The Westfield High School baseball team celebrates a repeat in the Western Massachusetts Division I championship with a 6-4 win over top-seeded Agawam Sunday at UMass-Amherst. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
AMHERST – When Westfield High School junior pitcher Brent Houle finished up pitching a one-hitter to help his team secure a spot in the Western Massachusetts Division I baseball finals, he said he felt as if he was ready to go again. Thankfully, for the seventh-seeded Bombers, Houle was true to his word.
Houle got Westfield out of a no-out, bases-loaded jam late in the Western Mass finals, and retired nine straight batters in relief to help the defending champion Bombers repeat with a 6-4 win over No. 1 Agawam in the WMass championship Sunday at UMass-Amherst’s Earl Lorden Field.
The junior pitcher was spectacular, striking out the side with the bases juiced in the bottom of the fifth inning. He did not allow one batter to reach in the final three innings.
“I was just in the zone when I was out there pitching. I was focusing on getting outs,” Houle said. “I had so much adrenaline … I felt like I never even threw on Thursday.”
Houle was coming off just two days rest but he never wavered, striking out four straight and allowing his defense to take care of the rest.
“Brent was nothing short of spectacular,” said one of his teammates, Kyle Murphy.
It was Murphy (2-for-5, triple, RBI, run) who got his team going with a one-out single in the top of the fourth inning, scoring Sam Blake with a laser shot up the middle of the field. Jake Toomey (3-for-5, 2 RBIs, run) followed with a run-scoring hit. With two outs, Chris Sullivan drew a bases-loaded walk. Rob Sullivan plated two runs with a quick-sinking single to left-center field. Westfield (15-9) led 5-0.
The fourth-inning fireworks continued.
In the bottom half of the inning, Agawam (17-6) struck for four runs. The big hit was a booming two-run double from Joseph Viens that traveled some 390 feet toward the outfield fence. Billy Wysocki drove in a run for the Brownies, who also benefited from a run-scoring error.
Agawam threatened to take the lead in the fifth inning with consecutive singles from Tyler Lyne and Seamus Curran. A walk off Westfield starting pitcher Matt Irzyk loaded the bases.
“That long inning I got cold,” said Irzyk, who sat for nearly 20 minutes as Westfield went on that scoring frenzy. Agawam also changed pitchers during the inning when its starter, Zachary Jendrysik walked Tim Donahue (3 walks) to load the bases with the Brownies already trailing 2-0.
Westfield pitcher Brent Houle delivers in relief. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
“I made pitches and they hit them real well,” Irzyk said.
Westfield coach Rich Discenza commended his starter for just giving his team a chance.
“Matt did a good job,” Discenza said. “He ran out of steam. He lost his curveball, he found it. He lost it again, he found it again. Then he started to rely on his fastball, and a team like Agawam is going to get hits.”
Irzyk’s former Babe Ruth teammate, Houle had nothing but praise for the starter.
“Matt pitched a hell of a game today,” Houle said. “I wanted to do anything I could to get him a win.”
Both pitchers can thank their offense for providing just enough runs – Toomey provided an insurance run in the fifth – and their defensive mates for playing errorless ball. With the pitching staff now taxed, it is anyone’s guess who takes the mound for the Bombers in Tuesday’s state semifinal against Central champ Nashoba at Tivnan Field in Worcester at 7 p.m. That game is a 9-inning affair.
But as Westfield has proven time (defeating 10th-seeded Chicopee Comp 3-2) and time (upsetting No. 2 East Longmeadow 4-3) and time (clipping Amherst 2-1 in the semis) and time again (capping off a brilliant wild west run with a championship win over top seeded Amherst), don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion.
“This season was special,” coach Discenza said. “Somehow or other, this team flipped the switch two weeks ago. And it made all the difference.”
