KITSAP COUNTY, WASH. – The Westfield and Bryant (Ark.) Babe Ruth Baseball 13-Year-Old baseball teams did not get a chance to see the Seattle Seahawks at training camp during their World Series stay in Kitsap County, Wash. But both teams were involved in a hard-hitting, high-scoring affair on Saturday.
Alex Shurtleff went 5-for-5 with a double, an inside-the-park grand slam, and 8 RBIs and Arkansas blasted Westfield 23-11 in a 2-hour, 40-minute mercy-shortened victory. The game lasted five innings.
Westfield fell behind as Arkansas had the bats going early.
In the first, Shurtleff blasted a two-run double deep off the left field wall for a 2-0 lead.
But Westfield walked right back into the game.
After Arkansas’s starter plunked Sean Moorhouse with a pitch, Scott Walsh and Anthony Clark both drew walks to load the bases. Another walk, this one from Zach Jarvis, gave Westfield its first run, and knocked Arkansas’s starter from the mound.
Jake Colapietro and Shaun Gezotis both drew base on balls off the opposing reliever to take a 3-2 lead.
The game took a big turn in the top of the second inning.
Arkansas showed a bit of how it got to its 2-0 standing prior to its game against Westfield (1-2).
Bryant pounded out seven hits in the second and scored seven runs to take a commanding 10-3 lead.
Westfield persevered though.
In the bottom of the second inning, Westfield battled back with six runs, the highlight being a two-run single to right-center field from Noah Murray.
Westfield trailed 10-9, but the lead soon ballooned.
In the top of the third, Arkansas pushed eight more runs across and led 18-9. It was a wild half-inning.
While there were only five hits, Bryant scored on a passed ball, a balk, squeeze play, wild pitch, a walk, hit batter, and sac-fly.
The bottom half was a bit like a silent movie as Westfield managed just a walk, coming up empty.
Arkansas turned the volume up in a big, big way in the fourth. Shurtleff, 4-for-4 in his previous four at-bats, stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and drilled a ball deep into the outfield grass. He turned it into an in-the-park grand slam for a 22-9 advantage.
Westfield again went quietly in the fourth, 1-2-3 on four pitches, and managed just two runs in the fifth.
“I’m very disappointed in our defense,” Westfield manager Mike Smith said. “It’s been our Achilles’ heel all season long, and it showed up again.”
Notes: Friends and family sang “Happy Birthday” to Shaun Gezotis, who celebrated his birthday Saturday. …Although the Westfield-Arkansas five-inning game took quite a while to complete, it pales in comparison to the record of 4 hours, 38 minutes. …Smith credited Liam Whitman (hit), Noah Murray (2-out, bases-loaded 2 RBI single), Tommy Smith (hit), and J.D. Huntley (defensive catching) for coming off the bench and provided quality minutes. “A lot of kids stepped up and did a very good job for us,” the manager said.
