WESTFIELD – Jake Jachym admittedly didn’t have his best stuff, but the starting pitcher for Westfield was still good enough to power his team to a 4-2 victory over Blackstone Valley in Game 2 of the 14-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament at Bullens Field Thursday night.
Jachym tossed five innings and gave up two runs on six hits with two strikeouts and a pair of walks to earn the win. In the process, Westfield clinched a spot in Saturday’s championship game against Pittsfield, scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. at Bullens Field.
“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I battled through it and got the outs that I needed to, when I needed to,” said Jachym, who noted his fastball was his most reliable pitch of the game. “My curveball was short, and I was bouncing it a lot. My fastball kind of got me through it.”
Westfield first baseman Dylan Arooth jumps up and snags the high throw and comes down on the base for the out. (Photo by Bill Deren)
Jachym scattered four hits across the first three innings, but didn’t allow any runs thanks to some clutch two-out pitching. In the first, he stranded a runner on second base by getting a swinging strikeout, and in the second with a runner on third, he induced an inning-ending groundout to short. In the third inning with runners on second and third, he once again wiggled out of trouble by getting the batter to pop out in foul ground to first.
“Jake has been our workhorse all year,” Westfield Manager Jim Cloutier said. “He really is a great kid, and he just battles out there and gets himself out of jams. He didn’t even have his best stuff today, and he still gutted through it. That’s what it’s all about. Most days you’re not gonna feel 100 percent, and things are gonna be off, but you’ve got to work through it and just keep after it.”
Blackstone Valley finally got to Jachym in the fourth inning when it scored its only two runs of the game. Tommy George roped a double then advanced to third on a groundout by Aaron Smeglin. George then stole home for the first run of the game as Jachym threw to third for a pickoff attempt and the throw from third to the plate wasn’t in time. After a pair of walks, Jared Dermodshegian cranked a single to advance Tyler Strom to third, but an error on the throw from the outfield to home allowed Strom to score and give his team a 2-0 advantage.
Westfield answered with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame, as Alex LaCourse, Dylan Arooth, Troy Hevey, and Dacota Durkee all came around to score on a combination of hits, throwing errors, and passed balls to give Westfield a 4-2 advantage.
After going down by two runs in the top of the fourth, Westfield starts it’s comeback with a hit by Alex Lacourse. (Photo by Bill Deren)
That lead proved to be enough for Jachym, who hurled his first 1-2-3 inning of the game in the fifth, while LaCourse closed out the final two innings by scattering an infield single and a pair of walks.
“It was a great win today,” Cloutier said. “Last year this team knocked us out as 13-year-olds in the state tournament, so it was a good little payback today. The kids just played great – solid pitching, solid defense, and we got the hits when we needed them.”
Blackstone Valley, which lost to Pittsfield on Wednesday, was eliminated from the three-team tournament with its loss to Westfield.
Pittsfield and Westfield will square off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Bullens, strictly for seeding purposes, even though both are already guaranteed to face each other in the championship game Saturday at Bullens.
While the game on Friday is only for seeding, Cloutier said it’s important for his team to keep its positive momentum going.
“It’s business as usual,” he said. “You don’t want to let up on the gas pedal, you want to keep it going. We’ve had some great battles with Pittsfield over the years, and they’re always there, we’re always there, and it’s always fun playing them. It’ll be fun (Friday) night, and it’ll be fun on Saturday.”
