Larabee Leads Adams Aces to BABL Playoff Win
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. -- League batting champion Matt Larabee went 5-for-5 on Saturday morning to lead the Adams Aces to a 21-5 win over the Thunder in Game 1 of their Berkshire Adult Baseball League 35-and-over division playoff series.
Larabee drove in four runs, and Pete Greenbush went 4-for-5 with two RBIs for Adams, which can close out the best 2-of-3 semi-final with a win in Sunday's 10 a.m. start at Renfrew Field. If the Thunder comes back to tie the series, it goes to a deciding Game 3 at 1 p.m. at Renfrew for the right to take on the regular season champion Bandits.
Larabee, who hit .590 in the regular season, had the game's first hit on Saturday, a two-out single off Jeremy Broadwell. But after Greenbush followed with a single, Broadwell got the third out on a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
The Thunder rallied with two runs in the bottom of the first to take the early lead. Mike Kirchner drove in the game's first run with a single to left, and Chad Paronto was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-0.
Adams struck back in the top of the second, doing damage with the bottom of its lineup.
Jamie Zdon singled and scored a run, and Steve Kowalczyk drove in two runs and scored to spark a four-run rally to take the lead.
After the Thunder trimmed that lead to one in the bottom of the second, the Aces exploded for nine in the third.
Larabee started things off with a little bit of luck, dropping a fly ball in the middle of the defense on the right side of the infield and alertly taking second when no one covered the bag. From there, it just got worse for the Thunder as the first seven batters reached base.
Larabee added a two-run single later in the rally, and after he stole second, he came home on a Greenbush single to make it 13-3.
Adams starter Trevor Swistak quieted the Thunder through the middle innings, stranding two in the third and pitching a 1-2-3 fourth to give his team a chance to close the game out in five via the 10-run rule.
But the hosts spoiled that plan in the bottom of the fifth.
Kirchner hit a one-out double and moved up on Jermaine Sistrunk's single to right. After Paronto drew a walk to load the bases, Jared Williams worked a seven-pitch walk to bring home the Thunder's fourth run and the promise of a sixth inning.
In the sixth, the Thunder earned another run when Travis Lanski's sac fly brought home Pat Engle to make it 13-5.
But the Aces batted around again in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. Larabee delivered a two-run single and two Thunder errors helped an eight-run rally to provide the final margin.
Swistak ended up striking out three over six innings of work before Dave Vidal came in from the outfield to pitch a scoreless seventh.
In the league's 20-plus division, the Great Barrington Millers and Cornerstone each took Game 1 of its respective best-of-three semifinal. Great Barrington defeated BBA, 9-4, and Cornerstone topped Housatonic, 5-2.
Each of those series concludes Sunday with either one or two games, starting at 10 a.m. Great Barrington and BBA meet at Lanesborough's Laston Field; Cornerstone and Housatonic play at Clapp Park.
