Hadley’s Beau Elson selected for NECBL All-Star Game

By RYAN AMES

Hadley native Beau Elson was one of four Valley Blue Sox players to be selected to participate in the 2025 NECBL All-Star Game, which will be held at Maxfield Sports Complex in White River Junction, Vermont (home of the Upper Valley Nighthawks) on Sunday.

Local baseball: ’Hamp falls, Belchertown Post 239 locks up No. 1 seed

By RYAN AMES and GARRETT COTE

The Northampton Post 28 Senior American Legion baseball team is slumping at the wrong time after dropping its third straight game following its 16-8 loss to the Wilbraham Falcons at Minnechaug Regional High School on Wednesday night.

Belchertown Post 239 stays hot, tops Greenfield for 9th straight win (PHOTOS)

By GARRETT COTE

GREENFIELD — Make it nine wins in a row for the Belchertown Post 239 Senior American Legion baseball team, as it scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to an 11-3 victory over Greenfield Post 81 on Tuesday evening at Vets Field.

UMass enters MAC while conference faces uncertainty

By RYAN AMES

All things are not quiet within UMass athletics’ new conference home.

Medal haul: West squads strike gold, silver and bronze at Bay State Games

By RYAN AMES

Medals were abundant for area athletes over the weekend during the Bay State Games competition, as all five West teams that competed finished with some hardware to take home.

Local baseball: Amherst, Northampton continue to rack up Koufax victories

By GARRETT COTE

Nick Stinson’s gem of a relief outing (five innings, no runs) gave the Amherst Sandy Koufax baseball team the opportunity to pull away from a scrappy Greenfield team that put up four runs in the top of the first on Saturday. Stinson pounded the strike zone over his five innings, striking out five and allowing only two hits. Amherst’s 12-6 PVYBL victory took them to 9-2-1 on the season.

Bigger Than Sports: How Amherst’s Ian Waite turned a dream into an ESPY Award

By GARRETT COTE

Ian Waite fell to the floor, his body numb and his surroundings suddenly still.

Victory Lap with Jessica Lapachinski: 60,000 Thoughts a Day — Make Yours Count

Legion baseball: Belchertown Post 239 shuts out Pittsfield, takes over first place in District 3

By RYAN AMES

BELCHERTOWN — Three runs is all the Belchertown Post 239 Senior American Legion baseball team has needed this week, winning both of its games by scoring thrice, with its latest installment coming in the form of a 3-0 shutout against Pittsfield Post 68-No. 1 on Friday night.

Downes does it again: 19-year-old from Longmeadow makes Mass. Am history at GreatHorse

By GARRETT COTE

HAMPDEN — After shaking hands with his opponent, Woodland Golf Club’s Patrick Kilcoyne, on the 12th green, Ryan Downes hopped on the back of a golf cart and took the long ride up toward the clubhouse with his caddie — the two all smiles.

PHOTOS: Summer in full swing for Valley Blue Sox

Legion baseball: East Springfield holds down Northampton Post 28

By GARRETT COTE

After riding high with a three-game winning streak, the Northampton Post 28 Senior American Legion baseball team has dropped its last two contests — most recently a 12-1 defeat to East Springfield Post 420 on Thursday evening at Arcanum Field.

117th Mass. Amateur: Hometown kid Downes survives thriller, sets up title match with Kilcoyne at GreatHorse

By GARRETT COTE

HAMPDEN — The hometown kid has a chance to make history at the 117th Massachusetts Amateur Golf Championship — again.

Bay State Games 2025: West softball repeats as champions with 11-7 win over Coastal

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

DEVENS — The West softball team is leaving the Bay State Games with a gold medal for the second straight year.

Local baseball: Belchertown Post 239 hands East Springfield its first loss of the American Legion season

By GARRETT COTE

The beat goes on for the Belchertown Post 239 Senior American Legion baseball team, as a trio of runs in the first inning were just enough to get it past previously undefeated East Springfield Post 420, 3-2, for consecutive win No. 7 on Wednesday night in a game that was moved to Springfield Central High School due to field conditions.

Quarterfinal lineup finalized at GreatHorse as home club stars Downes, Walthouse advance to Day 4 at 117th Mass. Amateur

By GARRETT COTE

HAMPDEN — The grueling third day of competition at GreatHorse is over, and Thursday’s quarterfinals are now set.

Silver finish for West: Local stars battle in Bay State Games baseball final

By RYAN AMES

MALDEN — Several area high school baseball players captured the silver medal in the 2025 Bay State Games Baseball Showcase tournament at Rotondi Field at Howard Park on Wednesday. The West team fell to Central, 10-1, in the Gold Medal game, which wrapped up competition of the three-day event.

92nd Mass. Girls Junior Amateur: Granby’s Regan impresses in state debut, falls short in match play

By GARRETT COTE

BERNARDSTON — The pressure of playing in her first-ever Massachusetts Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship didn’t seem to bother Granby’s Ryley Regan, as the eighth grader who plays on the Hopkins Academy golf team cruised to a 3-up start through five holes.

Matthew Johnson dominates stroke play as 117th Mass. Amateur heads to match play at GreatHorse

By GARRETT COTE

HAMPDEN — Thirty-six holes weren’t enough to decide which 32 golfers were going to make Wednesday’s match play in the 117th Massachusetts Amateur Championship at GreatHorse. After Monday and Tuesday’s first two rounds, 24 players were safely inside the 6-over par cut line while 10 players were tied at that number.