Elks, Parkside Survive Elimination Games in Pittsfield NL Tourney
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- A pair of pitchers dominated for Parkside, and Elks got a big performance from Chase Cook as those teams survived elimination bracket games in the Pittsfield National Little League playoffs on Saturday.
James Smith and Jackson Almeida combined on a no-hitter to send Parkside past Itam, 10-0, in five innings in Saturday's opener.
In Game 2 at Myron Gray Field, Cook went 4-for-4 with three extra base hits and struck out eight in five innings of work on the mound to lift the Elks to a 11-7 win over Civitan.
Parkside 10, Itam 0
Parkside got all the offense it needed when it batted around in the bottom of the second.
Four walks and a couple of balls to the backstop got things started, and doubles by Kevin Smith and Luke Ferguson accounted for three earned runs.
Almeida drove in a run with an infield single to make it 6-0 before Itam starter Michael Bondini was able to get the third out on a called third strike.
Parksid tacked on a pair of runs in the third without a base hit. In the fourth, Ferguson reached on an infield single and eventually scored on a wild pitch to get Parkside's margin up to nine runs.
It looked to be on the verge of ending the game right there, but reliever Chase O'Donnell went to the mound with the bases loaded and no out and proceeded to get out of the jam with a flyball, a strikeout and a grounder to second.
Itam's offense mounted its biggest threat in the fifth, putting two runners in scoring position with one out.
But Parkside reliever Almeida covered home to get a runner attempting to score on a ball to the backstop and then got the third out swinging to end the threat.
Almeida and Smith combined to strike out six in the win.
Parkside ended things in the fifth when Smith singled up the middle with one out, moved up on a pair of walks and scored on James Smith's single to push the margin to 10 runs.
Elks 11, Civitan 7
Cook hit a two-run double in a three-run first that gave the Elks a 3-1 lead, and they never looked back.
Xavier Southard (3-for-4) also doubled in the rally.
The Elks capitalized in the second when Eric Adler reached on a leadoff error. Southard, Nick Osorio and Cook hit three straight singles and pushed the lead to 5-1.
Civitan kept fighting back, cutting the lead to 5-3 in the third and 8-6 in the fifth.
Connor Paronto and Carmine Carnute each had an RBI single during those rallies.
Cook struck out the side to leave one man on base and stop the bleeding in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the fifth, Osorio (2-for-3) tripled and Cook doubled in a three-run Elks rally that extended their lead to 11-6.
Gavin Maffuccio doubled and scored for Civitan in the top of the sixth, but Elks reliever Southard left runners at the corners when he got the final out to bounce back to the mound.
Maffucio went 3-for-4 to lead Civitan's offense. Brendan Socie and Zander Tardibuono combined to strike out seven for Civitan.
The Elks and Parkside each stay alive in the tournament and will play on Monday evening against the losers of Sunday's winners' bracket games at Clapp Park.
More photos from these games to come.
PITTSFIELD AMERICAN LEAGUE
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Jay Codey's over-the-fence grand slam highlighted a busy day of playoff action at Deming Park.
IAC beat Berkshire Bank, 13-2, and Eastside topped the Sheriffs Department, 5-1.
For Codey, it was his third grand slam of the summer.
Mitch Hall recorded his first home run of the season.
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