Dalen Mochak eyes a pitch at the plate for the Westfield Babe Ruth Baseball 13-Year-Old All-Stars Wednesday night against Coventry (R.I.) during the New England Regionals loser’s bracket final in Manchester, N.H. (Submitted photo)
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Westfield Babe Ruth Baseball 13-Year-Old All-Stars’ fabulous tournament run came to an end Wednesday.
Westfield fell just one game short of a championship berth with a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to Coventry (R.I.) in the loser’s bracket final of the New England Regionals tournament in Manchester, N.H.
Westfield rallied twice from six-run deficits, tying the game at 8-8 and 10-10, and even mounted a late seventh-inning comeback, scoring three runs to pull within one run late. The Whip City’s 13-year-old All-Stars threatened to pull off the inevitable victory – with the go-ahead run on first base – but Coventry held strong.
“We just couldn’t get ahead,” Westfield Babe Ruth 13-Year-Old All-Stars manager John Bonini said.
Coventry built a 6-0 lead through the first three innings, and tacked on two more in the fourth. Westfield scored four runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings tie the game at 8-all.
Dillon Bazegian (3-for-4) and Mitchell Longley (3-for-5, 2 RBIs) led off the fourth for Westfield with base knocks, followed by RBI singles from Jack Yvon (3-for-4), and Dalen Mochak’s RBI double. Matt Masciadrelli and Andrew Tobias earned RBIs on ground outs.
In the fifth, John Daley singled, Kyle Roberts walked, and Longley hit a run-scoring single. Yvon blasted a two-run triple, and Mochak (3-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) singled in the tying run.
Coventry reclaimed a 10-8 advantage in the bottom of the fifth.
Westfield tied the game at 10-10 in the top of the sixth. Roberts walked. Bazegian singled. Longley knocked in a run with a double, and Yvon hit a run-scoring single.
Coventry went ahead again in the bottom of the sixth inning, taking a 14-10 lead.
Westfield made one more run at the opposition in the seventh. Mochak singled. Adam Kearing walked. Dunn reached on a fielder’s choice. Sam St. Jean walked to load the bases. Roberts hit a 2-run single to pull the Whip City within 14-12. Bazegian singled in another run to make it 14-13. A pop fly ended the game.
Westfield rallied to win a wild-and-crazy state championship by the score of 14-13. This time, the Whip City wound up on the other end.
“I never had a team with more heart,” said Westfield manager Bonini. “This team started working in June, all the way to here. It was a great run, an amazing run.”
“If you told me we would have won the districts, won the states – and come back to win it 14-13 – and finish third in the regionals, I would have been absolutely happy with that,” he added. “(A loss) hurts right now, been when we all look back it, this is something these kids should be proud of.”
