SPRINGFIELD – Westfield Post 124 may have missed out on American Legion Baseball’s National Bound Tournament, but has ensured its fans of the next best thing.
Westfield qualified for the district tournament with a 1-0 win over East Springfield at Forest Park Monday night. Kenny McLean and Matt Plasse won the combined pitchers’ duel for Post 124 in a brief 1-hour, 20-minute contest.
McLean (1 walk allowed, 4 Ks) pitching five innings of one-hit ball before giving way to Matt Plasse, who recorded six outs to earn a save.
Both teams managed just two hits – Westfield’s Connor Sas and Rob Sullivan each had one – and Sam Blake scored the only run of the game (unearned) in the third.
Tim Donahue turned a nifty double play for Westfield (13-4) in the seventh.
Post 124 was coming off an 8-6 win over Longmeadow Sunday night at Westfield State University. In that game, Matt Irzyk posted six solid innings. Sullivan earned the save as Longmeadow stranded runners at second and third to end the game.
Nate Barnes (2 doubles, triple, 3 RBIs), Jake Toomey (2 hits, 2 runs), Kyle Murphy (2 hits, run), and Sullivan (hit, 2 RBIs) led the Westfield offense. Sullivan’s big hit drove in two of the team’s four runs in the first inning to stake Post 124 to an early lead.
Westfield next hosts Agawam in regular season play Tuesday at Westfield State University. First pitch is at 5:45 p.m.
