WESTFIELD – Tied with Blackstone Valley at three runs a piece, Westfield started off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single from Kareem Zaghloul. Ryan Lapoint followed up with a sacrifice bunt to move Zaghloul to second base.
After Brady Collins came into pitch run for Zaghloul on second, Jeremy McCormick stepped up to the plate and hit the single that scored Collins but more importantly gave Westfield the 4-3 walk-off win in a 14-Year-Old Division game of the Babe Ruth Western Massachusetts State Tournament at Bullens Field.
Being dominated 12-0 against Pittsfield on Saturday night, the exciting victory on Sunday flet that much better.
“A great win for the team,” said head coach Jim Cloutier. “We needed that after a pretty bad performance the night before against Pittsfield.”
Westfield Third basemen Kareem Zaghloul puts the tag on the Blackstone Valley base runner. (Photo courtesy of Marc St. Onge)
While the walk-off hit by McCormick was spectacular to see in Cloutier’s eyes, the sacrifice bunt from Lapoint is what he believes to have been the most critical play in that inning.
“Ryan (Lapoint) laid down a great bunt, hats off to Ryan (Lapoint) for doing that,” said Cloutier.
But, once McCormick did have the winning run in scoring position, his manager never had any doubt in his mind.
“He puts a lot of time in,” said Cloutier. “I have all the confidence in the world about the kid.”
Highlighting the Westfield offense, Troy Hevey went 3-for-3 while Bobby Dellapenna went 2-for-3.
As Blackstone Valley put the first two runs on the board in the top of the second, Westfield cut the lead in half in the next half inning. But, in the bottom of the third inning, a single from Dylan Arooth tied up the game. Alex Lacourse then grounded out to score Troy Hevey and take the 3-2 lead.
Although Westfield got the timely hits when needed most, they received a solid performance on the mound from their starting pitcher; Jake Jachym. Going five innings and only giving up two runs, Jachym was given high praise for his play.
“He battled,” said Cloutier. “He always gets out there and just gets you innings.”
Moving forward, Westfield will play in the playoff round of the tournament on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Bullens Field, against either Blackstone Valley or Pittsfield.
