The New York Times revealed last Tuesday that the Boston Red Sox, in a move wholly uncharacteristic of a New England-area sports team that has enjoyed enormous success since the early 2000s and plays in a neighborhood whose name begins with the letter “F,” had been using an Apple Watch to steal opposing teams’ signs. Apparently, someone watching the game broadcast would decode the opposing catcher’s sign sequence and text the code to a trainer.
The Amherst men’s soccer team kicked off its 2017 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bowdoin on Saturday, Sept. 9. After 90 minutes of even, physical play, it was a penalty kick awarded in the first half that allowed the Mammoths to eke out the result.
In the 24th minute, the Polar Bears were called for a handball in their own 18-yard box, and junior forward Fikayo Ajayi stepped up to take the resulting penalty kick.
After dropping their first match of the season to a strong Springfield College squad, the Amherst women’s volleyball team (3-1) responded positively to win its next three matches.
The Amherst women’s cross-country team started the new season strong with a first-place finish at the Smith Invitational this past Saturday, Sept. 9.
Competing against a field comprised entirely of Massachusetts schools, Amherst dominated the race, placing five runners in the top 10 out of a field of 95 runners. The team scored 28 points, well ahead of second-place finisher Westfield State University, who scored 83 points.
“We have been very focused during practice, and I think that translated to strong races,” Kristin Ratliff ’20, Amherst’s top finisher, said.
This weekend, the Amherst men’s golf team traveled to Hartford, Conn., for their season-opening tournament. The Mammoths arrived on NESCAC rival Trinity’s course to face some of New England’s toughest competition in the Bill Deitrick Invitational. After clinching sixth place in 2016, the purple and white bested their performance with a fifth-place finish to begin the 2017 season on a positive note.
While first-place Trinity seemed impenetrable, shooting an even 600, Amherst trailed third-place Western New England by only five shots with a two-day team total of 621.
After its first week in action, the Amherst field hockey team is off to a strong start. On Sept. 7, the Mammoths won their season opener, defeating Mount Holyoke by a 3-2 scoreline.
Although Mount Holyoke took an early lead in the first half of the game, captain Elizabeth Turnbull ’18 evened the match two minutes later off a corner insertion pass from midfielder Laura Schwartzman ’20.
In their first race since placing 12th at the NCAA Division III Cross Country National Championships last year, the Mammoths dominated at the Smith Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 9. Amherst won with a near-perfect score of 17, while Franklin Pierce, a Division II school, finished a distant second with 50 points.
Unlike most college cross-country races, the Smith Invitational was contested at the 5k, rather than the usual 8k, distance.
