Lenox Advances Behind Bazinet, Hoff Brothers

LENOX, Mass. – With one out and the bases juiced in a 3-1 ballgame on Sunday, Bryce Hoff delivered the knockout blow.

 

Hoff lifted a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right field for a sixth-inning grand slam that sent the Lenox baseball team on to a 7-2 win over Rockport in the first round of the Division 5 State Tournament.

 

“I knew I had to get a hit,” Hoff said. “I had to secure the win, pretty much.

 

“I was 0-for-3 on the day. I had to do something for Robbie. We had to back him up.”

 

Robbie Bazinet was in control all afternoon on the mound, striking out eight, walking just one and allowing only three hits in the complete-game win.

 

Fourteenth-seeded Lenox (13-7) advances to face No. 3 Hopkins Academy in the Sweet 16. Hopkins on Sunday won its tournament opener against McCann Tech.

 

The Millionaires Sunday built a picket fence early with runs in the first, second and third innings to take a 3-0 lead.

 

In the first, Bazinet helped his cause with a two-out double to left, and David Kirchner followed with a shot to the left side to make it 1-0.

 

In the second, Blake Hoff blasted a leadoff homer to left to double the margin.

 

And in the third, Seamus Cooney worked a walk and eventually scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch.

 

Bazinet, meanwhile, bounced back from giving up a two-out hit in the top of the first to retire nine straight hitters – five on strikeouts.

 

“All speeds,” Bazinet said when asked to describe what was working for him on the mound. “We tried to fuel off what they were saying. Coming out the second inning, they were talking about my off-speed [pitch], so we just attacked them with that.

 

“And it worked.”

 

The 19th-seeded Vikings (1-18) broke through with a run in the top of the fourth.

 

With two out, Christian Gallagher singled up the middle. The next hitter, Jerry Adams, doubled to left field, and Gallagher, running on contact, came around to make it 3-1.

 

The next Rockport hitter was hit by a pitch to put the tying run on first, but Bazinet got out of the jam when second baseman Kody Lesser made a diving play on a ball up the middle and flipped to Kirchner at the bag for the inning-ending forceout.

 

“Our two middle infielders had a heck of a game in the field,” Lenox coach Bryan Maloy said. “A couple of diving plays that kind of changed the game if they didn’t make them.

 

“That’s huge. Helps pitchers out, keeps the pitch count down, allows us to do a little more with that. Definitely, a big game for us all around today.”

 

In the top of the sixth with it still a 3-1 score, Kirchner made a diving stop at short and reached to touch the bag at second ahead of a runner to end the inning.

 

In the bottom of the frame, the Millionaires all but put the contest out of reach.

 

Lesser worked a one-out walk, and Jason Sibley and Logan Slater each were hit by a pitch to bring up Bryce Hoff, whose grand slam made it a six-run game going to the seventh.

 

“It’s one thing pitching, 0-0,” Bazinet said. “It’s another thing pitching, 7-1, going to the seventh. It’s huge.”

 

Rockport worked Bazinet’s first walk of the game to start the seventh. A couple of pitches to the backstop put that runner on third, where he scored on a ground ball for the second out of the inning. Bazinet then got the final out on a grounder to Mason Daley at third.