Legion baseball: Ethan Mauthe walks it off for Greenfield Post 81 against Longmeadow (Video)

GREENFIELD — Ethan Mauthe lined a walk-off single for Greenfield Post 81 in a 3-2 win over Longmeadow Post 175 at Veterans Memorial Field on Monday night.

Greenfield had a 2-0 lead going into the final frame, but watched Longmeadow even the score going into the bottom half of the seventh. With two outs, Conner Bergeron hit a bloop double down the left field line to keep the inning alive. It certainly wasn’t a highlight worthy hit for Bergeron. Given the situation, style-points did not matter.

“When you try to do too much,” Bergeron said. “You don’t do anything. I just slapped the ball.”

Mauthe entered the batter’s box and sent a hard liner over the shortstop’s head, allowing Bergeron to score easily from second base. It was the second walk-off hit for Mauthe during his baseball career. The first coming during his time with Pioneer Valley Regional.

“Anything close I am swinging,” Mauthe said. “It wasn’t the best day at the plate but throughout high school our coach always preached mental toughness. After some crappy roll over groundouts, that’s all I was thinking. Just mental toughness. Do some damage.

The win kept Greenfield unbeaten (10-0-1) on the season. There are three games remaining before the playoffs begin. Greenfield started playing closer baseball games in the second half of the season and the chance to play some baseball in high-pressure situations can only help the team heading into the postseason.

“It’s very important,” Greenfield coach Alex Siano said. “Some of the close games gets you ready for the playoffs. When you are beating teams by a lot, it’s good for stats and things like that but this was a baseball game tonight. Longmeadow really competed. They didn’t quit. That’s what I like. I hope our team would be in the same situation if we were down by two.”

Bergeron got the win on the mound, pitching an inning of relief. Arthur Fitzpatrick had a one-hitter with eight strikeouts going into the seventh inning. Fitzpatrick gave up two walks and an RBI double by Longmeadow’s Drew Kramer. In an instant, his dominant outing was a no-decision in the final box score. Fitzpatrick struck out the side on two occasions for Greenfield.

Bergeron took the mound with no outs and a runner on second. After a couple of strikeouts and a walk, Bergeron got Jack Arnold to fly out to keep things tied in the bottom of the seventh.

“It felt amazing to pick up Arthur (Fitzpatrick),” Bergeron said. “He was doing amazing. Just being able to clean up that inning felt great.”

Greenfield scored in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Nicholas Prasol led off the inning with a walk. Luca Siano brought him home with with a standup RBI triple. Siano’s blast went clear over the centerfielder’s head and rolled all the way to the fence.

Bodie Burke’s speed played a big part in Greenfield’s second run in the bottom of the sixth. First, Burke legged out an infield single. He then preceded to steal second base and third base before an RBI single by Prasol brought him home.

Greenfield is back at Veterans Memorial Field to play Monson Post 241 on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 5:45 p.m. Greenfield beat Monson 11-0 in five innings on June 15.