Fresh off an MIAA Division I state championship, members of the Taconic High School baseball team have continued to enjoy success this week in American Legion action.
With several Braves on the roster, Pittsfield Post 68 held Greenfield Post 81 scoreless on Friday night. Pittsfield scored the game’s only runs in the top of the third, picking up a 2-0 victory in a Senior Division contest at Veterans Memorial Field in Greenfield.
Pittsfield’s Matt Koperniak, who plays baseball at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., struck out eight batters in a complete-game shutout. He scattered three hits and worked out of several late-inning jams to lift the visitors to victory.
Zach Mooney, Ben Arnold and Adam Hallenbeck had the hits for Post 81 (5-4), which received a stellar pitching performance from Quinn Doyle. The left-hander went the distance, with the third-inning, two-run single from Jack Scarafoni the lone blemish.
“Their pitching was tough, though Quinn definitely pitched well enough to win,” said Post 81 coach Kyle Phelps.
Greenfield’s defense certainly did its best to stay in the game. Post 81 turned a whopping five double plays on the night, a figure that manager Bill Phelps said he hasn’t seen in some 48 years of coaching.
“To turn that many double plays against a good team like (Pittsfield), that was incredible,” Kyle Phelps offered. “Our defense kept us in it.”
Greenfield had its chances late in the game to get to Koperniak and Pittsfield (5-2). The hosts had runners on second and third in the fifth and sixth innings, as well as two runners on base in the seventh.
“I told the guys after the game, we proved we can play with the big boys in the league,” said Phelps, referring to Friday night’s result as well as a 5-4 loss to league-leader Northampton last week. “If we play like this defensively, we’re going to be in some games going forward.”
Next up for Post 81 is a doublehader on Sunday against Longmeadow (noon) and East Longmeadow (7 p.m.). Both games are scheduled to be played at Vets Field.
Teddy Bear 5, DiFranco 0 — It was quite the week for Teddy Bear Pools.
The Poolmen capped off a perfect 3-0 week on Friday night, as the club blanked DiFranco Realty, 5-0, in a Tri-County League amateur men’s baseball game at G.T. Valiton Field in South Deerfield.
Teddy Bear won all three games on the week via shutouts, improving to 4-5 with the modest win streak.
“Our defense has been great and our pitching has been spectacular,” lauded Teddy Bear manager Harlan Bean of the streak. “Giving up no earned runs all week… that’s pretty impressive.”
Teddy Bear scored all five runs in the bottom of the sixth to snag the win. Tim Capuano and Julian Diamond singled with two outs, and Mike Griswold reached on an error that plated Capuano to make it a 1-0 game. Trevor Edwards singled to load the bases, setting the stage for Brad Bean’s two-run single to push the advantage to 3-0. Seth Leslie followed with a two-run double, staking the home team to a 5-0 lead after six frames.
That would be plenty for starting pitcher Andrew Sadowski, who struck out six and walked three in six innings of work to pick up the victory. Sadowski, Seth Bella-Hunter and Sam Downes combined to limit DiFranco to just three hits, all singles.
Bean and Leslie had two hits apiece in the win.
Teddy Bear is back in action on Monday when it hosts Longmeadow at 6 p.m.