WESTFIELD – A week after being shut out in the Whip City showdown with Westfield American, the 10-and-11-year-olds from Westfield National bounced back Wednesday night in dominant fashion, defeating Agawam 10-2 at Papermill Road.
The National offense erupted for 17 hits and batted around in their final at-bats to blow open a close game and jump back on the winning side of the four-team pool play standings. Dylan Arouth and Jake Jachym each drove in three runs, Walter Ninotti scored four runs and Riley Sullivan pitched a one-hitter in four innings to complete the victory.
Walter Ninotti and Aiden Krol (1) scored on Dylan Arouth’s two-run double to extend Westfield National’s lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning. Ninotti scored four runs in W.N’s 10-2 win over Agawam. (Photo by Robby Veronesi)
“That game on Wednesday was tough,” said Head Coach Jim Cloutier. “We didn’t have it that night and we told the kids to forget about it. How you bounce back and deal with failure is what this game is about. They were fired up from the get-go and it was just a good win.”
Sullivan earned the win for a National pitching staff which gave up 10 runs in their loss to Westfield American, surrendering a single run while giving up a single hit during his four innings on the mound. Sullivan did walk four batters, but struck out eight batters to get out of trouble – including ending his final three innings.
Joey Calderella closed out the game for National by pitching the final two innings. With the exception of a two-run double in the fifth inning from Jack Litz, who had the only two hits of the game for Agawam, Calderella shut down the Agawam offense, retiring the side in order to conclude the game.
“Riley pitched fantastic for us; that was exactly what we needed,” said Cloutier. “We needed someone who could pitch strikes and settle down. You can’t pitch if you’re stressed and I just told the kids to get an out.”
Westfield scored single runs in the first three innings and two more runs in the fourth inning before breaking the game open in the sixth inning with five runs off Agawam pitcher Joe Jagadowski. Brady
Brady Collins retired Agawam’s Matt Cleavall in the fifth inning en route to Westfield National’s 10-2 victory. Collins drove in a pair of runs from the plate, including a RBI triple in the second inning to put W.N ahead 2-0. (Photo by Robby Veronesi)
Collins lined a RBI triple in the second inning and Cole Davignon factored in scoring two runs after reaching on a first inning error and recording a third inning RBI single.
Entering as a substitute, Arouth increased the Westfield margin to 5-0 with a two-run double and drove in another run to start the sixth inning. With two outs, Jachym cleared the bases with a three-run triple to right field, followed by the second RBI from Collins to cap the five-run frame, bouncing back from Agawam cutting the deficit to three after five innings.
“It’s nice to see new kids come in that we put in the lineup to start tonight,” said Cloutier. “Everybody contributed tonight and that’s what you want.”
Following Longmeadow’s 3-2 victory over Westfield American at Cross Street, Westfield National ends the day in a three-way tie for first place. With a 2-1 record, National will next play Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Whip City rematch against American.
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL 11-12-YEAR-OLD ALL-STARS
Westfield American 18, Southampton 0
Westfield American’s 11-and-12-year-old All-Stars continued their torrid start to their pool play by earning their third consecutive victory by defeating Southampton, 18-0, in four innings.
In a game that was moved to Papermill Road after wet conditions prevented the two from playing in Southampton, American scored six runs in the first inning and 12 runs in the second inning, and three pitchers combined for a no-hitter to cement the win.
The first three batters walked to begin Westfield’s at-bats and, after Jake LaBombard scored on an errant pitch, Joey Dekarski recorded the first hit to drive in Brennan Jarvis. Joey Delgado extended the inning by cracking a three-run home run to right-centerfield and give the home team a 5-0 win. Three batters later, Tobey Barlow lined a RBI triple to drive in Connor Medeiros.
Twelve of the first 13 batters scored for Westfield in the second inning and sent 18 boys to the plate. Adam Tremblay and David Tirell each recorded two-run hits. Dekarski earned another RBI on a sacrifice fly to centerfield, while Jason Rokosz drove in a pair of runs during his two at-bats.
The pitching combination of LaBombard, Trent Adam and Barlow threw a no-hitter for Westfield, allowing three baserunners that all reached on errors. LaBombard threw the first two innings, striking out five of the eight batters faced. Adam struck out the side in the third inning and Barlow pitched a 1-2-3 inning to seal the victory.
Westfield American will travel to Agawam Friday for a 6 p.m. matchup involving two of the top teams in the standings. Agawam fell in extra innings at Belchertown Tuesday, but has scored 39 runs in their three games, second only to Westfield American’s 43 runs.
