FLORENCE — Greenfield Post 81’s Zach Mooney, Owen MacPhee and Tyler Townsley waited outside their Arcanum Field dugout, helmets on and bats in hand.
They trailed Northampton Post 28 by three runs after six innings Friday in the Western Mass. American Legion second round and waited to hit in the seventh inning.
The opportunity never arose.
The umpires declared the game over because of darkness, and Northampton won 11-8 to remain unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament.
“I think they totally should have given us a chance to tie the game,” Greenfield coach Bill Phelps said. “We feel like we won the second half of the game and were coming back. The umps took it away from us not giving us a chance.”
The umpires made the decision because they didn’t think there was enough time, should Greenfield tie the game, for Northampton to get its at-bats in the bottom of the seventh. They pointed to the standard they operated under: if most of the cars are driving with their lights on and if parking lot lights and streetlights came on, then it was too dark to play.
“It was a safety thing. I was disappointed at first, but their explanation made sense,” Northampton coach Chuck Holt said.
Northampton will host Agawam at noon Saturday followed by a 5:45 game against an opponent to be determined. Greenfield hosts Westfield at noon in an elimination game.
Both Northampton and Greenfield wanted to play the seventh inning Friday. Post 28 was preparing to warm up in the field when the umpires called the game.
“It doesn’t feel quite as satisfying to have it shortened by rain, especially when they had this momentum to get back in the game,” Holt said. “We’d rather shut the door on that.”
Greenfield pulled within striking distance of Northampton with five runs in the sixth inning. Trevor Mankowsky led off with a single against Will O’Connor then advanced to third on a Zach Mooney (2-for-3, two runs) double. MacPhee walked to load the bases before Townsley made it 11-4 with an RBI single. Danny Szafran and Bergmann also had RBI singles in the inning.
“They got up big, thought they were going to beat us, we started coming back and they kind of took the coward’s way out and called it,” Greenfield pitcher Ben Arnold said.
Greenfield also scored three runs in the fourth inning. Three straight singles loaded the bases, then MacPhee walked to drive in Post 81’s first run.
Colin Cloutier (2-for-4, two runs) added an RBI groundout, and Mooney came around to score after the throw to first following a dropped third strike to make it 7-3.
“We were all in the game the whole game,” Arnold said. “We all believed.”
Those two outbursts weren’t enough to match Northampton’s surges. Post 28 scored four runs in both the fourth and second innings and three in the first.
Ian Ostberg and Pat Grygorcewicz led the way with three RBIs each.
Ostberg hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the first to kick off the scoring.
“One of the strengths of our team has been getting on teams early,” Ostberg said. “The first two runners did a great job getting on for me, and I was lucky to get a first-pitch curveball.”
Hector DeJesus and Tim Horton, the first two hitters in Northampton’s lineup, each scored three runs setting the table.
Mike Mieczkowski and Will O’Connor also drove in runs, while seven Northampton players had hits.
“The strongest thing about our offense is we know if one guy doesn’t get the job done, the next guy will,” Ostberg said. “We’re so reliant on each other and we trust each other that we’re not nervous and we don’t put too much pressure on our individual at bats.”
DeJesus picked up the win in relief after Zac Brittain started the game with three strong innings, allowing one hit with a strikeout. Holt wanted to limit his pitches so Brittain could throw more over the weekend and give opportunities to pitchers who hadn’t thrown in a while. He left with a 7-0 lead.
“If I knew they were going to score as many as they did I maybe would have chosen something different,” Holt said. “I’ll give Greenfield a lot of credit, they just kept hitting.”
Both teams remain alive in the tournament, and Greenfield doesn’t want Friday to be the last time it sees Northampton.
“I would rather see these guys than anybody else,” Arnold said.