AGAWAM – After surrendering a lead they held all game until the bottom of the seventh inning, the Westfield High School baseball team rebounded and scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to defeat Agawam High School, 7-4, at the Harmon A. Smith Field Monday afternoon.
The league-leading Bombers (12-6, 8-3 Valley League) earned their fifth consecutive win, scraping together enough offense to push past the homestanding Brownies (1-15, 1-10 Valley League). Ken McLean earned the victory in relief, pitching two innings of no-hit baseball with four strikeouts, while leaving the potential game-winning run on base and escaping the seventh-inning jam.
The heart of the Westfield order led the extra-inning charge, accounting for all three runs scored in the frame. With one out, Chris Sullivan singled in the eventual game-winning run, scoring Colin Dunn. Craig Lacey followed with a RBI groundout – his second of the day – to drive in Sean Murphy, while McLean utilized one of five Agawam errors to extend the inning and score Sullivan.
“We have great senior leadership,” said Westfield coach Mike Kennedy. “I didn’t have to tell them anything. They came in (to the dugout) and took care of it.”
Agway scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings before tying the game with a pair of runs in the seventh inning, setting themselves up for a chance to steal a win from the Bombers. With the winning run on third base and one out, McLean struck out Luke Rheault and forced Anthony Donahue to ground out to end the threat.
Dalen Mochak started on the mound for Westfield, pitching five innings of two-run, five-hit ball. Before surrendering his first run in the fifth inning, Mochak retired 12 of the first 15 Brownie batters, scattering two hits and a walk through four innings.
“He definitely pitched well enough to get that decision,” said Kennedy. “Given our pitching staff, I thought we could come in and close it down and he would have gotten that decision.”
The Westfield offense took advantage of four walks and the five AHS errors early in the game, scoring the first run of the game in the second inning without a hit. Austin St. Pierre stole home and was aided by a misfire from the second baseman. The Bombers scored a pair of runs in the third inning on a Lacey fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly by Anthony Clark.
Austin St. Pierre drove in the fourth run in the fifth inning on another fielder’s choice, but Westfield kept Agawam in the game by leaving 10 men on base during the first seven innings of play.
“Those are things we’re going to have to work on,” said Kennedy. “When you get runners on second and third with one out, you have to get a run in. Those are the things we’ll work on over the next two days of practice. We can’t leave those runs out there.”
The Bombers will look to extend their winning streak to six games Thursday night when they return home to Bullens Field to host fifth-place East Longmeadow at 7 p.m.
