The year that is ending came in with a bang as Berkshire County wrapped up three team state titles before 2024 was three months old.
As the year went on, state crowns were harder to come by, but there still were a number of Western Mass titles and individual accomplishments to thrill local high school sports fans.
Here is a look back at some of the stories that caught our eye in the year gone by:
The story of the year was the story of the century as the Hoosac Valley girls basketball program reached its eighth state title game since 2014.
Taylor Garabedian scored 22 points, and Abby Scialabba scored 16 — 11 in the third quarter, when the Hurricanes erased a one-point half-time deficit and built a 15-point lead going to the fourth.
“It’s awesome,” Garabedian said. “Not even just for the seniors but for the younger kids. We’ve been playing together since the third grade.”
Playing together and making trips to Western Mass and state tournament games to watch their older friends who laid the foundation for the most decorated program in any sport in Berkshire County.
Few people were able to stay close to the Mounties on the track all spring.
No one was able to hang with them on the scoreboard on Memorial Day Weekend.
Maggie Nichols was the fastest girl in the state, breaking the tape in the 100 meters and 200 meters. And the Mounties’ other stars provided medalist finishes in the jumps (Katherine Goss and Chase Hoey), throws (Lily Catelotti and Talia Kapiloff), hurdles (Goss and Lily McDermott and middle distances (Erin Keating).
Mount Greylock also medaled in all three relays, winning the 4-by-100 with the quartet of Maire Scanlon, McDermott, Rowan Apotosos and, of course, Nichols in the anchor position.
And with just one senior and one junior on 2024’s state title squad, the Mounties could be poised to repeat the success it had during a four-year win streak at states from 2016-19.
That one senior, Annie Miller, capped her stellar high school career with a seventh-place finish at Woodford, Vt.’s, Propsect Mountain. But her sister, ninth-grader Lauren Miller, was the fastest Berkshire County finisher, placing fifth in the state.
“We knew we’ve been kind of coming into our own,” Mount Greylock coach Hilary Greene said after the win. “We had these younger middle schoolers who are learning how to ski. So they’re figuring things out and learning how they can gain time and just learning how to tuck.
“We knew they were coming up, but we absolutely didn’t expect that they would crush it today.”
Lee was the top team in qualifying and No. 1 seed going into match play, edging Auburn, 2-1, in the semi-finals and sweeping Woo Tech, 2-0, in their best-of-three games final.
“Six years of high school bowling, it goes by in the blink of an eye,” Holian said. “But, really, it’s all worth it in the end. I couldn’t ask for a better team and a better coach. They’re all family to me, like I said before, and I’m grateful.”
The Berkshire County League had a lot to be thankful for at the state meet, where Taconic won the tournament’s B Division.
The Berkshire Force 12-Year-Old All-Stars gave area sports fans an early summer treat when they hosted the Babe Ruth New England Regional in June at the Doyle Complex.
There, the Pittsfield-based program won three of its four games, battling back from a 5-0 deficit in its final elimination game before succumbing, 12-6, to a team from North Carolina.
The excitement generated by this year’s 12U squad can only help the Force as it continues to build the sport in Berkshire County.
““We want more girls to get into softball,” coach Mike Lodowski said at the regional. “We have a really big rec ball league. We need more girls to come out and play. I think now that the COVID thing is over, our 10U organization has got a ton of teams, and they’re starting to filter up. Whereas our 12s, 14s and 16s are still a little bit thin. Maybe that’s the COVID effect. … We’re going to be really good again like we were maybe six, seven years ago.”
It had been a while since a Berkshire County skier captured a state championship in alpine skiing.
Pittsfield junior Eliza Mullen did it twice in one day.
She helped Pittsfield place in the top half o the 20-team field and pulled off the first individual double in the girls state meet since 2005.
“I wasn’t really focused on the results,” Mullen said after the wins. “Because I just wanted to finish. When I focus on the results, I just get in my own head.
“And I just wanted to have fun with my friends because it’s our last race together with the seniors.”
Monument Mountain’s Everett Pacheco, who was dominant all season in county competition, cruised to a 10-second win over the runner-up from Parker Charter at Fort Devens.
Pacheco battled his closest rival for two laps before making a late move.
“There’s a big hill in the woods around Mile 2, and then there’s a big downhill,” Pacheco said. “So coming off that downhill and a little bit on this hill here, I zoomed past him.”
While no Berkshire County boys team won a state championship in 2024, two came darned close.
“This is inner city Boston, right?” Hoosac Valley coach Bill Robinson said of the Titans. “I just told our guys, we’re a bunch of country bumpkins. There’s a cow farm right in back of our school. These guys [from New Mission] have never seen a cow. Our guys have never seen glass skyscrapers.
“But I think we did OK for a bunch of cowboys.”
But the Generals could not solve Seekonk’s Javi Borges, who struck out 14 in leading his team to a shutout win at Polar Park in the Division 4 Championship.
“We started off rough,” Pittsfield senior Roshan Warriar said of a team that opened with a 5-5 record. “Some people wouldn’t picture us being there, but we had the belief the whole way that we’d get here. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it done, though.
“It was an honor to play here in my last game as a senior. It was a great run for the program. A lot of people are looking at Taconic across town. But I think this year really proves our turnaround, and I think we’ll be back here in the future.”
Arguably the busiest day in Berkshire County high school sports is the last Saturday in February, when the Western Massachusetts titles in hockey and basketball are decided.
“It’s surreal,” Taconic coach Matt Risley said. “There are no words, really. I feel very grateful and glad for these young men who put in a lot of work this year.
“We did not start the year off very well. But we’re ending it on a high note. Hopefully, we can keep it rolling.”
One of the highlights of the summer was following a couple of athletes with ties to the county compete on an international stage.
