One night removed from a disappointing loss that knocked them into the elimination bracket, Greenfield Post 81 put itself in position to get at least one more crack at Pittsfield Post 68.
Host Greenfield used a big performance on the mound from Owen Phelps and shored up its defense after a miserable showing the night before to blank Wilbraham Blue, 7-0, Friday night at Vets Field in the American Legion Baseball Senior Division playoffs.
Post 81 will play Pittsfield, the team it lost to by an 11-3 margin on Thursday night, for a berth in the best-of-three championship series. Greenfield heads to Clapp Park in Pittsfield today at 1 p.m., and the visitors will need to beat Pittfield twice today to advance to Sunday’s final against the winner of the Wilbraham Red-Northampton contest.
“They definitely wanted another chance at Pittsfield,” offered Post 81 coach Kyle Phelps of his club. “They didn’t want to end it like this. They have a lot of pride and really wanted a chance to keep playing.”
Greenfield took a 1-0 lead against Wilbraham Blue in the first inning, as Colin Cloutier doubled with two outs and eventually scored on a passed ball.
The hosts broke through for four runs in the second inning to really put the pressure on. Kiernan Freeman and Kalen Evans singled and moved into scoring position on a passed ball, setting the stage for a two-run single by Owen MacPhee. He would eventually score on a dropped third strike that allowed Tionne Brown to reach with two outs. Brown made it 5-0 when he came across thanks to a Luke Viens single.
That would be more than enough for Phelps. The Greenfield High School product struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter, scattering four hits to pitch the complete-game shutout.
“It’s a do-or-die game so we needed a start like that,” Phelps said of his son, who needed just 80 pitches to blank Wilbraham Blue. “He was dominant tonight. He had all his pitches working right around the strike zone. And our defense played well behind him. The defense that’s been there all season showed back up.”
Ben Arnold had a hit and drove in two runs for Post 81, which received hits from eight of its nine batters. Arnold is also likely to get the ball on the mound against Pittsfield today.
Juniors advance
Despite falling into an early hole, Post 81 rode the pitching of Dylan Apanell and some timely hitting to march on in the Junior playoffs Friday night.
Apanell struck out eight in a complete-game effort, allowing just three hits and two walks to lift Greenfield to a 4-1 win over Pittsfield Post 68 Blue at Beacon Field in Greenfield.
“He pitched a great game,” lauded Post 81 skipper Tom Bresciano of Apanell. “He pitched out of a couple jams, left guys on third base twice. He really shut them down though.”
Pittsfield, which was eliminated with the loss, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Nic Nicotra smacked an RBI triple for the visitors.
Greenfield tied the game in the fourth inning on a Michael Bassett RBI single. It stayed that way until the sixth, when the Post 81 offense broke through. Corbin Blight and Bryan Baumann singled and moved up to second and third thanks to a Jack O’Neill sacrifice bunt. Bassett was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Brody Baird worked a walk to force in a run and give Post 81 a 2-1 advantage. With two outs, Joel Peabody tacked on some much-welcomed insurance with a two-run single to extend the lead to 4-1.
“It was a great at-bat,” said Bresciano of Peabody’s hit. “He fought off a couple pitches. It was at least a seven or eight pitch at-bat.”
Peabody finished 2-for-4, while Baumann also had two hits. Greenfield held a 7-3 edge in hits on the night.
Post 81 advanced to play Agawam Post 185 today at 1 p.m. at Agawam High School. The winner will meet Westfield Post 124 in Sunday’s championship game of the double-elimination tournament. Since both Greenfield and Agawam have one loss, they would have to beat Westfield twice to snag the title. Today’s Greenfield-Agawam game is the fourth meeting between the squads this summer.
“We’re 0-3 against them so we owe them one,” Bresciano said. “We’ve had the lead against them every game this year and squandered it. Hopefully we come to play.”