DALTON, Mass. – Although the teams ended up combining for 10 runs, the Mount Greylock and Wahconah baseball teams were locked in a pitchers’ duel for most of their Friday afternoon meeting.
And in this round, Charlie Wendell got the better of Jameson Bayliss to lead Wahconah to a 6-4 win.
Wendell struck out six and walked two in 6-? innings before he ran out of gas. He carried a 6-1 lead into that seventh inning and had a shutout going through five.
“My curve ball and my slider were working well today,” Wendell said. “I was throwing that a bunch. They couldn’t touch it. It would break right down the plate. The changeup was also working really well.
“I gave up a bomb at the end of the game but still got the win.”
Mount Greylock’s Dylen Harrison delivered that bomb, a two-out, two-run shot over the left field fence in the seventh to help christen the new varsity field in Dalton.
That one mistake – which precipitated James Rabuse coming on to get the final out on a strikeout – could not take away from Wendell’s performance.
“He did a great job,” Wahconah coach Steve Messina said. “He pitched against Monument and did a great job there, too. We lost 3-2, but he’s thrown well every time he’s pitched. He’s typically around the plate, he’s tough.
“In tough situations where they’ve had runners in scoring position, he’s been able to work out of situations. I think he just ran out of gas at the end, and it was his time to come out. We wanted him to get the complete game, but we pushed him as far as we could.”
The toughest situation Wendell faced in the first six innings came in the top of the third with the game still scoreless.
Jason Jaros led off with Mount Greylock’s first hit of the game, and Mason Canata followed by reaching on a bunt, and Jackson Shelsy drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
Wendell got the next two batters on fly balls before getting a called third strike to end the threat.
“Getting out of that jam – and he’s been doing that all year, getting out of these crazy situations – that was huge,” Messina said. “That was a big shift. If they score a couple of runs there, who knows how this thing goes? That was important.”
Immediately after Wendell closed the door in the top of the third, Wahconah scored its first run in the bottom of the frame.
Lucas Wildrick got things started with a leadoff walk, and Ethan Orsini worked a walk behind him. Then, with one out, Rabuse singled to right to drive in Wildrick and give Wahconah a 1-0 lead.
It was able to extend that lead in the bottom of the fifth when Kinzer singled and eventually came home on a wild pitch and Rabuse doubled and scored on Braedyn Melle’s RBI single.
Mount Greylock got on the board in the top of the sixth when Harrison singled, stole second and scored on Jake Newberry’s two-out double to make it 3-1.
But Wahconah extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the frame.
Colby Robb drew a leadoff walk and went to second on a pitch to the backstop. Then, with two out, Matt Kinzer singled; an Mount Greylock’s only error of the game allowed Robb to score and sent Kinzer to third.
He came home on another RBI single by Rabuse (3-for-4 with a double). Rabuse then stole second and scored on Wendell’s RBI single to make it a five-run cushion going to the seventh.
That cushion came in handy when Mount Greylock mounted a one-out rally to chase Wendell.
Canata worked a one-out walk and eventually scored on Tommy Art’s two-out single. Harrison then hit Mount Greylock’s round-tripper of the spring to make it a two-run game.
“The one thing is, our team never gives up,” Mount Greylock coach Rick Paris said. “They still believe in themselves. They’re a young group. We’re making mistakes, but they’re getting better. They keep fighting, no matter what the score is. It doesn’t matter.”
One big positive for the Mounties (0-6) has been the pitching of Bayliss. The sophomore lost his third game on Friday, but he has 19 strikeouts in 11-? innings pitched. He lasted five innings on Friday before giving the ball to Jake Gladu for the sixth.
“That was his best outing of the year,” Paris said. “He was on. He pitched a really good game, and I’m happy for him. He pitched well enough to win. We just made too many mistakes.
“I think he got a little tired, and it was getting in his head a little bit. I didn’t want him out there getting frustrated. I didn’t want him to get up to 115 [pitches]. I didn’t want him to get that high. So I had Jake ready to go, and he was fresh, and I thought it was good point to switch it.”
Friday’s game marked the first matchup between Bayliss and Wendell, who have the distinction of each having an uncle who pitched in the major leagues: Jonah Bayliss, who pitched 61 games over three seasons with Kansas City and Pittsburg, and Turk Wendell, who won 36 games and picked up 33 saves over 11 years in the majors. And with Jameson a sophomore and Charlie a junior, it probably won’t be the last.
The game also marked the first matchup between Messina and the Mounties, a program he led for 28 years and where they named the field in his honor
last spring.
“I gotta tell you, it was awkward,” Messina said. “It was. It was strange. I’ve known Rick [Paris] for a really long time. I’ve known a few of those guys. I haven’t really coached these guys. I remember Jackson [Shelsy] in the fall league back then and Dylen [Harrison]. But other than tht, I don’t really know these kids too well.
“But it’s still part of who I am. I can’t deny that or ignore that. I was happy to see Rick. He’s been a great friend for a long time. It was a little awkward, to be honest, but you’ve got to push through that.”
Wahconah travels to Williamstown to play the Mounties on May 10.
Next up for Wahconah (3-3) is a trip to North County to face Drury on Saturday morning. Mount Greylock is at Ludlow on Monday.
