Westfield 11-Year-Old South Allstar catcher Jack Blake, left, makes the tag on Westfield North baserunner Spencer Cloutier during a slide into home in the sixth inning. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The Westfield North Little League Baseball 11-Year-Old All-Stars could have easily packed it up, called it a day, and let the city’s south side team enjoy a banner day.
But the North rallied from a 3-run, sixth-inning deficit to edge the South in a thriller, 8-7, to win the district championship last night at Cross Street Field. Nick Barber capped the comeback with a game-winning RBI hit in the bottom of the sixth.
Trailing 7-4, Ian Wilhoite led off the bottom of the sixth for North with a first-pitch single. Jimmy Hagan singled, and both baserunners advanced on a passed ball. Spencer Cloutier soon followed with an RBI double to the right field corner to make it 7-5. Mike Nihill hit a one-run single, scoring one. Ryan Rix had a two-run double. Elliot Avery walked. Then, Barber unleashed the game-winner.
“At first, I was just happy we came back (to tie it),” Barber said. “After we came back, I was just happy to have the lead. I knew we had the best chance and we did it.”
The South took the game’s first lead in the top of the first, a two-run homer from Bailey Colier.
The North chopped the lead in half thanks to two first-inning errors before Barber tied the game on a one-run, fourth-inning single. An error and a walk led to two more runs and a 4-2 advantage.
The South stormed back.
With one out in the fifth, Logan Krol singled, Jack Blake reached on an error, and Liam Webster hit a bunt single to load the bases. Then, with two outs, Ryan Paro and Scott Bussell drew bases-loaded walks to force a 4-4 tie; and Matt Pelletier laced a two-run double down the right field line for a 6-4 lead. Colin Scanlon manufactured one more run for the South in the sixth, collecting a base hit before stealing a base, and finally coming around to score on a wild pitch.
But the North rallied behind some solid hits.
“These games keep getting funner and harder,” Westfield North manager Mike Nihill said after his team completed a victory lap on the field. “We just reached our toughest, hardest one. To come back in this heat was amazing.”
The South’s manager, John Blake, praised both teams for creating one of the most historic days in Little League baseball.
“We didn’t give it to them (in the seventh) – they hit the ball everywhere,” Blake said. “They were clean hits, hard hits. What can you do? We went down fighting.”
