WESTFIELD – A night after falling in the sectional winner’s bracket, the Westfield Senior All-Stars exited the tournament and ended their summer season at Hampton Ponds Friday evening, dropping their second straight game against Brookfield Little League of Brockton.
Much like Thursday’s loss to Auburn, one big inning took what was a close game and turned it into a much larger deficit. Brookfield’s six-run fifth inning extended their margin to nine and sustained multiple Westfield rallies to win 13-8.
Joey Dintzner led the Whip City offense, recording two hits and driving in a team-high three runs. Cam Sporbert drove in two runs, while Tanner Haley, Brad Alvord and Ray Flagg each drove in a run of their own. Eight of the 13 players to make an appearance at the plate recorded at least one hit to help pitch in for the 11-hit night.
Westfield jumped out to another early lead for the second straight game during their first at-bats by plating two runs in the first inning. Sporbert walked and advanced to second base on a stolen base and, with two outs, Dintzner drove in his first run on a single to right field. The starting shortstop for Westfield would score one batter later when Haley lined another single to right field. Alvord’s run-scoring single tacked on another run in the third inning, which would tie the score at three.
The boys from Brockton consistently provided an answer to Westfield’s offense, scoring three in the first, two in the third and one in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead heading into their six-run fifth inning. Dre Burgess started the inning with a solo home run to centerfield. Six of the next seven batters reached safely for Brookfield, using three hits, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and an error to plate the six runs and extend their lead to 12-3.
Aside from a single insurance run in the sixth inning, Westfield’s defense settled down and gave their offense a chance to make a couple rallies. The designated visiting team tallied three runs in the sixth inning and two more runs in the seventh inning to cut the final margin to five. Four of the first five batters reached safely in the sixth inning, highlighted by a RBI fielder’s choice from Sporbert and a two-run single by Dintzner.
Down 13-6 entering their final at-bats, the District Two champions continued their fight at the plate. With two runners on and one out, Flagg lined a single to plate Cam Garfield. Sporbert recorded his second RBI on another single to plate Connor McDowell, but was picked off of second base to end the game and the season for Westfield.
Brookfield will return east for Sunday’s sectional championship when they will face Auburn for the second time in three games. Auburn won the first game, 4-3, after stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning.
