Pittsfield Babe Ruth 14s Edged in Regional Final
NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Pittsifeld Babe Ruth 14-year-old All-Stars battled back from a 5-0 deficit to win Sunday's New England Regional Semi-Final.
But a late two-run rally by Trumbull, Conn., was too much to overcome.
Trumbull erased an early one-run deficit for a 3-1 win in the title game at North Providence High School, claiming a berth in next month's Babe Ruth World Series and denying this cohort of Pittsfield players a second straight trip to the national championship tourney.
Pittsfield, which cruised through pool play at the regional with a 3-0 record, ran into a major speedbump in the semis against Eastern Massachusetts Champion Braintree.
Braintree scored five runs in the top of the first to put Pittsfield in a deep hole.
But manager Ben Stohr's team had plenty of time to battle back and did just that, earning a 7-6 win to grab a spot in the regional title game.
"We really love these guys," said Stohr, who coached mostly the same group to a spot in the World Series Championship Game last August in Glen Allen, Va. "The grit and stick-to-itiveness they have to down five runs in a blink of an eye in that first game -- a weaker tam would have rolled over in that situation and chalked it up to just not being their day.
"But we knew, 1 to 15, these guys ahve great character and great fight."
In the finale, Pittsfield scored its run in the top of the first, and starter Luke Ferguson held that lead into the fourth before Trumbull scored an unearned run to tie it.
Pittsfield's second error of the game helped the Nutmeg State squad score two in the bottom of the fifth -- more than enough of a margin for Trumbull hurler Ryan DeMelo, who struck out five and scattered five hits in a complete-game win.
Semi-Final
Braintree used three hits, two walks and a Pittsfield error to generate five runs in its first at-bat.
Pittsfield, which earned a day off on Saturday thanks to its undefeated performance in pool play, looked a little rusty in the early going.
And its bats were quiet as well the first time through the order.
But in the bottom of the third, No. 10 hitter Brenden Socie beat out an infield single with one out.
He was erased when leadoff hitter Christian Barry reached on a fielder's choice.
After Jackson Almeida was hit by a pitch to put two on with two out, Morris Fried crushed a ball to right field and chased his teammates around the bases for a thee-run, inside the park home run to make it a 5-3 game.
Braintree tacked on an insurance run in the top of the fifth. Back-to-back two-out singles and an error in the outfield allowed the Eastern Mass champs to stretch their lead to 6-3.
Pittsfield immediately answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie it.
Two Braintree errors helped fuel the rally, which ended on an RBI single up the middle from Andrew Hammill to make it a 6-6 game.
Pittsfield starter Cam Hillard, who started the game with a rough first inning, settled down after that to allow just two hits and one unearned run over the next four before turning it over to Connor Paronto.
Paronto allowed just two baserunners over the next three innings, working a 1-2-3 top of the eighth to get his squad back in the dugout.
The bottom of Pittsfield's order came through in a big way.
Luke Ferguson started the bottom of the eighth by reaching on an infield singles. Ryan Stannard and Socie (3-for-3) then reached on bunts to load the bases.
After a strikeout, Jackson Almeida hit a grounder to the drawn in right side, and it was mishandled, allowing Ferguson to race home and end the game.
Championship Game
Sunday's second game for Pittsfield started nearly as well as the opener started poorly.
Almeida worked a one-out walk and moved up on Fried's single in the top of the first. Fried was erased on a fielder's choice that left runners at the corners for Hammill, who delivered another RBI single to make it 1-0.
Ferguson drew a walk to load the bases, but DeMilo closed the door and set the tone for the rest of the afternoon by getting a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
The Trumbull starter allowed just five more baserunners the rest of the day and just two runners as far as second base.
"Sometimes, you run into a hot pitcher," Stohr said. "And that Trumbull team didn't make any mistakes and the pitcher threw great. Sometimes, that's baseball."
Ferguson, meanwhile, pitched out a jam in the bottom of the first, when Trumbull loaded the bases with one out. After a fly ball to center, right fielder John Mullen went well to his left and snared a line drive for the third out to keep it 1-0.
Ferguson threw a pair of 1-2-3 innings to get to the fourth, but an error allowed the first Trumbull batter to reach base in that inning, and the designated home team was able to tie the game.
A two-out single moved the tying run to third before a pitch to the backstop allowed him to score and make it 1-1.
Trumbull carried its momentum into the fifth, scoring the decisive runs against reliever Christian Barry.
Luke McDermott hit a leadoff single and stole second before scoring on Dillon Sackowick's single to give Trumbull a 2-1 lead. Sackowick eventually came home on an error for an insurance run.
DeMilo did his job to protect the lead, mowing down the last six batters he faced in order to earn the victory.
"I think they all have great baseball futures ahead of them," Stohr said of his players. "As you know, we had in the middle of our order there, a lot of varsity experience this year, as freshman.
"I think, when all is said and done, we had seven or eight varsity contributors. ... And they only have up to go from here."
