WESTFIELD – Westfield American Little League Baseball has enjoyed a successful summer All-Star season, qualifying for three district championships in three different age groups. Despite a downpour Saturday afternoon, the 7- to 9-year-old American All-Stars
made it four championship spots in as many levels.
Ted Dunn struck out seven batters in 3.1 innings and the Westfield offense struck early and often en route to a 7-2 victory in a rain-shortened four innings for the No. 2 seed in the district two semifinal over No. 3 Easthampton at Cross Street.
“We told the kids to be aggressive right from the beginning,” said Head Coach Mike Dunn. “We knew whether might be a factor, but the kids played hard. The loss (against Westfield National) gave us an opportunity to let some kids play some positions that they didn’t play before. It was an opportunity for us to give pitchers that had never pitched before some time, so maybe we have a little depth going in (to the championship). I’m glad things worked out the way they did.”
Westfield snapped their two-game losing streak during the conclusion of the district pool play by scoring its seven runs in the first three innings on five hits and seven drawn walks from Easthampton pitcher Evan O’Malley. The Whip City offense also took advantage of aggressive baserunning, stealing a pair of bases in the first inning and taking six bases on four wild pitches.
Eli Perez drew three walks from his leadoff spot in the lineup and eventually scored all three times for Westfield, who chose to be the visiting team after winning the coin toss before the first pitch. Emmett Garfield led the team with three RBIs, two of which came on a third inning fielder’s choice after Perez hustled from second on the infield play.
Dunn drove in two runs of his own, with the other two runs scoring on a wild pitch and a throwing error. Along with Garfield’s RBI single in the second inning and Dunn’s RBI single in the third inning, Nate Pudlo led the team with two hits, while Frank and Joe Maffia each recorded a hit.
“One of our big focuses was to be aggressive and not swing at bad pitches,” said Dunn. “They had a good starting pitcher and we were really trying to work the pitch count so we could get him out early, and we did after two innings. That is a credit to the kids being patient and that was a key to the outcome. They had really good plate discipline.”
On top of his two-RBI performance at the plate, Dunn also shut down the Easthampton offense on the mound, earning the victory by pitching 3.1 innings. Aside from a two-run single by Chris Walaczek, Dunn only allowed two other hits, including one more from Easthampton’s No. 3 batter.
The first six outs for Dunn came via the strikeout and Dunn got out of the third inning jam by fielding a pair of groundouts hit back to the mound. After striking out the leadoff man in the fourth inning, Dunn was replaced by Ryan Garvey, who pitched the final two outs before the rain fell. Both pitchers will be available for Tuesday’s championship due to the low pitch counts.
“(I was impressed with) the ability to not think about anything else out there and focus on throwing strikes,” said Dunn. “Throughout the spring season, we tell the pitchers that the more strikes you throw, the longer you can stay in and pitch. That’s their incentive, so if you want to keep pitching, you have to throw strikes. You don’t throw strikes, then I have to take you out. It’s that simple.”
Westfield American will play in Tuesday night’s district championship at 6 p.m. against No. 4 Agawam, who defeated top-seeded Longmeadow, 12-11. Westfield defeated Agawam, 19-1, in four innings the first time the two met up on July 6 at Cross Street.
