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By BRETT ALBERT

About 10 years ago, the two major urban centers of central and western Massachusetts decided to engage in new regional industrial policy to spur on their local economies. Worcester and Springfield had been effectively hollowed out by decades of...

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — After more than a week since the news first broke, University of Massachusetts athletic department officials held a press conference on March 7 to celebrate their joining the Mid-American Conference.UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes, director of...

By GARRETT COTE

Dynasty isn’t a term that gets thrown around loosely – that word holds a ton of weight in the sports world. It takes a lot of success over an extended period of time to call something a dynasty.But that’s exactly what South Deerfield native G.P....

By GARRETT COTE

A couple weeks ago, I sat inside Smith Academy’s Sherry Webb Gymnasium in Hatfield to cover a girls basketball game between the Falcons and Duggan Academy of Springfield. As the game progressed, the displeasure from supporters only grew louder — and...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Kacey Schmitt never meant to coach the Amherst Regional High School volleyball team for longer than a season. Frankly, she thought she’d be done after a couple weeks. She was talked into the job by then-athletic director and friend Tom Cullen, and...

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

The Frontier Regional boys volleyball program wouldn’t exist without Jesse Kurkulonis.Inspired by the success of his friends on the Redhawks girls team, which has won 11 state championships including last fall, he began inquiring with newly minted...

By HANNAH BEVIS

With just seconds left in her final high school lacrosse game, Granby’s Ella Laliberte was one tally away from hitting 300 career goals. Everyone on her team knew, including Laliberte, and they quickly came up with a simple but effective plan of...

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...

By HANNAH BEVIS

In the summer of 2022, after his freshman season, Amherst’s Logan Alfandari carefully poured a throwing circle in his backyard with his dad’s help. He decided that he wanted to have a place to get some extra practice after making a splash in throws...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Belchertown junior Ava Shea came into this tennis season with clear goals and a laser focus. Athletically, Shea was already a formidable opponent, with a serve that makes her opponents quake in their sneakers and the experience of playing No. 2...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

WORCESTER — Bourne’s bats built a bridge too far for Hopkins Academy.The No. 9 seed Golden Hawks rallied in nearly every game of the state tournament but couldn’t make it all the way back against the No. 2 Canalmen in the MIAA Division 5 championship...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

GREENFIELD — The Rooster hummed a song of victory in his head while staring defeat in the eyes.Frontier Regional junior Wyatt Edes, nicknamed after the barnyard crower for his flowing red locks and crimson goatee, stood in the Veterans Field batter’s...

By HANNAH BEVIS 

Before this track season, Williston Northampton School’s Catie Spence had never competed in the 800 meter run before. By the end of the year, she held the school record in the event. The Amherst native set the school record during the Division II New...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

NORTHAMPTON — Amherst’s casket never closed.Lexington celebrated like it won the boys ultimate state title Sunday at Oxbow Marina. The Fooligans ran off the sideline into the end zone to scream and hug then lined up. They thought they slayed the...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

WEST SPRINGFIELD – Teddy Scott noticed the dust in the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School trophy case.The runner up trophy from last season’s Western Massachusetts Class C boys tennis final loss against Lee also caught his eye. Scott...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Winning a state title isn’t just about talent and hard work — though that certainly plays a large part of it.For Amherst junior David Pinero-Jacome and his coach Bob Rosen, it was also about planning.The two spent the season experimenting with...

By HANNAH BEVIS

Tessa Kawall has always been a supremely talented basketball player — Amherst head coach Ralph Loos often calls her a “freak” when talking about her athletic ability. But until somewhat recently, Kawall could sometimes let her emotions get the best of...

By HANNAH BEVIS

AMHERST — There wasn’t an empty seat inside a packed Massachusetts room at the Mullins Center last Wednesday afternoon. It seemed as though the entire UMass athletics department had turned out for new women’s basketball coach Mike Leflar’s...

By HANNAH BEVIS

It didn’t take the Pittsburgh women’s basketball program long to introduce its new head coach, Tory Verdi. After the seven-year UMass women’s basketball coach had been rumored to be in talks with Pitt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Noah Hiles...

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

A special waiver allowed Lucy Smith to join the Amherst Regional high school swim team as a seventh grader.The Hurricanes couldn’t have fielded the squad without adding middle schoolers for the 2017-18 season.“It was definitely a little intimidating....