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By THOMAS JOHNSTON

When Gary Mullins took over the Turners Falls softball program in 1979, he was inheriting a team devoid of much success. 

Good morning!The UMass softball team shocked Boston College this week, 5-4, on the strength of senior catcher Lydia Castro’s go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh inning at Chestnut Hill. 

I rarely listen to podcasts, but “The Omnibus Project,” by musician John Roderick and “Jeopardy” host Ken Jennings caught my ear months ago. Besides the fact that a typical installment lasts about as long as one of my workouts on an exercise bicycle and weight machines, Roderick and Jennings are pretty funny, and they dig into some wonderfully obscure subjects. They found themselves in particularly obscure territory recently, when they chatted about pedestrianism, which, as you’ve correctly supposed, is a fancy word for walking.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

The Pioneer and Greenfield baseball teams took different paths to the MIAA Division 5 semifinals last spring. 

Make it three wins in a row to open the season for the Frontier baseball team. 

There was a time when 18-year-old boys and girls joined a college athletic team and left four years later as 22-year-old men and women, confident, trained, and effective team members. Coaches had time to focus on long-term development, looking at the big picture rather than short-term gains. Coaches helped individuals identify their strengths and weaknesses, set goals, and worked to help them improve, enabling them to reach their potential. The successful coach had a basic philosophical understanding of the place of sport in the student’s life. Good coaches understood that their athletes were also students and that achievement in the classroom was paramount to success.

By STEVE MCKELVEY

As the 2025 baseball season opens, it will again reveal what is likely one of the strongest pipelines of any sport management program in the country. That pipeline, into what is one of the hardest segment of the sport industry to break into, leads to Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, and specifically into their “front office.” The McCormack Department of Sport Management will count 48 alums currently employed in the front office of MLB teams. You read that right: 48 alums.

Good morning!During the last two weeks I’ve been hopscotching between three spring training ballparks that are located off a 50-mile stretch of I-95 in South Florida.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

It’ll be a rematch in the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Championship game. 

Wesley Darling scored 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds to help the Greenfield 5/6 grade Suburban League squad capture a league title on Friday, as Greenfield beat Palmer, 48-36 in the championship game. 

A 22-point game from Ally Landau helped the Smith College basketball team advance past Gustavus Adolphus, 61-50, in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division 3 women’s tournament on Saturday.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

NORTHFIELD — Pioneer boys basketball coach Scott Thayer remembers looking up after defeating Hopkins Academy to win the 2018 Div. 4 West sectional title and seeing his son, Brayden Thayer, and his friends watching from above the indoor track at the Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

NORTHFIELD — The end goal is in sight for the Pioneer boys basketball team. 

By JEFF LAJOIE

State championship weekend (a three-day affair!) is upon us.

By RYAN AMES

AMHERST – Survive and advance is the name of the game during playoff hockey and that’s exactly what the No. 14 UMass hockey team did in its 2-1 win against Vermont on Wednesday at the Mullins Center.

A disappointing UMass men’s basketball season came to a disappointing end Wednesday.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

The Pioneer boys basketball team has taken a step forward each year in the MIAA Division 5 state tournament. 

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — AJ Hairston dropped back to pass during the 11-on-11 live portion of the UMass football team’s first spring practice of the season Monday morning.

Coaching is a critical component in shaping teams, developing talent, and leading athletes to success. While women’s basketball has experienced remarkable growth and recognition in recent years, one of the driving forces behind this evolution has been the level of leadership among coaches. These women not only excel in developing their teams’ technical skills, but also serve as mentors and powerful role models for the next generation of athletes.

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

WATERTOWN, Conn. — Before the season started, Deerfield Academy girls hockey coach Brooke Fernandez believed she had a team capable of capturing a NEPSAC championship. 

A second consecutive run through the MIAA Division 5 state tournament wasn’t in the cards for the Mahar boys basketball team this winter.