mullins Center in Amherst.The Minutemen trailed Rhode Island for almost the entire first...