June 10, 2011 er oth t an cially . an e w , espe adow at. W Mass ongme re els g tern s to ge.” It fe at Wes ar’s los this sta “ SIO e t ILI sho r last y be on ED LUK ior afte great to Sen It’s e of th otek QuWee ports S w e e k l y 4 1 3 - 5 3 6 - 5 3 3 3 • d f o r b e s @ t u r l e y . c o m Reminder TOWN● 17 The deadline for submissions for this sports section is Tuesday before publication by 12 p.m. To send in information, contact Sports Editor Dave Forbes at 413-283-8393 ext. 237, send an e-mail to dforbes@turley.com, or send it through the mail to: Turley Publications c/o Sports Editor Dave Forbes, 24 Water St., Palmer, MA 01069. Tigers trounce Red Raiders in playoff opener Tabin takes third at states; boys tennis falls to Lee BY DAVE FORBES Turley Publications Sports Staff Writer South Hadley pitcher Derek Heady makes a delivery toward home plate. Turley Publications submitted photos by BriCon Photography SOUTH HADLEY – The defending Western Massachusetts Division 2 champion South Hadley baseball team reached the quarterfinal round of the tournament with a 17-6 road victory over sixth-seeded Hampshire on Thursday, June 2. The 11th-seeded Tigers (5-17) were led on offense by junior shortstop Connor Sheridan as he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, three RBIs and five runs scored. Senior Connor Abert had two hits, while seniors Alex Dizek and Nate Bergeron each drove in two runs. Senior pitcher Derek Heady pitched the first five innings, finishing with four strikeouts. Junior Joe Harris came on in relief in the sixth and struck out two and Sam Pouliot closed out the game in the seventh. South Hadley scored in every inning but the fourth as they put up two in the first, two in the second, four in the third, three in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Tigers tournament run came to a close in the quarterfinals with a 9-4 loss at third-seeded South Hadley’s Dan Beauregard narrowly missed a home run on this swing. Wahconah on Monday, June 6. South Hadley scored single runs in the third and fourth innings and two more in the seventh, but it was not enough. Alex Dizek led the team with a hit and two RBIs. Pouliot also had two hits, while Eric Pouliot, Nate Bergeron and Conner Abert each had one. Eric Pouliot and Joey Harris each pitched three innings on the mound. TRACK AND FIELD at the 2011 MIAA All-State Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Bridgewater State University on Saturday, June 4. Tabin finished in a time of 12.39 seconds. Eighth-grader Caroline Sullivan placed 20th in the mile with a time of 5:28.46, while senior Julia Lamontage came in 17th in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:07.76. The girls 4x100 meter relay team of Please see TIGERS, page 20 South Hadley senior Brianna Tabin placed third in the girls 100-meter dash South Hadley uses fourth quarter surge to slip past Minnechaug in semifinal Tigers advance to meet Longmeadow in finals BY DAVID GRANT Turley Publications Sports Correspondent SPRINGFIELD – South Hadley and Longmeadow have played some tantalizing lacrosse games during the regular season and in the postseason. The Tigers upset the Lancers two years ago in overtime to capture a championship. Longmeadow returned the favor last year. And the two squads split during the 2011 regular season. Folks here in Western Massachusetts are in for a real treat as the Tigers and Lancers meet again to decide this year’s boys lacrosse sectional champion. Top-seeded South Hadley downed Minnechaug 12-10 in one semifinal while the Lancers tripped up West Springfield 9-7 in the nightcap on Tuesday. South Hadley (15-4) faces No. 2 Longmeadow (14-6) Saturday at 1 p.m. at American International College. "It feels great,” Tigers senior and cocaptain Luke Dilisio said. “We want another shot at Western Mass, especially after last year’s loss to Longmeadow. It’s great to be on this stage. We are looking forward to playing.” With the game tied at 8-8 entering the final quarter, the Tigers found just enough offense to avenge two regular season losses to the Falcons. “Before the game, we were all in to win it,” Dilisio said. “Obviously because it's a playoff game, but also because they had beaten us twice. We felt this was a redemption game, and we got some payback.” Zak Guenther fed Dilisio in a perfect execution of two familiar attackers working together to give the Tigers the first goal of the final period. Chris Menard then scored an unassisted goal to make it 10-8 with 6:32 left. "That extra pass means the world," Dilisio said. "It makes the difference between a hard-fought goal and a making a goal a lot easier. It freed up a lot of room for guys. Chris and Zak made some great passes, and that's something we need to continue to work on going forward." Guenther fought through two Falcons to score less than a minute later as the Tigers lead swelled to 11-8. McLean Reed rallied the Falcons back to within two, but Menard converted a turnover into another goal as the Tigers proved the more resilient squad. Falcons head coach Russ Mooney explained the loss. “We struggled to clear the ball,” Mooney said. “We gave them extended possessions. We got stops but then we turned the ball over. We could’ve executed a little better offensively.” Menard totaled five goals and two assists while Dilisio accounted for four of South Hadley’s goals. Guenther had a goal and two assists while Ryan Dickinson and Matt Crotty also tallied. The fourth-seeded Falcons (13-7) and Tigers were tied at 1-1 after the first quarter. Crotty fed Dickinson on the weak side to put South Hadley on the board before McLean bounced a shot past Justin Pontz to even things up. The Falcons took a 2-1 lead in the second when Conor Murphy scored from Nicholas Beauchamp but Menard rifled a shot from the top to tie the game again. Dilisio scored in transition but the Falcons also played well on the run. Drew Trebbe started a breakout and Please see LACROSSE, page 20 Peoples splits open contests BY DAVE FORBES Turley Publications Sports Staff Writer HOLYOKE – The Peoples Bank squad opened the 2011 TriCounty League baseball season and came away with a 1-1 record in their opening two games. The season started with a 3-1 loss to Teddy Bear Pools on Tuesday, May 31. In that game, Belchertown High graduate Brandon Obuchowski was the tough-luck loser for the Bankers as he pitched four innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits with five walks and three strikeouts. Aaron Smith came on and pitched the final two innings of relief for Peoples. Offensively, slugger Ryan Franczek provided the only run for Peoples in the sixth when he Please see PEOPLES, page 20