BASEBALL GODS SHOW MERCY
Post 124 wins shortened game to close out hot DH sweep
Never has the word “mercy” in “mercy rule” been more appropriate than on Saturday at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham. By scoring 12 unanswered runs, Westfield Post 124 was able to cut short a scheduled seven-inning game to a merciful six-inning win in the second game of a doubleheader, thus getting everyone out of the blazing sunshine and sending players and parents home in their air conditioned cars and trucks.
Westfield beat Wilbraham Blue, 12-1.
Post 124 scored in every inning but the fourth. Two wild pitches in the first gave Westfield a 2-0 lead. John Daley (Springfield College) homered for his fifth straight hit over two games, stretching the lead to 3-0 after two innings. The home run over the 320 sign in left allowed Daley to hit for the cycle on the day. Aidan Dunn’s (Westfield High) triple added another run in the third. He later scored to make it 5-0.
In the fifth, Jack Blake (Westfield High) and Mitchell Longley (Westfield High) both walked and both scored on Dunn’s single to right. Westfield sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the sixth to score five times and eventually force an early end to a hot – and successful – day. – Courtesy of John Blake
HOT HIT PARADE
Post 124 pounds hits, Ludlow
Having won three straight games in its final at-bat, Westfield Post 124 was one out away from not needing another dramatic finish to win its sixth straight. Leading 6-4 with two outs, a Westfield throwing error gave Ludlow some life in the heat on Saturday at Whitney Park. The hosts proceeded to score twice to force extra innings.
So, in what is quickly becoming a habit, Westfield scored the runs it needed in its final at-bat to win, yet again. Post 124 scored five times in the top of the eighth to take an 11-6 lead. Andy Daniels (Westfield Technical Academy) needed only eight pitches in the eighth to close out the win and get Westfield out of the 90-degree-plus heat (and on its way to the second game of a Saturday doubleheader).
In the eighth, Westfield (6-2) strung together five hits, a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly to score five runs against three different Ludlow pitchers. Westfield finished with 16 hits.
The winning ending was in stark contrast to the rough beginning for Post 124. Starter Nick Garde (Pope Francis) found himself behind after throwing only six pitches. Westfield played two ground balls into errors, and both runners scored on a long triple. A bloop single two pitches later gave Ludlow a very quick 3-0 lead. Garde settled in and allowed only a single run before exiting in the sixth. He finished with eight strikeouts. Daniels allowed the two unearned runs in the seventh that tied the game and ended up with the win after Westfield’s scoring outburst in the top of the eighth.
John Daley (Springfield College) finished a home run shy of the cycle and was 4-for-4 with two runs scored. Dillon Bazegian (Keene State) also finished a home run shy of the cycle for Westfield, finishing 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored. Jacob Colapietro (UMass) reached base three times, scoring twice, with one run scoring on a deep home run to right-center. – Courtesy of John Blake
SEVENTH HEAVEN
Post 124 scores three in final at-bat to top Greenfield
Technically, you can’t call Westfield Post 124’s 3-1 win over Greenfield another ‘walk-off,’ but only because the game was played at Veteran’s Field in Greenfield. Other than that, Post 124 won another game in its final at-bat, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh to erase a 1-0 lead. It was Westfield’s fifth straight win after opening the season with a pair of losses.
Greenfield starter Ben Arnold held Westfield to two St. Mary’s singles, from Matt Masciadrelli and Jacob Butler, before being forced out of the game by the American Legion pitch count limit. New this season, the pitch counts max out at 105 pitches. Arnold’s 105th pitch hit Kyle Roberts (Westfield High), who walked to first as Arnold walked off the mound.
Roberts promptly stole second before John Daley (Springfield College) doubled to right to tie the game. Daley took third on a throwing error. Masciadrelli followed with his second hit, scoring Daley with the go-ahead run. After stealing second, Masciadrelli scored to make it 3-1 when Mitchell Longley (Westfield High) lined a single to left.
Andy Daniels (Westfield Technical Academy) came on in relief of starter Aidan Dunn (Westfield High) and retired Greenfield in order in the bottom of the inning to close out the game. Dunn gave up five hits and struck out seven. He walked two.
Greenfield’s only run came in the fifth. In the bottom of the sixth, Greenfield tried to stretch a long triple into a second run, but Butler chased down the ball in right, threw a perfect relay to Longley at second, who fired a strike to catcher Brian Campbell (Pope Francis) to easily cut down the potential run. – Courtesy of John Blake
