Pittsfield Completes Sweep of Taconic
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Simon Mele allowed no runs in 5 and two-thirds innings, and Morrie Fried went 2-for-3 with a home run to lead the Pittsfield baseball team to a 10-4 win over Taconic on Monday.
Mele struck out seven, walked four and allowed two hits in lowering his earned run average to 1.97 this spring.
“He’s been, for years for us, someone we can count on,” Pittsfield coach Drew Pearce said. “He did exceptionally well against a tough ball club right there, and he has, perennially, done well against them.
“I knew when we handed him the ball, he was going to give us a shot to get the ‘W.’ “
It was Pittsfield’s second win this season against the rival Thunder and improved the Generals’ record to 13-2 with three regular season games remaining.
Mele left the game with a 7-0 lead, two out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the sixth.
Jason Fields finished up that inning with an infield fly and split the rest of the game with Brendan Merwin.
Pittsfield’s offense got going in the top of the third inning when it broke open a scoreless game with four runs.
Cam Hillard reached on an error with one out, and, with two out, Matt Egan doubled to center field to bring Hillard home. Jason Codey’s single drove in Egan to make it 2-0, and Fried’s homer to right field doubled PIttsfield’s lead.
The Generals then built a picket fence with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth before adding three in a seventh-inning rally highlighted by ninth-grader Kevin Smith’s two-run triple to right-center.
Smith came home on a wild pitch to make it 10-0 going to the bottom of the seventh.
Taconic rallied, taking advantage of a couple of free passes, a Gavin Maffuccio single and an RBI double from Spencer Talis.
But with runners on second and third, Merwin got the game’s final out with a called third strike.
Quentin Christopher and Ethan O’Donnell split time on the mound for Taconic, striking out seven and allowing five earned runs.
For the Generals, Brendan Socie went 2-for-3 with a triple in a nine-hit attack.
Pearce said he was happy his team stayed disciplined against its crosstown rival.
“More than anything, I’ve got to make sure they’re under control, they’re thinking about the small things, the execution,” Pearce said. “Sometimes, baseball, it’s not like football. You don’t want to get too excited for an opponent like that.”
The next opponent for Pittsfield (13-2) also is familiar. The Generals Thursday will be home for a rematch against Springfield Central, a 4-1 winner when the teams met on April 14.
Taconic (5-7) is on the road Thursday at Minnechaug.