A wild bottom of the seventh inning enabled Teddy Bear Pools to keep its win streak alive Monday night.
Trailing 4-2 after allowing four unearned runs in the top of the seventh, the Poolmen rallied to score three times in their final at-bat en route to a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Longmeadow Valley Warriors, in a Tri-County League men’s amateur baseball contest at G.T. Valiton Field in South Deerfield.
The victory was the fourth straight for Teddy Bear, which got back to the .500 mark at 5-5 overall following a disappointing 1-5 start.
“The guys just battled hard,” said Teddy Bear manager Harlan Bean of his team’s last-inning comeback. “They stuck it out in the seventh inning and got a win. It was an ugly one but we’ll take it.”
Trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, Teddy Bear rallied when Julian Diamond was hit by a pitch and Liam Datres de la Blotier singled to put a pair of runners on base. Seth Leslie cut the deficit to 4-3 when he reached on an error that plated Diamond.
Chris Williams reached on a fielder’s choice and David White walked to load the bases with two outs against Longmeadow pitcher Jimmy Flahive. The Poolmen showed some patience at the dish, as Cory Shearer drew a walk to tie the game, 4-4, and Tyler Charbonneau followed by drawing another walk to plate Williams with the game-winning run and the vaunted walk-off walk.
“The guys were very disciplined at the plate there and it paid off for us,” Bean offered.
Flahive walked seven and struck out nine for Longmeadow (4-6), which managed just two hits at the dish.
Teddy Bear starter Sam Downes was outstanding, though he was forced to settle for a no-decision when he left the game after six innings with his team holding a 2-0 lead. Downes struck out eight and walked three during his stint on the mound.
“Sam Downes pitched an outstanding game and he deserved the win,” Bean said. “I decided to pull him out for the seventh, and that didn’t work out for us, but he was the game for us. Without him, we wouldn’t have won.”
It was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Teddy Bear got on the board. Williams led off with a double and scored on a Shearer triple to make it 1-0. Shearer doubled the lead when he scampered home following a passed ball.
Datres de la Blotier had three hits for the Poolmen, which held a 7-2 edge in that department. Gabe Seaver got the final three outs in the top of seventh and wound up as the winning pitcher.
Teddy Bear will look to get above the .500 mark and win its fifth in a row tonight against St. Joseph’s in a game to be played at the Beechgrounds in South Hadley.