NAFD/NAPD Advances to Finals of Women's Softball League

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
08:13PM / Thursday, August 20, 2026Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Anna Dix Thursday went 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of runs batted in to lead North Adams Fire Department/North Adams Police Department to a 14-9 win over Alternative Living Centers and a berth in the North Adams Women’s Softball League Championship Game.

Abby Lear was 3-for-5 with a double for the first responders, who survived the losers bracket in the double-elimination tournament and will face Belle Ame Lashes on Monday at 6 p.m. at DiSanti Field in the first game of the title round.

A win for NAFD/NAPD on Monday will force a winner-take-all game; Lashes is just one win from the championship.

On Thursday, NAFD/NAPD jumped on top early with an eight-run top of the first and never looked back.

Kalley Vanuni singled up the middle, and Lear doubled to left to bring home the game’s first run.

Heather Morris and Carrie Brassard each singled to keep the rally going, and Dix and Kenzie Dobbert delivered two-out hits before each scored on an outfield error to make it 8-0.

ALC managed just one run against Dobbert in the circle through the first three innings.

Meanwhile, the first responders got a run in the second and three more in the fourth to go ahead, 12-1. Dix had an RBI double in the fourth-inning rally.

In the bottom of the inning, Jaycee Blenke hit a solo home run for ALC.

But NAFD/NAPD got that run back plus another in the fifth to take a 14-2 edge going to the bottom of the inning.

That is when Alternative Living Center’s bats came alive.

After a pair of walks to start the inning, Casey Alvarez, and Rachel Desrosiers each singled, and Laura O’Neil hit a sacrifice fly to make it 14-4 and leave two on base with one out. Blenke (2-for-2, two walks) then hit her second homer of the game, a three-run shot that went off the top of the fence to make it 14-7.

In the circle, Blenke held NAFD/NAPD scoreless over the final two innings to keep her team in the game.

And, in the bottom of the seventh, O’Neil (2-for-3) singled and Blenke walked ahead of Karen Horton’s two-run single. Another walk put two runners on base, but a hard shot by Mary Scanlon was speared by Lear at third for the first out of the inning.

Then the first responders turned the game’s first double play on a ground ball up back to Dobbert to end the contest.

Photos from this game to come.

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North Adams Council OKs New Sustainability Committee

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
05:13AM / Thursday, September 10, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday night moved the establishment of a Sustainability & Tree Commission to a second reading and publication.

Mayor Jennifer Macksey back in February had presented the council with a list of objectives and how she thought a such a committee could support the administration. Councilor Andrew Fitch had raised the issue the year before, referred it to the mayor's office and pushed through the ordinance.

As the process moved forward, he recommended it merge with the Tree Commission, taking on that committee's objectives as part of the city's sustainability mission. It will make recommendations such as regarding climate change and impact on neighborhoods, and be able to seek grants, partnerships and other resources.

The language provided to the council on Tuesday had been reviewed by several committees and commissions and included changes advised by the city solicitor.

"It's been through a whole bunch of different reviews, and it took different tweaks from each of these committees," said Fitch, acting as president that night. "Each of these committees and commission provided excellent guidance of how to make this a little bit stronger, how to make this a little bit better."

Jenny Dunning, a member of the grassroots North Adams Sustainability Task Force, spoke at the beginning of the meeting to endorse the ordinance.

"I just want to say how much I appreciate that the council and the administration has moved forward to figure out a way to make this happen, and it's up for the vote tonight," said Dunning, who serves on the Windsor Lake Commission. "And we've got five of us who are here to support this change."

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