Greylock's Great Run Ends in WMass. Semifinals
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock baseball team made it to the semifinals of the Division 2 Western Massachusetts tournament with an unlikely pitching performance. Ironically, the Mounties got bounced from the semis in the same fashion on Wednesday.Palmer freshman Tyler Wilson held No. 9 Greylock to just one hit in six innings of work, using a deceptive curveball to keep the Mounties guessing and help the No. 4 Panthers to an 8-0 win in a game called after five and half innings due to lightning.
Wilson did his best Avery Cunningham impression, coming out of nowhere to pick up a huge playoff victory. Cunningham, in his third start of the season, held No. 1 Monument Mountain to just four hits in five plus innings of work in a 4-0 win for the Mounties in the Western Mass. quarterfinals last week.
A midseason call-up from the JV team, Wilson held Greylock (13-10) hitless through the first four and two-third innings before sophomore Eddie Dufur came through with a single in the fifth frame. Wilson struck out five Mounties overall to lead Palmer (15-7) to a WMass. finals appearance against either No. 2 Drury or No. 3 Wahconah. That semifinal game was postponed because of the lightning storm and will be made up on Friday at 4:30 p.m. at the MCLA Athletic Complex on West Shaft Road in North Adams.
Wednesday's game was postponed twice and eventually called after the Mounties had their turn to bat in the top of the sixth inning. Steve Messina's club was disappointed that it didn't get its last outs in the seventh, but it just wasn't Greylock's day against a Panthers' team that played exceptional defense on Wednesday.
After the first lightning delay, the Mounties finally picked up the angle on Wilson's curveball and slapped three sharply-hit balls to the outfield. Unfortunately for Greylock, however, Palmer's defense was in the right spot every time to make the out.
The Panthers' offense was able to score early and often against Mounties' freshman starter Robbie Buffis. Tyler Mastalerz and Ian Sawicki each clocked extra-base hits in a two-run second inning. Mike Barry then added a two-run single in a three-run third, helping Palmer open up a 5-0 lead.
Buffis allowed four earned runs on three hits in two innings of work to take the loss. He walked four batters without a strikeout to see his record drop to 4-1 in his first season with the varsity squad. Ben Coleman and Andrew Leitch combined to give up four more runs in three innings of relief.
While the ending might have not been the script Greylock would have written, Messina has to be happy with the way his team of 13 underclassmen performed down the stretch. The Mounties won eight out of their last 11 games, including two postseason games and one big upset over the top-seeded Spartans.