Westfield American Legion Post 124 pitcher Matthew Irzyk delivers to a Longmeadow batter during last night’s game at Westfield State University. (Photo by Frederick Gore/www.thewestfieldnews.smugmug.com)
WESTFIELD – In a makeup contest originally scheduled for last week, Westfield’s Post 124 topped visiting Longmeadow 3-0 at Westfield State University last night.
The win puts them in fine position heading into postseason play, earning them a first round bye in the upcoming western Mass. playoffs, which begin Sunday.
Post 124’s last regular season game will again be against Longmeadow tomorrow and should Westfield prevail, they would earn an additional second round bye until the tournament’s double elimination round, set to begin on July 16.
Post 124 rode starting pitcher Brent Houle and his seven strikeouts to the win, with Westfield State’s Matt Plasse and WHS’ Matt Irzyk coming in for relief.
“He’s kind of on a semi-limited basis, but he went five innings,” said Westfield coach Don Irzyk, who also highlighted his team’s offensive performance. “We got our first run in the second inning, second run in the third, and an insurance run in the sixth.”
Westfield High School’s Houle would prove to be a difference-maker on the mound and on the basepaths, reaching base on an error and advancing to third base after an attempt to catch him stealing second went awry. He would then break the 0-0 tie by scoring on a wild pitch shortly thereafter.
Chris Riga and Jake Toomey, both of Westfield High, would have big nights at the plate for the home squad, too.
Irzyk couldn’t downplay the significance of the win, as his team gathers momentum heading into a Longmeadow rematch to close out the regular season tomorrow.
“You’ve got to like the win. There’s no question we needed to turn it around. Monday (against Post 21) was an awful performance on our part,” Irzyk said. “But we made the most of limited opportunities, for lack of a better word, tonight. The pitching made it stand up, so that was the key.”
Tomorrow’s game against Longmeadow will be played at Longmeadow High School at 5:45 p.m.
