The Westfield High School baseball team aced its final.
Westfield’s top pitcher, senior Lee Albertson tossed a two-hitter, striking out 13 batters to lead the fourth-seeded Bombers past No. 2 Minnechaug 2-1 in Saturday’s Western Massachusetts Division I baseball championship at Szot Park in Chicopee.
Westfield (19-4) took a 2-0 lead in the fifth-inning lead and held off a late Minnechaug (18-5) rally to become Western Mass champions. The Bombers advance to the state semifinal Tuesday night against the Central Mass champ. First pitch is slated for 7 at Szot Park.
It was a relatively uneventful outing for the team’s rock on the mound.
Albertson cruised through the first four innings of the game, allowing just a one-out single to Chris Daigneault in the third. Minnechaug reached base in the first and third innings, courtesy of infield errors. Falcons’ pitcher Bryan Goosens reached on a third-strike, wild pitch in the fourth. But the Westfield ace came back to strike out the next two batters, finishing the inning with a not-so-common four strikeouts.
In the fifth inning, Westfield managed a brief offensive surge.
Aris Larancuent, who walked back in the second inning, was hit by a pitch to lead off the fifth. Lee Paidimitriou pinch ran for Larancuent. Ethan Atkociatis (2-for-3) singled to center field, and Conner Laraway smacked a line drive single that caromed high off the mound and loaded the bases for Westfield. Then, Kyle Murphy hit a sac-fly to deep center field to crack the goose eggs on the new scoreboard at Szot. A wild pitch allowed a second run to score.
Minnechaug responded.
In the bottom half of the inning, Albertson (barely) hit a batter, allowed two consecutive walks, and Kevin Baker’s run-scoring infield single, but fought back to force a ground out with the bases loaded.
Westfield threatened to tack on an insurance run in the seventh with a lead-off single from Atkociatis and Albertson’s booming double, but Goosens retired the Bombers’ top three batters to keep Minnechaug within one.
Albertson proved up to the task though, retiring Minnechaug’s number 1-3 hitters in order.
“I was very nervous,” Albertson said. “It was our biggest game of the year.”
The senior’s wide array of pitches kept Minnechaug guessing throughout.
“Everything was working great for me, especially my cutter and curveball,” he said, also mixing in a fastball for good measure. “I knew I had to throw strikes and let our offense do their thing, and they did.”
Westfield last won a Western Massachusetts Division I baseball championship in 2009, Albertson’s freshman year. The Bombers’ ace, who played freshman baseball that season, remembers sitting in the stands watching that team celebrate.
“It looked like a great feeling,” he said. “Now we’re doing it ourselves.”
Albertson earned the starting nod in Saturday’s championship during a practice session.
“Lee made a point to throw hard in front of me the other day, sending an early message,” Westfield coach Rich Discenza said as a smile crept into his face. “I took notice – I’m not obtuse.”
Discenza said it was crucial for Westfield to take the first lead of the game, having lost their prior meeting against Minnechaug 9-1, the day after the prom.
“When we played them the first time, they threw out our first runner,” Westfield’s coach said. “We wanted to set the tone that we were not going to back down.”
Murphy nearly manufactured Westfield’s first run of the game himself, collecting a one-out base hit in the first inning, and stealing second and third bases before Goosens struck out the next two hitters to end the threat.
“We have 20 guys on the roster,” Discenza said. “These kids are highly motivated.”
It may take a little extra motivation to get through Tuesday’s state semifinal game. In the state tournament, teams are required to complete nine-inning games.
Welcome to the big time, Westfield!
