WESTFIELD – After one game of the 9-and-10-year-olds district two pool play, Westfield National opened the home portion of the season in style, defeating an Easthampton team made up almost entirely of 10-year-olds aside from in style.
The Nats put up crooked numbers in four of the five innings at-bat and the pitching duo of Josh Mayo and Andrew Schabowski combined to surrender three hits to extend Westfield’s unbeaten streak to two games, defeating Easthampton, 10-3, Thursday evening at Papermill Road.
Josh Mayo earned the victory on the mound for Westfield National, throwing four innings and struck out seven batters. After Easthampton scored 17 runs in their opening win, Mayo and the Westfield defense held the visitors to three hits. (Photo by Robby Veronesi)
“Their hard work showed today,” said Head Coach Shane Collins. “We got out there and swung the bats and good things happened. That is an unbelievable team we just beat. My inkling was that we were good (and) everybody contributed. We made a couple mistakes, but that’ll happen sometimes. We still got a way to go, but I think we can be a force to reckon with.”
The Westfield bats struck first and consistently throughout the game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 10-run, 12-hit outburst. Six different Westfield batters recorded at least one RBI, led by Jesse Paroline’s two-run single in the fourth inning.
The hosts took an early 2-0 lead on the heels of aggressive baserunning. After Cody Collins and Ethan Porter reached on hits during the first two at-bats of the game, an errant throw back to the pitcher allowed Collins to score. Porter scored one batter later on a RBI single from Ryder Pieczarka.
In the fifth inning, with Westfield ahead 4-1, the hosts broke the game open with a five-run frame, extending their margin to eight and putting the visitors out of reach for good. With one out, Collins and Porter reached on their second hits of the game and Pieczarka loaded the bases with a walk. The next three batters each drove in at least one run, with Schabowski walking home Collins, Josh Sturmer singling in Porter and Paroline driving in two runs on a single. Sturmer would later come home on a wild pitch from Easthampton pitcher Ohm Patel.
“That’s what we’re looking for,” said Collins. “These kids are seasoned playing in the Majors all year, so that’s the pitching they want to see. That’s what they saw all year, so that’s why they came out and were on it. The kids were fired up and ready to play.”
Westfield shut down a potent Easthampton offense that put 17 runs up on Southampton in their opener on June 26 by holding them to three runs on three hits. Mayo earned the victory, pitching four innings and allowing two earned runs, with the only hard hit ball being a solo home run by Ryan O’Leary to straightaway centerfield in the third inning. Mayo also struck out eight batters and ended each full inning he pitched with a strikeout.
Schabowski pitched the final two innings and shut down any possible threat, striking out four more Easthampton batters to complete the victory.
“They pounded the strike zone, hit their spots and didn’t waste pitches,” said Collins. “When we asked them to hit a spot, they hit it, and that’s not easy to do at this age. When Anthony’s throwing strikes, he’s overpowering. The pitching was outstanding (and) I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
