A big first inning was more than enough to propel Turners Falls Athletic Club to a title on Saturday.
TFAC scored seven times in the bottom of the first inning and captured an 11-3 victory over Parody Builders in the championship game of the Franklin County Babe Ruth League at Abercrombie Field in Greenfield.
Sam Knight, Gillis MacDougall, Chad Adams, Tyler Cusson and Dylan Camp all drove in runs in the first inning, helping TFAC take a commanding 7-0 lead. The squad added another run in the second on a Mike Pierce RBI single, before Cusson made it 9-0 with an RBI single in the third. In the fourth, consecutive singles by Luc Belhumeur, Pierce and Knight made it an 11-0 advantage.
Parody broke through with its three runs in the seventh inning. James Carmichael and Derek Wissmann drove in runs in the final stanza.
MacDougall struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings of work, allowing just one run on six hits before Pierce got the final out.
“We hit the ball well, played good defense and Gillis has pitched well all season,” lauded TFAC manager Joe Mignault. “It was a solid team effort.”
Cusson finished 3-for-3 while MacDougall, Knight and Pierce all had multi-hit nights.
Carmichael and Ben Dodge finished 2-for-3 for Parody, with Casey Christi, Wissmann and T.J. Thibeault all adding singles.
Knight made a diving catch in the right-center field gap for TFAC, and Hugh Hart made an over the shoulder catch in right field to thwart a Parody comeback attempt.
Mickey Mantle
Even 10 innings couldn’t separate Northampton and Frontier Alber Hearing Services, and the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League Mickey Mantle championship game was called due to darkness on Sunday night.
The squads were tied 4-4 and declared co-champions at Headmaster Field in Deerfield.
Northampton took a four-run lead after the first two innings, then Frontier battled back with two runs in the third and another in the fourth.
Tom Alber hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game for Frontier. He also singled.
Kyle Barnes and Max Edwards each singled twice. Kevin Baumann and Tynan Creagh added RBI singles, while Ben Martino, Ben Zaranek, Aidan Falla and Gehrig Brynda each added a hit.
Zaranek threw out Max Callan trying to steal second in the ninth inning. He also started the game and pitched the first four innings. Edwards pitched the final six, allowing no runs with eight strikeouts.
Callan had three hits for Northampton and scored a run. Seth Finnessey singled twice and drove in a run. Owen Shelffo (double), Erik Vandergrift (single) and Matt Sullivan each touched home. Will Shaw singled.
Anthony Azarro made a diving catch in the 10th that robbed Frontier of a double
Northampton forced Sunday’s decisive game with a 12-2 win Saturday afternoon over Frontier. The game ended in the top of the seventh due to the 10-run rule.
Shaw, Finnessey and Shelffo (two hits, three runs) had a double and two RBIs each.
• Frontier beat the Hilltown Hardwood West County Warriors, 9-7, in Saturday’s first game to advance to the finals. Frontier trailed 5-1 in the third inning but rallied to eliminate West County.
Kevin Baumann singled three times and drove in two runs. Creagh and Brynda added two RBIs each. Brynda pitched a complete game to earn the win.
Barnes, Martino and Tyler Baranowski had RBI singles.
West County’s Tyler Dubreuil and Anthony Moffatt had two hits apiece, while Shawn Davenport (single), Jared Jacobs (single, two RBIs) and Reuben Bassett (double, two RBIs) also contributed.
12U Valley Storm
The 12U Valley Storm softball team closed out their 2019 tournament schedule at the Swansea Xtreme Invitational Tournament over the weekend in Swansea. The club finished 3-2 and was eliminated by host Swansea, 7-6 on Sunday.
MacKenzie Paulin pitched five innings and struck out three for the loss. Offensively, Paulin had a double and two RBIs, Madison Liimatainen and Margarette Howland each had a double and an RBI, Ashley Taylor had a double, Sofia Holden and Lucia Doulette added hits.
To start their day on Sunday, the Storm defeated the N.H. Lakes Region Chaos, 13-1, in three innings. Paulin got the win, striking out four. She also had three hits with a triple and two RBIs, Liimatainen had a triple, a home run, and an RBI, Howland had two hits including a double and three RBIs, Holden had two hits including a double and an RBI, and Maggie Fay had a hit.
On Saturday, the team started the tournament with a 7-0 loss to the Guilderland (N.Y.) Wolfpack. Fay went the distance striking out three. Paulin and Skylei Lapan each had a hit.
In Game 2, they defeated the R.I. Rebels, 6-3, in extra innings. Paulin went eight innings striking out five for the win. She had two hits including a triple and two RBIs, Sophia Pinardi had a hit and an RBI, while Howland, Taylor, and Liimatainen each had a hit.
In their final game on Saturday, the Storm defeated the Smithfield (R.I.) Storm, 9-1. Holden pitched six innings, striking out seven for the win. Pinardi had two hits including a double and two RBIs, Taylor had two hits and an RBI, Liimatainen had two triples, Doulette had two hits including a double, Howland had a hit and an RBI, Paulin and Fay each had a hit, Holden had three RBIs, and Lapan tossed in an RBI.
The 12U Storm finished their tournament season with a 33-20 overall record, two championships, and one runner-up finish. Tryouts for the 2019-2020 12U/14U/16U/18U teams are Aug. 8-9 from 6-8 p.m. at Merritt Field in Sunderland.
F.C. Crush 10U
In the 10U bracket, the Franklin County Crush took second place out of nine teams in Swansea with a 4-1 weekend.
The club won three games on Saturday (7-2 against Latham Blue Bandits, 14-9 against Fairhaven Firestorm, and 13-8 against Rehoboth Thunder). On Sunday, the Crush went into the semifinals as the No. 2 seed and beat third-seeded Swansea Extreme, 5-2. In the title game against undefeated and top-seeded N.Y. Express, the Crush held the lead until the Express tied the game in the bottom of the final inning. Through two extra inning the score remained tied before the Express walked off with a 7-6 win.
Sandra Johnson smacked a grand slam over the weekend to pace the Crush, and she also roped a double and four singles with a total of seven RBIs. Gloria McDonald had a triple, a double, and 8 singles, to go with four RBIs, while Lucja Yagodzinski nailed a triple, a single and an RBI. Also contributing offensively were Grace Laurie (five singles, two RBIs), Sophia Rotkiewicz (four singles, three RBIs), Cobi Tyminski and Meghan Collins (three singles, three RBIs each), Ella Rotkiewicz (three singles, two RBIs) and Kali Lewis (single).
Madison Lemay, Carson Farrell, Kayden Viencek and Olivia Lemay all played well defensively and did the job on the basepaths. Gloria McDonald pitched 17-plus innings, striking out 39, and Laurie pitched 3-plus innings, striking out three.