Pittsfield Americans Outlast Dalton in Back-And-Forth Tourney Final
DALTON, Mass. – Jeremiah Bullett drove in the tying run and raced around the bases for the go-ahead score in the bottom of the bottom of the fourth Saturday as the Pittsfield Little League American Division 11-year-old All-Stars beat Dalton-Hinsdale, 9-7, in the Don Gleason District 1 Championship Game.
Bullett went 2-for-3 with a double, and Jake Knauth and Landon Marquis combined to strike out seven for the Americans, who went 4-0 over the last eight days to win the four-team tournament.
Dalton-Hinsdale earned nine hits, but Knauth and Marquis allowed just one walk. They also got a couple of big assists from catcher Alec Houghtaling, who threw out runners attempting to steal in the first and second.
Knauth stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, and Marquis left a runner at third with a game-ending strikeout in the sixth.
“We work really hard with our pitchers to not get shaken up when they see runners on the bases,” Pittsfield American Coach Demary said. “They just keep pitching and pitch hard and work hard, especially when they see bunters square up to bunt. If they bunt it, they bunt it; we’ve got to play defense.
“Our pitchers today worked really hard. They did the best they could.”
Marquis, who started the game at shortstop, delivered a first-inning triple and scored on a pitch to the backstop to give the Americans a 1-0 lead.
They doubled that lead in the second when Lennon Greene walked, moved up on a passed ball and Oliver Brown’s groundout and scored on another pitch to the backstop.
“We were a little bit behind the ball today,” Demary said. “We weren’t swinging the bat efficiently at the top, and then we basically had to manufacture our runs on the baspaths – just put pressure on the other team.
“But that’s a great team over there, Dalton-Hinsdale. They played really well, and they kept us on our toes today. Hats off to them.”
Thomas Kudzeba led off the top of the third with a triple and scored on Cam Sievers’ ground ball to give Dalton-Hinsdale its first run. Leah Melle, who drew a two-out walk, eventually scored on Sully Duquette’s single up the middle to tie the game.
Pittsfield American struck for four runs in the third with the benefit of just one hit, Bullett’s double.
But Dalton-Hinsdale mounted a five-run rally in the fourth to take a 7-6 lead.
An error and a catcher’s interference call got the rally started. But the designated visitors got singles from Kuzdeba, Sievers and David Duquette and an RBI triple from Melle, who scored on an error on the play to give her team a one-run advantage.
In the bottom of the frame, Brennan Lyon hit a one-out single but was thrown out attempting to go to third on a single by Will Nichols. By drawing the throw, Lyon allowed Nichols to reach second, and he scored on Bullett’s single. Bullett went to second on the throw home, and a couple of miscues by Dalton-Hinsdale allowed him to come home on the play and make it 8-7, Americans.
In the bottom of the fifth, Mike Ressler reached on an error and eventually scored on Lyon’s RBI groundout to give Marquis a little bit of a cushion going to the sixth.
Sully Duquette and David Duquette handled the pitching duties for Dalton-Hinsdale, combining to strike out five.
Pittsfield American, whose program won the 10-year-old State Championship a year ago, now heads to sectional play, where it will travel to District 4 on Thursday.
