MAJOR LEAGUE
GAME DATE: 4/22/17
Advance Manufacturing 6, Slovak 4
It was a “Battle of the Titans” as Advance Manufacturing used solid pitching and a late game homerun to beat American League Slovak in the long-awaited season opener.
Pitcher Mason Pereira started strong on the mound for Advance, keeping Slovak bats quiet and allowing only 1 hit and no earned runs over 2 innings. Ryder Pieczarka followed with 4 strikeouts, and George Kimball closed the game by striking out 5 including the final out of the game.
The Westfield Police Association Little Leaguers are, from left to right: Brody Patterson, Joshua McDonald, Kielen Avery, Nico Acevedo, Jase Britton, Liam Breault, and Ethan St. Mary. (Submitted photo)
With the score 0-0 in the top of the 4th inning, Advance came alive at bat to add numbers to the scoreboard. A double by Pereira knocked in Tyler Sampson and Ethan Porter for the first runs of the game. Pieczarka brought Pereira home with a line-drive single, and hits by Kimball, Connor Queenin and Reid Imbriglio widened the gape to a 4-0 Advance lead.
Not willing to back down, Slovak battled back in the bottom of the 4th inning to close the score to 4-3. In the top of the 5th inning, Advance put the game out of reach with 2 runs starting with a double by Pereira and an over-the-fence home run by Pieczarka.
Advance demonstrated solid defense, capped off with a game-saving, diving catch in right field by Mike Pelletier in the bottom of the 6th inning to seal the victory.
GAME DATE: 4/28/17
Air Compressor Engineering 5 – Kiwanis 2
Air Compressor Engineering (2-1) outlasted Kiwanis (1-1) in a National Division matchup Monday evening at Paper Mill Field. Air Compressor Engineering started out strong in the top of the first inning with leadoff batter Nick Goodwin singling and Jesse Paroline following with a base on balls. After Cam Lisowski reached base on a fielders’ choice, red hot Grady Flaherty laced a double down the left field line to plate Paroline and Lisowski. The second inning started in the same fashion with Kaevon Eddington hitting a leadoff double, Anthony Melo taking a base on balls, and Ethan “Beef” Connors singling to load the bases. Strong Kiwanis pitching by Cam Cusak denied any scoring as he got out of the bases loaded jam. Air Compressor Engineering tacked on two more runs in the third after Goodwin walked, Paroline was hit by a pitch and Lisowski smoked a double to center field to score the two runners. AC added an insurance run in the fifth with a Brannon Miele walk, a fielders’ choice and an error. Lisowski pitched four solid innings, striking out 8, and Eddington pitched two innings in relief, striking out 3.
GAME DATE: 4/29/1
Advance Manufacturing 12 – Air Compressor Engineering 11
Air Compressor Engineering started strong against National League rival Advance Manufacturing with hits by Nick Goodwin, Grady Flaherty, Brendon Morse and Jesse Spear. After two doubles from Air Compressor’s Jesse Paroline and a towering three-run blast over the left field fence by Cam Lisowski’s, hope was fading in the Advance dugout.
Down 11-2 in the top of the fifth inning, things looked bleak for the boys in blue, but Advance Manufacturing still had a few tricks up their sleeves. With the light fading and fans starting to pack up, Advance Manufacturing came roarin’ back to life, scoring 9 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. The rally was led by Mike Pelletier, Everett Steck and Tyler Sampson with two hits apiece. Following this flurry of activity, George Kimball pitched a strong 6th inning to maintain the tie.
Westfield Police Association Little Leaguers, from left to right, are: Jase Britton, Ethan St. Mary, Kielen Avery, Joshua McDonald, Nico Acevedo, Liam Breaul. (Submitted photo)
In the bottom of the sixth, Connor Queenin stepped to the plate with two hits already under his belt and smacked a line drive single to right field. On a past ball Queenin stole second to put the victory within reach. On a 1-0 count, Reid Imbroglio pounded a double to center field and scored Queenin to win the game. The boys in blue swarmed the plate celebrating the improbable comeback. An incredible finish to a well-fought contest by both teams.
FARM DIVISION
Game Date: 4/22/17
Berkshire Industries 5, Dick’s Sporting Goods 5
It was a tale of two halves as Dick’s Sporting Goods scored 5 runs during the first half of the game and Berkshire Industries scored 5 runs in the second half. The first game of the season saw strong Berkshire pitching by Tyrus Traska & Nathan Jarvis who were both in mid-season form. Tyrus also had a great hit to the outfield but it was Jordan Hellers who really helped to get the Berkshire rally going. Berkshire had a chance to win the game in the end but left the bases loaded. Great efforts by Brodie Grabiec and Nick Madsen for hustling when catching and getting the ball back to the pitcher quickly.
Game Date: 4/28/17
Berkshire Industries 2, Interstate Towing 1
Excellent pitching from both teams dominated this game, but Berkshire came out on top in its first head-to-head matchup with Interstate Towing. Berkshire’s pitchers Izaya Frazier, Audrey Amaral & Brodie Grabiec allowed a combined 1 run and 2 walks! Both of Berkshire’s runs came in the 3rd inning powered by a Nate Jarvis double and an RBI sacrifice hit to first base by Nick Madsen.
Game Date 4/29/17
99 Restaurant 8, Berkshire Industries 5
Berkshire suffered their first defeat of the year after a slow start against 99 Restaurant. In the end, Berkshire bats came alive behind 2 solid offensive efforts by Izaya Frazier & Tyrus Traska who both went 2 for 2 with a double apiece, but they couldn’t outrun 99’s lead.
Westfield Police Association Little Leaguers, from left to right, are: second baseman Nico Acevedo, Parent Jason St. Mary, center fielder Kielen Avery, pitcher Brody Patterson, and coach Jesse Ross. (Submitted photo)
Berkshire’s pitchers had a tough day on the mound, but Audrey Amaral came in for relief for a second day in a row and allowed only 2 runs over the last 2 innings to help give Berkshire a fighting chance. Renato Switzer was behind the plate and did a great job hustling after passed balls and making good throws to the pitcher. Berkshire looks forward to the next matchup with 99!
Game Date: 5/1/17
Berkshire Industries 4, Expert Fitness 4
The first of May opened with baseball in Westfield, but a dark sky and high pitch counts kept the contest to 3 innings. Brodie Grabiec started on the mound and went 2 solid innings, striking out 6 and walking 3. He had given up only 1 run when Berkshire went to the bullpen. Berkshire’s Jordan Hellers was next on the mound. Hellers threw strikes and Expert Fitness made contact.
Two hard hit balls found their way in the glove of Evan Gasiewskim, which kept extra base hits to only singles. Gasiewskim played each ball perfectly and made the throw to first on a good line, but Expert was hustling to 1st each time and beat the close throws!
Luckily, Berkshire was the home team and had the chance to tie the game. Berkshire recorded only 4 hits this game and 3 of them came when it mattered most. While Nick Madsen went 2 for 2 and was able to score each time, it was Jordan Hellers’ smash to the outfield that ended the game and sealed the tie as Berkshire plated the maximum 3 runs for the inning.
April 23, 2017
10U Softball
Moe’s Westfield 11, Southampton#1 6
Moe’s Westfield got two innings of strong pitching from Camille Bruno, Grace Burke, and Mia Tavares to pace the way in a 11-6 opening day win against Southampton at Sadie Knox. Tavares closed out the game with two scoreless innings. Tavares was also on base all three plate appearances adding two singles. Burke had a single and a double while scoring two runs while driving in three. Bruno also had a double along with two runs scored and two runs batted in. The other hitting star for Moe’s was Nathalie Senez who chipped in with two hits and two runs batted in. They were her first ever 10u hits. Both Sara LaCross and Nova Santiago-Scott had two bases loaded walks to drive in runs and were on base all three plate appearances. Allie Stucenski and Katelyn Connor each walked twice and scored two runs. Stucenski also chipped in with five stellar innings at the catcher position. Caitlyn Arooth was on base once and made a fine defensive play at catcher to retire a runner on a force out. All in all a great team effort to start the season for Westfield.
Game Date: 4/28/17 Northampton 9, Kiwanis 8
The young Kiwanis squad opened their season with a close loss to Northampton. The girls battled to the end just coming up short. Julia Bonfitto lead the pitching throwing 2 scoreless innings. Hayley Krupienski and Shea Hurley pitched well in relief making their season debut.
The hitting was lead by Rachel Bonfitto, Grace Leduc and Shea Hurley who all reached base 3 times and scored 5 runs between them. Grace Trempe and Sophia Smithies both had a hit and a walk while Ali Lakin reached base twice to help the offensive effort.
Game Date: 4/30/17
Kiwanis 13, Hadley 12
Kiwanis bounced back from their opening season loss with a come from behind victory over Hadley. Shea Hurley was outstanding in relief allowing only 1 run in the last two innings to
seal the victory. Grace Trempe and Rachel Bonfitto both made their season debut on the mound.
The offense was led by Hayley Krupienski, Grace Leduc, Julia Bonfitto and Rachel Bonfitto who all reached base 3 times and scored 7 runs between them. Grace David, Sophie Svantesson and Kaleigh Little all had their first hits of the year and reached base twice as the Kiwanis even their record to 1-1.
Majors Softball
4/29/17
Vivid Hair Salon 12, Easthampton (Tyler) 3
A six run rally in the sixth inning led by key offense from Rylie Nimchick, Grace Riga, and Ciara Toporowski helped Vivid to victory in a hard-fought game against Easthampton. The teams were tied at 3 (thanks to hits by Ali LaPanne, Toporowski, and Olivia Lawry) until Maria Bonfitto drove in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning with a line drive to right field and a Riga single drove in an insurance run after runners were put in scoring position by good contact from Lizz Williams. Pitcher Megan Cichonski shut down Easthampton’s offense to close the game, throwing four shutout innings and striking out 8 after Toporowski put in a solid starting performance giving up only one earned run. – Courtesy of Westfield Little League
