The veteran-laden Greenfield Post 81 senior team is prepared for the challenges that the Massachusetts American Legion State Tournament will present.
After winning the District 3 title on Tuesday against Belchertown, Greenfield earned a spot in the state tournament, which begins on Saturday. Post 81 opens with a contest against Rockland Post 147, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Fino Field in Milford.
For a lot of Greenfield players, this will be the third state tournament they’ve competed in the last calendar year between the Massachusetts Chairman’s Cup State Tournament last summer, the state tournament during the high school season and now the Massachusetts American Legion State Tournament.
“We have a lot of veteran guys going into this,” Luippold said. “The guys are getting used to the state tournaments in a weird way. It’s a good problem to have that everyone knows what to expect. We know the competition is going to be near perfect. They won’t make mistakes, they’ll hit the ball and they’ll throw harder than what we’ve been seeing.”
Having that experience, as well as the confidence gained from winning a few games at the Chairman’s Cup last year as well as some big wins to reach the state tournament, gives Post 81 confidence it can go get the job done this weekend against the top competition the Commonwealth has to offer.
“We know what it takes to win these games,” Luippold said. “We know how important pitching and putting the ball in play is. Against Belchertown in the District 3 finals, we only struck out twice and kept putting the ball in play. It kept the pressure on them to make plays in the field. It helps that everyone has been in these big moments before.”
After the season it’s had to far, it’s no wonder Greenfield is entering the tournament feeling good about itself. Post 81 has won its last 12 games, entering the state tournament with a 16-2 record on the summer.
Seven different players are hitting over .400 during those 18 games. Tyler Dubruil leads the way in that category, batting an absurd .613 and is slugging .954 from the leadoff spot.
Mike Bassett (.441), Ben Martino (.428), Kevin Baumann (.423), Jake Sak (.423), David Carey (.411) and Kyle Barnes (.406) have all been dynamite at the plate so far, with Post 81 filled with other players who have consistently found ways on base this summer.
On the mound, Carey, TJ Thibeault and Tyler Baranowski have handled the majority of the workload, with Hugh Cyhowski and Bassett also logging a fair share of innings. Thibeault has the team-leading ERA of 1.90, followed by Baranowski with a 2.30 ERA.
“Every game after a win or a loss, we praise our pitchers,” Luippold said. “It reminds everyone on our team that it’s the pitching that gets the job done. It’s up to our offense to score more than they let up. Every game our pitchers have done the job of keeping us in the games, whether we went on to win or lose. We have very few earned runs this year and a lot are through our own mistakes. The pitching will carry us. If we perform on the mound, then we just have to put the barrel on the ball.”
Luippold credits the team energy for their success thus far, as they’ve stuck together and played as a team throughout.
“Last year we put up runs in every game [of the Chairman’s Cup],” Luippold said. “We know what it takes. If we compete and do what we’ve been doing all season — staying hot at the plate and hot on the mound — the results will come. A lot of credit goes to our bench and captains for keeping things together this season. Jake Sak and Dylan Martin are our two captains and I chose them because they always bring energy and are loud whether we’re in the game or not. Their energy lifts our team up.”
After Rockland, Post 81 will play either Quincy or Milford, depending on how the opening game goes. No matter the opponent, Greenfield will be ready.
“I am really confident,” Luippold said. “I’m sure the butterflies will hit once the first pitch is thrown but before that we know what we’ve had to do to prepare for this. We’ll be ready to go.”