Long Ball, Defense Lift Lanesborough at New England Regional
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CHELMSFORD, Mass. -- Thomas Martin and Landen Jamula homered in a four-run fourth inning that propelled the Lanesborough Bulldogs to a 10-7 win over Oxford, Conn., on Sunday at the Cal Ripken Baseball 12-year-old New England Regionals.
Lanesborough (1-2 in pool play) trailed, 7-4, going into the inning, but Martin led off with a homer to center field.
After Oxford got a pair of outs, Oscar Low drew a walk and Derek Paris doubled to center for Jamula, who hit a 2-0 pitch over the fence to give Lanesborough the lead.
Tristan Gardner homered to plate Jack Gitterman in the fifth as the Bulldogs went ahead, 10-7, and Low pitched a scoreless sixth to nail down the win.
“Our kids played great, but we tell them all the time it's the small things that will win games,” Lanesborough coach Rick Paris said. “Even though we hit the ball well, our defense is what kept us in the game. We hit our cutoffs, which helped us get a runner trying to advance on a throw from right to home plate. Things like that make a huge impact on a game.
“They saw it first hand today and I'm sure they will remember that. Now when we say it in practice it will now mean even more to them.”
Panayiotis Constantopoulos and Josh Polumbo combined to pitch five innings, striking out seven.
Constantopoulos went 1-for-2 at the plate with three RBIs, and Paris, Gardner and Gitterman each had two hits.
The Bulldogs finished as the third seed in their pool and take on Lisbon, Maine, on Monday at 7:30.
