Berkshire Benchmarks Releases State of the County Update

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Benchmarks data team recently released a State of the County Update for 2023. 
 
This brief report builds on the Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County Report published in May 2022 and highlights notable changes in regional indicators over the past year. The berkshirebenchmarks.org website has also been updated to reflect the most current available data. 
 
The purpose of the Benchmarks initiative and report is to highlight the region's successes and challenges.
 
The 2022 Berkshire Benchmarks State of the County report provided a comprehensive overview of our region's performance across eight sectors: Economy, Education, Environment, Government, Health, Housing, Social Environment, and Transportation.  
 
In the future, the Berkshire Benchmarks team will continue to monitor these and other indicators to aid with the regional understanding of changes in these sectors and whether the work happening throughout the region is having the intended impact. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks is a collaborative initiative managed through Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC). Our sources are publicly available data, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, various Massachusetts data sets, and periodic surveys of Berkshire County residents. 
 
Berkshire Benchmarks aims to work with the community to understand priorities and help inform the region on how we are doing and if we are improving. Berkshire Benchmarks enhances the region's access to quality data and analysis. 

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Westfield Babe Ruth Tops Pittsfield 13s in Game One of Series

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – JJ Gonzalez Monday led the Westfield Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Stars on the mound and at the plate in a 10-2 win over Pittsfield to open the best-of-three Western Massachusetts Championship Series.
 
Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs. He also earned the win on the bump by striking out three, walking one and allowing one run in 4 and a third innings of work.
 
He was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Pittsfield’s Mateo Herrera early, but one moment of shaky defense opened the door to a big third inning for the visitors, and Pittsfield never recovered at Deming Park.
 
Westfield’s Lucas Maak worked a walk to start the third, bringing its No. 9 hitter to the plate, and Jaedon Badillo dropped down a bunt. Pittsfield’s defense surrounded the ball but could not produce a throw, allowing Badillo to reach.
 
Then the next Westfield hitter, Eric Dean, got his bunt down and reached first to load the bases with nobody out and bring the top of the order to the plate.
 
Three of the next four hitters singled – Gonzalez driving in a pair – and the visitors produced seven hits in all in the rally that left them with a 6-0 lead.
 
“We practiced it the last two weeks, bunt defense, first and thirds,” Pittsfield coach Francis McKeon said. “We just, we’ve got to make an adjustment where we see fit.
 
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