All good things must come to an end and such was the case for the Greenfield 11-and-under baseball team.
Edward Roquez struck out 11 in six innings to lead Washington Park, R.I. to a 7-1 win over Greenfield in the championship game of the Cal Ripken 11U New England Tournament Thursday night at Capone Park in Dedham.
“I’m very proud of the kids,” Greenfield coach Aaron Campbell said. “If someone came up to me before the season and told me that we’d finish second in New England this summer, I’d take it. I’m proud of the way the kids played and it was a fun ride.”
Greenfield took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Brayden Thayer reached on a passed ball following a strikeout and then moved to second on a sacrifice by Jackson Campbell. He came around to score when Cam Burnett slugged an RBI double.
Washington Park tied the game in the second as Franklin Reyes hit an RBI single, and the defending New England champions took the lead for good in the third when Calvin Santos hit an RBI triple and later scored on an error to make it 3-1.
That closed the book on Greenfield pitcher Campbell, who struck out two and allowed two walks and three hits in three innings. Campbell entered the game with 12 scoreless innings pitched in the tournament.
Washington Park put the game out of reach in the fifth with four runs. Roquez doubled and scored on an RBI single by Josue Pena. Later, Santos slugged a three-run bomb to make it 7-1.
Roquez scattered six hits and one walk over six innings to earn the win.
Burnett finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles in the loss. Campbell, Ethan Quinn, Hugh Cyhowski and Silas Muzzy each had a hit.