Mount Greylock's Apotsos, Pittsfield's Fried Recognized

As the regular season winds down, this week’s iBerkshires.com/Bedard Bros. Athletes of the Week are heading into the post-season at the head of teams that are poised to make a lot of noise.

 

The Pittsfield baseball team was a Western Massachusetts champion and state semi-finalist a year ago and enters post-season play among the favorites in both tournaments once again.

 

With Morrie Fried leading the offense, the Generals have compiled a 15-3 regular season record that puts them at the top of the Western Mass Class B bracket and the top of the MIAA’s latest in-season power rankings in Division 3 statewide.

 

Fried leads Pittsfield in batting average (.389), runs (17), home runs (five) and RBIs (19).

 

The Brown University-bound high school senior had 11 homers last year to go with a .467 batting average.

 

The Generals open post-season play on Monday on Buddy Pellerin Field at Clapp Park against a familiar foe, eighth-seeded Monument Mountain, who the Generals beat in Saturday’s regular season finale.

 

Also on Saturday, Mount Greylock’s Rowan Apotsos put on a show at the Berkshire County Individuals Championships, winning the 200 meters, 400 meters and triple jump on a day when she was recognized as the MVP of the Berkshire County League for her performance during the dual meet season.

 

Apotsos said the BCI is a good opportunity for the county’s track and field athletes to have a little fun before the higher-pressure Western Massachusetts and state meets down the line.

 

“I especially treat this meet as just, ‘Try your best, push for it, but it’s not the end of the world,’ “ Apotsos said. “It’s not a team scoring meet like Western Mass and D6 where it’s definitely like, ‘Dang, you have to do this because you have to get a certain amount of points.’

 

“This one, you have everyone in the county here. You get to run with your friends. This one’s definitely more fun.”

 

The Mount Greylock girls have had their fair share of fun in the post-season, too. They go into next week’s Western Mass meet as the three-time defending champion in that event, and they will go to Westfield State May 28 and 30 as the two-time defending Division 6 Champions.

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Bedard Bros.