Belchertown 13, Westfield National 12
The Westfield National 10-year-old team went toe to toe with Belchertown on Tuesday night. A back and forth contest, but Belchertown was able to get the last laugh.
Down 12-10 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Belchertown wasted no time attempting to earn the victory. Cal Orzech led off the inning with a walk. After a groundout from Matt Ryczek, Orzech was able to move to second base. Nick Adzima then singled and a throwing error was not only able to cut the deficit to 12-11 but advance Adzima to third base.
Ziggy Buffone then singled to score Adzima. Another single from Brady Perkins put runners on first and second with one out for Belchertown. A throwing error in the infield then allowed Buffone to cross home plate and give Belchertown the 13-12 win over Westfield National at “Mini-Fenway” Field.
The mistakes in the infield was what ended up costing Westfield National.
“We threw the game away by throwing too many errors,” said Manager Rusty Grant.
Westfield National was able to get on the board first by tacking on three runs in the top of the first inning. Just like that, Belchertown came firing back in the bottom half of the inning by producing four runs to take the lead.
Jacob Mello answered right back in the top of the second with an RBI single to nod the game up again. Paul Lawry then doubled to help Westfield National regain the lead. Brandon Miele then delivered a pair of runs with his single.
Down 7-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning, Belchertown was able to once again create a lead-change by stringing together five runs and putting the score at 10-7.
Westfield National had another big inning in the top of the fifth. Evan Grant singled which was followed by a double to left field from George Kimball. With runners on second and third, Josh Wagner singled to score both Grant and Kimball.
Two batters later, Westfield National managed to put runners on second and third once again with just one out. After a wild pitch, an error from second base allowed two Westfield National players to score and have the 11-10 advantage.
Despite the tough loss, Westfield National fought hard until the end and now has to look forward.
“It is what it is,” said Grant. “We just work harder and that’s all we could do.”
