Westfield’s Austin St. Pierre cruises into third base. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WORCESTER – The exhibition season is over, or rather, the state tournament fizzled under the drizzle as the Westfield Babe Ruth Baseball 13-Year-Old All-Stars bowed out of the postseason after a 6-3 loss to Pittsfield Wednesday night at Logan Field in Worcester.
Westfield fell behind 2-0 on a pair of unearned runs through the first two innings, 4-1 on a bloop two-run double in the third, and 6-2 on Jack Scarafoni’s 2-run triple to deep right field in the sixth to put the game out reach.
Sean Moorhouse and Sean Murphy pitched well in a combined effort for Westfield, but the Whip City All-Stars failed to muster any offense.
Despite the fact that Pittsfield now claim’s the state crown, both teams will compete in next week’s regionals as Westfield is the host team with games scheduled for Bullens Field, beginning Thursday with a Vintage Base Ball game featuring the Westfield Wheelmen.
Things went a bit better for Westfield in the doubleheader opener.
Westfield dodged elimination in the afternoon tilt with a 5-0 shutout of Pittsfield at Logan Field in Worcester.
There was a bit less fireworks from the day before when Westfield squashed Worcester West Side 30-3. On Wednesday, it was Ari Schwartz and the team’s defense that stole the show.
Schwartz allowed just four hits, struck out two batters, and leaned on his teammates in the field to get him out of a couple jams. It was his second straight complete game victory for him on the mound.
“I felt good,” Schwartz said. “We made the plays and got the outs. They were really good, but this time we were all-around better.”
It was the first time that this group of Westfield ballplayers had beaten a Pittsfield team in several years.
Westfield jumped on top of Pittsfield ace Simon Nassif early when Sean Murphy hit a two-out, two-run single in the top of the first inning. Pittsfield managed to get runners on second and third base twice during the bottom half of the first two innings, but Schwartz forced a ground out each team to end the threat.
In the third, Westfield tacked on its third run on a sac-fly from Sean Moorhouse. Meanwhile, Schwartz continued to pick up velocity on his fastball, retiring the opposition with a bit more ease. It also helped that his defense was superb.
After a Pittsfield batter reached on an error in the fourth, Westfield completed a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. Then, in fifth, first baseman, Moorhouse, made a leaping stab at a hard liner to rob a hit, and retreated to the first base bag before the baserunner to complete the unassisted double play.
In the seventh, Tommy Smith blasted a two-run single to right center field for two more insurance runs.
