GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – The last unbeaten baseball team in Berkshire County had no trouble earning win No. 5 on Saturday afternoon.
Peter Free went 3-for-3 with a double in a 16-hit Monument Mountain attack as the Spartans beat Lenox, 21-2, in five innings.
Collin Parker worked three effective innings on the mound in his first start of the year, leaving with a 16-2 lead and handing the ball over to Jack Bissillon and Marco Buffoni, who each threw a scoreless inning of relief.
Nine different Spartans had at least one hit. Six had multiple hits in the team’s most productive offensive day of the season.
It was a 6-2 game when Monument Mountain exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the third to put the game out of reach. It ended up batting around again in the fourth after coach Tom Hankey cleared his bench.
One year removed from a run to the Western Massachusetts Division 3 quarter-finals, Monument Mountain is establishing itself as a potential contender in the newly configured Division 4 field.
“We didn’t lose anybody from last year,” Hankey said. “And we gained a couple of youngsters who filled in pretty nicely for us. We’ve got our goals set, and we’re trying to improve every day.
“We’re never happy. We’re always trying to get better. And the kids will tell you the same thing. We don’t get satisfied with anything. We just try to get better every practice. And every game.”
Saturday’s matinee started relatively quietly with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Buffoni reached on a one-out bunt single and went to third on Jayder Raifstanger’s double to left. After Cole Bisaillon drew an intentional walk, Free doubled to right for two of his four RBIs on the day.
In the second, Braxton Crandall and Dominick Velasco notched back-to-back singles at the bottom of Monument Mountain’s lineup to ignite a four-run rally
“We were very disciplined in the at-bats today,” Hankey said. “We swung well. We stayed in the zone where we didn’t chase too much, and we had a good result today.”
Lenox (1-5) cut into the six-run deficit with two in the top of the third.
No. 9 hitter Sam Joyce got things started with a leadoff single. He moved up on a walk and took third on Brendan Armstrong’s one-out single that loaded the bases.
Cliff Flynn was then hit by a pitch to bring in a run and leave the bases loaded for Max DiGrigoli, whose RBI groundout made it a 6-2 game and gave the Millionaires some life.
But the wind was taken out of Lenox’s sails in the bottom of the third.
Fifteen Spartans came to the plate as they pounded out eight hits. Camden Raifstanger and Cole Bissaillon each doubled in the rally, which also saw Lenox commit three errors to help Monument Mountain go on top, 16-2.
Five more Millionaire miscues fueled a five-run fourth for the Spartans.
As successful as Monument Mountain has been this spring, the one thing it has not been able to do is get on the field for all its scheduled contests. And with rescheduled games starting to pile up, it was probably just as well that Saturday’s game did not go the distance.
“Collin [Parker] did a great job,” Hankey said. “And it was his first start. Every time it was his turn to pitch, we had a rainout. So he’s been very patient with it, and he had a good outing for us today. And Jack [Bissaillon] having his first outing as a freshman and Marco [Buffoni], it was nice to see the pitching.
“We need depth. We have a bunch of games coming up. We’re going to need it.”
Monument Mountain goes to Monson on Monday.
Lenox hosts Drury on Monday.
