GREENFIELD — It may have looked a little unusual — umpires wearing masks and positioned a bit differently than normal, baseballs sanitized regularly — but when Bryan Baumann connected with a lead-off single in the bottom of the first inning, fans were quickly reminded of the sport that had been missing in Greenfield until Thursday night.
David Carey smacked a double and a triple, and Dylan Apanell earned the victory in relief on the mound as Greenfield upended Agawam, 7-2, in the opening game of the Western Mass. Summer Baseball League under the lights at Vets Field.
The 10-team Senior Division is serving as a replacement for the American Legion season, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
“It definitely resembled baseball like we all know it,” explained Greenfield skipper Kyle Phelps. “These kids have waited so long to actually get to this point and be out here playing games. They all had smiles on their faces so it was good to see.”
A sizable crowd at Vets got a glimpse of what sports will look like on the local level for the foreseeable future. Umpires and coaches wore masks the entire time. The home plate umpire was positioned behind the pitcher’s mound, maintaining distance from players while calling balls and strikes. Areas around the dugouts were roped off to keep fans away, and players sat spread out on the bleachers and in lawn chairs in between innings. Baseballs that were frequently used during an inning were sanitized.
As for the action itself, Greenfield scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning and never trailed. Four pitchers combined to allow just one hit, as Agawam was held hitless until the top of the seventh inning.
Owen Phelps drove in the first run of the season, lifting a sacrifice fly to center field in the second inning that plated Matt Gardner. Joel Peabody and Jacob Quinn also drove in runs later in the inning to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage.
It was 3-1 in the fourth before Greenfield tacked on two more. Pinch runner Gabe Gochinski scored on a DeForest infield single, and DeForest later scored on an overthrow after stealing third base to make it 5-1.
Carey made it 6-1 in the fifth when he tripled home Waitkus, who had doubled earlier in the frame, and DeForest drove home Jaden Whiting (walk) with an RBI single in the sixth to give Greenfield a 7-1 cushion.
Apanell struck out two in 1 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win, as he came on in the top of the third to replace starter Jacob Berry (2 2/3 innings, three strikeouts). Phelps tossed two scoreless innings, striking out four batters, including the side in the fifth, before Gardner closed it out with an inning of relief. All told, the Greenfield pitching staff recorded 12 strikeouts.
“We pitched four guys and they were all under the pitch count,” Phelps said. “Depending on how they go, we’ll probably try and do something similar for the next few weeks – go with three or four guys a night. They were all pretty tired. It’s going to take a little while for guys to get their wind.”
Greenfield is back in action Saturday night with a home game against West Springfield. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Vets Field.