SOUTH DEERFIELD — After a pair of one-run games set the tone for Teddy Bear Pools’ best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series, there was no doubt that Thursday night’s decisive Game 3 was going to be a dogfight.
Thanks to the stellar pitching of right-hander Andrew Sadowski, the third-seeded Poolmen are marching on to the semifinals.
The former Elms College ace struck out seven batters and scattered just three hits without walking a batter to lift Teddy Bear to a 3-1 win over No. 6 Longmeadow Valley Warriors in Tri-County League men’s amateur baseball action at Frontier Regional School’s G.T. Valiton Field in South Deerfield. The victory gave the Poolmen a 2-1 series victory, advancing them against St. Joseph’s in the semifinals. That best-of-three series is likely to begin Saturday night in Thorndike.
“Honestly, I felt from the first inning on that we were going to win this game,” admitted Teddy Bear coach Harlan Bean. “It had the feel of a win even though Longmeadow is a really good team. We had a lot of guys on base early. It was only a matter of time before we broke through.”
With Sadowski dealing, Teddy Bear didn’t need to generate much offense. His fastball overpowered most hitters in the Longmeadow lineup, and he mixed pitches well, producing a majority of infield ground balls.
“Liam called a great game behind the plate,” began Sadowski of his catcher, Liam Datres de la Blotier. “We were able to mix up the fastball and the curve pretty well. And I’ve got a good defense behind me, so I knew if I could limit them to two or three runs, I’d be in good shape.”
Despite putting runners on in every inning, Teddy Bear found itself in a 1-1 game entering the home half of the sixth. Longmeadow had tied the game with an unearned run in the fifth, but the Poolmen put together a strong inning to regain control.
With one out, Julian Diamond laid down a perfect bunt that died just inside the third-base line. Diamond wasted no time trying getting into scoring position with the potential go-ahead run when he promptly stole second base on the first pitch of the next at-bat. That set the stage for center fielder Brad Bean, who drilled a line drive up the left-center field alley for a double that plated Diamond for a 2-1 advantage.
Bean then scored an insurance run with two outs, as Seth Leslie’s hot-shot to shortstop was booted for an error, and Bean beat the throw thanks to some aggressive base-running for a 3-1 lead.
That was more than enough for Sadowski, who set Longmeadow down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh to punch Teddy Bear’s semifinal ticket. Sadowski struck out his final two batters, giving him seven in the complete-game effort.
“I wasn’t sure what Longmeadow had left for pitching after the first two games but I new we had one more ace left,” said Bean of Sadowski, who graduated from Elms in 2016. “His fastball was good and he spotted well. We’ve kept him fresh for the playoffs because he’s a big-game pitcher. He’s as good as anyone when he’s onn and he was on tonight.”
Teddy Bear looked primed for a big night at the plate early in the game when Brad Bean walked, Datres de la Blotier singled and Seth Leslie walked to load the bases in the first with no outs. Chris ‘Skinny’ Williams followed with an RBI single to right field, staking the hosts to a 1-0 lead.
Longmeadow starter Brendan Philbin limited the damage, however, getting a pair of pop-outs and a groundout to escape the bases-loaded situation with just one run allowed.
The Poolmen wound up stranding 10 baserunners. Bean, Williams and Troy Leslie had two hits apiece, as Teddy Bear held an 8-3 edge over Longmeadow. Philbin struck out three and walked three in the complete-game loss for the visitors.
Teddy Bear will meet No. 2 St. Joseph’s in the semifinals. Games 1 and 3 (if necessary) will be played at St. Joseph’s Park in Thorndike, with Game 2 set to be played in South Deerfield. The other semifinal series features top-seeded defending champions PeoplesBank against No. 4 Easthampton Savings Bank.