Wesfield Babe Ruth Baseball 14-Year-Old All-Stars pitcher Spencer Cloutier fires a pitch from the mound. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WESTFIELD – Within the 14-year-old New England Regional Babe Ruth Tournament, Westfield had been the only team to keep Portland, Maine, to single-digit runs prior to Wednesday morning’s championship. During the hot and humid championship, Westfield’s pitching and defense held the potent Maine lineup to a tournament-low six hits, but Traejyn Fletcher wreaked havoc again.
Maine’s No. 3 hitter drove in all four Maine runs, including the go-ahead two-run home run to left field with two outs, to almost single-handedly handing Maine a New England Regional title and a spot in the 2015 World Series, defeating the hosts from Westfield, 4-3, at Bullens Field.
Cam Davignon (14) cracks a smile after crossing home plate for a Westfield run. (Photo by Chris Putz)
“Maine is solid everywhere (and) there is not a weak spot,” said Westfield head coach Mike Nihill. “(They had) their No. 1 pitcher in center field baking in the sun like that get behind the plate, knowing he’d be the starting pitcher in game two. As the game got deeper and we knew we were in it, they got stronger and that was great to see. They never quit, and it was great to see them sense that we had this team (and) knowing that they had them on the ropes. It’s a heartbreaker.”
Fletcher shut down Westfield from the mound during the first meeting of the tournament between the two finalists, throwing a two-hitter and striking out 13 Westfield batters. The second time around, Fletcher stung Westfield with his bat, driving in single runs in the first and third innings on sacrifice flies to right field during his first two at-bats. A passed ball and an error allowed both runs to advance and made both errors unearned to Westfield starting pitcher Spencer Cloutier.
After displaying potent offensive capabilities all tournament, Maine manufactured four total hits during the first six innings before Fletcher’s home run gave Maine its second hit of the seventh inning, the only inning where Maine recorded multiple hits in one frame.
On the other side of the diamond, Westfield’s offense sputtered for a majority of the game, recording one hit in five different innings, while leaving 10 men on base during the first five frames. The offense did awaken for the fifth inning, scoring three runs to take their first lead and score their first runs against Maine pitching.
Maine celebrates an eastern regionals championship. (Photo by Chris Putz)
After two quick outs started the bottom of the fifh inning, Westfield loaded the bases on a Jimmy Hagan hit-by-pitch, a Carter Cousins infield single and a Cam Davignon hit by-pitch. Sam Parker drove in the first run for Westfield on a walk and then the Whip City took the lead on consecutive hit-by-pitches for Cloutier and Mike Nihill. In total, Westfield’s fifth inning consisted of one walk, one infield single and four hit batsmen.
“To put up that many runs and have nothing prior to that was a shocker,” said Nihill. “We thought the moons were lining up, so we felt really gifted to get that. We were blessed to be up in the game like that because otherwise they were rock solid.
“They’re going to come out of this with memories at this age level that carry on forever. They’ll carry this deep into high school and remember what it means to stay close as a team and how to battle. Rising above all that controversy we went through against Pittsfield, keeping it between the lines of baseball and doing the right thing taught them life lessons throughout this tournament. It’s a very promising bunch.”
Cloutier pitched his third quality start of the tournament, earning a no decision after throwing 4.1 innings of two-hit ball while allowing zero earned runs and four walks. Cloutier threw 64 pitches during his five innings of work, throwing no more than 20 pitches in an inning, including a miniscule six pitches in the second inning.
Portland, Maine, will travel to Pine Bluff, Ark., for the 14-year-old Babe Ruth World Series, where they will represent New England in the 10-team championship. Portland halted Westfield’s opportunity to repeat as the New England representative after last year’s team from the Whip City traveled to Ocala, Fla., for the 2014 World Series.
