Blanchard, Carpenter Power Sheffield Legion to Western Mass Title
SHEFFIELD, Mass. -- A pair of Jacks handed Sheffield Post 340 a Western Massachusetts title on Thursday night.
Jackson Blanchard and Jack Carpenter combined to go 6-for-8 with two triples, two doubles and five runs scored as Sheffield’s Junior American Legion Baseball team beat East Longmeadow Post 293, 9-2, to claim the sectional crown and a berth in the state championship tournament that starts Saturday at Spec Pond in Wilbraham.
Luke Patella and Carpenter split time on the mound, striking out four and scattering four hits.
In every respect, it was a 180-degree turnaround from the teams’ meeting on Wednesday, a 15-0 East Longmeadow win that forced them to play an “if necessary” game to conclude the double-elimination tourney.
“We had one hit,” Sheffield coach Tom Fielding said of Wednesday’s loss in Chicopee. “We just couldn’t get the bat on the ball. Our No. 9 guy didn’t get up twice in the game. Of course, it was shortened to five innings. But that’s never happened to us, not getting our No. 9 guy up twice.”
What a difference 24 hours can make.
On Thursday, Sheffield had two hits -- including Carpenter’s triple -- and scored five runs in the top of the first inning.
“The weird thing was, we had the game here, but we weren’t the home team,” Fielding said. “That was very confusing to all of us, how that all played out, but we were glad to be here. We thought, ‘You know what, if we’re not the home team, let’s just get some runs.
“And the boys, they did their jobs. Smart baserunning, good hitting.”
Blanchard led off the game with a single up the middle and promptly stole second.
Cooper Shepardson and John Fielding then each worked a walk to load the bases.
Blanchard scored when a ball got to the backstop for the game’s first run, and Carpenter launched a triple to right center to make it 3-0.
Joshua Hunter then walked, becoming the fifth straight player to reach base. He stole second, and an errant throw on the play allowed Carpenter to come home and make it 4-0.
Hunter stole third and scored an the inning’s second error to give Patella a five-run cushion before he threw a pitch.
East Longmeadow responded by cashing in on an error for an unearned run in the bottom of the first, but Patella bounced back, getting a strikeout and a stellar play by Blanchard at short to strand two runners.
Patella put up three scoreless innings while his teammates tacked on insurance runs in the second and fourth.
In the second, Blanchard hit a one-out triple and scored when Shepardson reached by striking out and hustling to first on a ball that got to the backstop..
In the fourth, Blanchard led off with a double and scored on a pair of wild pitches to make it 7-1.
East Longmeadow got a leadoff infield single on a comebacker to the mound to start the fifth and got a run across before Carpenter took the ball from Patella and got a grounder to Blanchard to leave the bases loaded.
“It’s a great group of ballplayers, and they’ve all contributed in different ways all year,” Tom Fielding said of his defense. “Tonight, [third baseman Hunter] was the highlight player. But different games, it’s different guys. … Every game it’s someone different.
“It’s nice to have a great group where you don’t have to rely on just a handful of guys to do well. We’ve got nine guys on the field who are always doing well. And the guys we bring in to fill in the gaps do well, too.”
A hit-batter, a walk and a couple of errors helped Sheffield score two more runs in the sixth. Carpenter closed by striking out two and allowing one baserunner in 2-⅓ innings of work.
Sheffield Post 340, which revived South County American Legion Baseball this summer, will now try to bring home a state title in year one.
“It feels awesome,” Fielding said. “And I hope that the program, because of that, people are going to say, ‘Hey, this is a legit kind of team.’ Maybe more kids will want to play in this American Legion program.
“Maybe next year we can have a Junior and a Senior Division program, really expand the program that way. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
