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By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Where are you from?The question means something different when the answer isn’t in New England. I’ve come to understand most people mean “where do you live?” not “where did you grow up?” They’re usually the same.It tells people something about you,...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

SPRINGFIELD — John Calipari wrapped an arm around Dave Hixon as he introduced the longtime Amherst College men’s basketball coach to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.Their time in Amherst overlapped when Calipari was at UMass. Hixon coached at Amherst...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

SPRINGFIELD — Basketball gave Dave Hixon everything he could ask for. When the longtime Amherst College men’s coach retired in 2020, his former players and friends made him an hour and a half long video thanking him for his impact on their lives.“I...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

UNCASVILLE, Connecticut — Being on a poster with Manu Ginobli gave Dave Hixon a kick.The longtime Amherst College men’s basketball coach was nominated for induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year. Even with his 826 career...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The Amherst College men’s basketball coaches’ office door swung open. Then-assistant Matt Goldsmith felt the timing inopportune.He, David Hixon and the rest of the staff were elbows deep in preparing for a massive weekend of games against rivals...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Rumors of The Shot circulated as early as Monday’s arrival, a tradition deeply rooted at Dave Hixon’s Western Mass Basketball Camp at Amherst College.On Friday, the camp’s final day, all of the coaches gathered the campers. Each coach and counselor...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Dave Hixon always wore a suit to Amherst College’s men’s basketball games but never coached in it. He walked out of the locker room to cheers in LeFrak Gymnasium and banter on the road, shook his counterpart’s hand and chatted during shootaround. Once...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

A playoff kept Conway’s Gunnar Moore from advancing to match play at the 105th Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship on Tuesday at GreatHorse in Hampden.The Frontier Regional graduate found himself tied with three other players for the last two...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Conway’s Gunnar Moore put himself in striking distance of match play after the first day of the 105th Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship on Monday at GreatHorse.The Frontier Regional graduate shot a 1-over 73 that tied him for 14th. The top 16...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Destiney Philoxy repaid Rwanda’s faith immediately.After making the country’s AfroBasket 2023 roster following a tryout, the UMass graduate lit up Cote d’Ivoire in the tournament opener on home soil Friday. She scored a game-high 18 points to go along...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The Valley Blue Sox clinched a playoff berth with a 12-6 road win over the Danbury Westerners on Thursday in Connecticut.Christopher Willis drove in three runs on two hits for the Blue Sox. Matthew Bergevin homered among his two hits and had two RBIs,...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The change transpires subtly then materializes violently.Owen Dawson flips a switch, or a switch within Dawson is flipped on the lacrosse field. Either one means good things for South Hadley and a bad time for whoever’s on the other side.“He does the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The emotion in The Commonwealth’s locker room resembled those after an NCAA Tournament loss.UMass’ alumni team fell 79-73 against Virginia Dream in the opening round of The Basketball Tournament on Monday in Syracuse, New York. The squad had only been...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The Nerd Team passed the first test.The collection of players from high-academic institutions, the brain child of Amherst College’s Matt Goldsmith and Aaron Toomey, schooled Happy Valley Hoopers, a Penn State alumni team, 54-49 in the opening round of...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

NATICK – Western Massachusetts baseball showed it can hang with anyone in the state.Though Belchertown Post 239 dropped out of the double-elimination American Legion Senior Division state tournament after an 8-3 loss against Beverly Post 331 on...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

AMHERST – An introduction, or likely reintroduction, to the roster of The Commonwealth, UMass’ alumni team competing in The Basketball tournament. The (mostly) Minutemen will face The Virginia Dream at 9 p.m. in Syracuse on ESPNU.Most of the players...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Lockdown boredom struck Aaron Toomey and Matt Goldsmith. The two Amherst College products couldn’t coach their teams (Goldsmith at The College of New Jersey and Toomey then at Vassar) with the Division 3 season canceled in 2020. They’d floated the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Jocelyn Mettey handed Hampshire Regional softball coach Brian McGan the game ball back. She’d just thrown a no-hitter, usually a career achievement.“That was kind of unique. It didn’t really strike her as a big performance,” McGan said. “She knew the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

AMHERST — The Commonwealth invoked John Calipari when the news came out Friday morning.UMass’ alumni team will no longer face The Rhody Way, a group of Rhode Island alums, in the first round of The Basketball Tournament after Rhody withdrew “due to...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

WILBRAHAM – Post 286 walked the wrong guy.Wilbraham intentionally gave Belchertown’s Jake Smith a free pass to first with two outs in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s American Legion Senior Division District 1 baseball semifinal. Smith had already...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Greg Vreeland called his older brother, Hopkins Academy baseball coach Dan Vreeland, over to the hitting tunnel set up near the field. The mesh cage allowed the Golden Hawks’ junior varsity call ups and bench players to take batting practice swings...