2017 DAN WELCH (CITY) CUP CHAMPIONS
Sons of Erin
WESTFIELD – Summer brought out the kid in all of us as the city’s youth baseball programs competed for championships.
Babe Ruth Baseball’s Sons of Erin captured the Dan Welch (City) Cup with a thrilling doubleheader sweep of Advance Manufacturing in the championship game. In the Amanti Cup finals, Camfour stormed past ITI 16-5 to stay alive, but ITI played the role of the Avengers in the “if” game, doubling up Camfour 8-4 to claim the crown.
2017 BABE RUTH BASEBALL AMANTI CUP CHAMPION
ITI
The stars came out for the Little League Baseball 12-Year-Olds District 2 tournament opener when Jay Scherpa and Liam Poole tossed a combined no-hitter in Westfield American’s 12-0 shutout of Longmeadow. Westfield National overpowered Amherst in its tourney opener 10-0 with home runs from Cam Lisowski and Mason Pereira, and a one-hitter from pitcher Josh May (8 Ks).
The drama continued as Westfield American rallied past Agawam 8-5 with homers from Caden Matuszczak and Kyle Sherpa. Westfield National improved to 2-0 behind the bat of Cody Collins (3-for-3, double, run scored) in a 7-2 win over Belchertown.
The Westfield American 12-Year-Old Little League All-Stars enjoy a victory lap with the banner after capturing the District 2 championship in July with a 7-4 win over Westfield National at Ralph E. Sanville Field on Cross Street. (File Photo by Marc St. Onge)
When the city’s two 12-year-old All-Star teams squared off at Paper Mill Field, Westfield National came out on top. Cam Lisowski clubbed a towering two-out, bases-loaded fly ball that dropped into short center field, scoring two runs to walk off with a thrilling 6-5 win over Westfield American.
The loss would be a source of motivation though as Westfield American eventually rose up to become the district champs.
The road was blocked though at nearly every level as Pittsfield not only stopped the progress of the high school team, but kept the Babe Ruth Baseball 13-year-old team from advancing in the regionals and stopped Westfield American.
As the temperatures soared, so did one young softball phenom and her All-Star squad.
The summer belonged to Westfield 10-year-old ace Marleigh Monroe, who struck out 10 batters in leading her team to a state championship, and eastern regional invitational appearance.
Westfield Little League softball 10-Year-Old pitcher Marleigh Monroe tosses a pitch against Charlton this past summer. (File Photo by Marc St. Onge)
Monroe’s squad struggled at the outset of the tournament season, but came together to sweep Charlton in the sectionals, and dominate Woburn in the state championship to the tune of 11-2 and 10-1 scores.
Westfield fell in the eastern regionals opener but rebounded to defeat Fairfield (Conn.) 4-3. In that game, Monroe tossed a two-hitter, striking out 10 batters in the process.
Westfield also defeated Maine 13-3, but finished the tournament 2-2 and lost out on a tiebreaker procedure.
“This little team just kept winning, just kept grinding, pushing the envelope of our potential,” Westfield manager Tony Bouchard said. “Our girls are still learning. We have some key veterans, but some of our lower bench (players) have a lot to learn. From the start of the tournament, we grew as a team. We came out here and showed Massachusetts can handle themselves in the tournament.”
Will the stars align in summer ’18?
The summer ended with the seventh annual Kevin J. Major Memorial hockey tournament, an event that routinely draws several renowned hockey players to the Whip City for some 50 games.
