Hitting Depth Lifts Pittsfield American 10s to District 1 Crown
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – This year’s Pittsfield Little League American Division 10-year-olds are perfectly positioned to take advantage of this year’s Little League rules.
For the first time this year, Little League has instituted a “rotary lineup” rule, meaning that all the active players on a team’s roster are in the batting order at the start of the game.
The Americans Saturday showed off just how deep their lineup can go in a 17-4 win over Great Barrington in the championship game of the Don Gleason District 1 Tournament.
The bottom six hitters of Pittsfield’s 12-player lineup went 7-for-7 with a home run, two triples and a double as the team earned a five-inning win behind a stellar pitching performance from Mason Fox.
“One through 12, these kids put the ball in play,” Pittsfield American manager Ryan Brown said. “They put the ball in play hard. And that’s been our signature: one through 12, hitting the ball, putting pressure on the defense.”
Pittsfield’s No. 7 hitter, Shaun Boehm, went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs, including an inside-the-park home run. Vaughn Czerwinski was 2-for-3 with a triple and scored twice from the 10 hole.
“With the [rotary lineup], I feel like it sets us up for success, because we have 12 solid hitters who are going to put the ball in play every time,” Brown said.
On Saturday, the Americans also got a solid performance on the mound from Fox, who ran into just one speed bump, in the first inning, when a couple of errors opened the door to a three-run inning for Great Barrington.
After that, he worked 1-2-3 innings in the second and third, allowed a single run in the fourth with his team up 12-3 and got the first two outs in the sixth before he ran out of pitches. Czerwinski came out of the pen to get the final out on a strikeout.
“He’s just a gamer,” Brown said of Fox. “He goes out there. He’s got a smile on his face the whole time, and he just gets it done. He pitched an absolute gem today.”
Great Barrington’s Chase Bragdon earned one of three hits allowed by Fox to help the South County squad take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
The rally included a steal of home on a delayed double steal with Satchel Fisher at third and Brayden King at first.
Great Barrington had a chance to extend its lead with runners at second and third with one out, but Pittsfield American’s Edaniel Hebert speared a fly ball in left and alertly threw to third to double off the runner and end the inning.
The Americans got one run back in the top of the second on Beohm’s round-tripper with two out.
They took the lead in the top of the third, which started with Czerwinski’s leadoff triple and included hits from Mateo Herrera, Oliver Brown (4-for-4, three RBIs) and Sean Pedrotti.
In the fourth, the floodgates opened as Pittsfield American tacked on six more runs to take a 12-3 lead.
Pittsfield’s No. 12 hitter, Gabriel Ramirez, hit a three-run double, and Chase Albano delivered a two-run triple in that rally.
In the fifth, Pittsfield American ended all hopes for a Great Barrington comeback with a five-run inning that featured a two-run triple from Fox, who was hitting eighth.
Julian Winters started on the mound for Great Barringotn and struck out five in 3 and one-third innings. Tyler Warren and King pitched in relief.
Pittsfield American moves on to the 10-year-old Sectional Tournament, where it will host Westfield on Thursday night at Deming Park.
