Pittsfield Edged in Babe Ruth 15-Year-Old Regional Final
Norwalk, Conn.’s, Jaxon Ermo struck out six and allowed just two hits in 6 and two-thirds innings to lead the Connecticut State Champions to a 2-0 win in the New England Regional Championship Game.
“We couldn’t string anything together,” Pittsfield manager Elmar Uy said. “I mean, he was dealing.
“We put the bat on the ball, just at everyone. We launched a couple out here that probably would have been out in most ballparks, but, as you know, Wahconah Park is a little big. So it’s tough. But the boys fought hard to the end. I’m very, very proud of them.”
It was a tough day all the way around for the Pittsfield Babe Ruth program, which also saw its 13-year-old All-Stars drop a 2-1 decision in the semi-finals of their New England Regional in Rochester, N.H.
But it was, on balance, a great year for the city’s program overall. Pittsfield Babe Ruth sent two teams – its 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds – to regional title games, and its three teams went a collective 11-4 in regional competition.
Pittsfield’s 15s, who went 2-1 in pool play in the eight-team tournament, fought their way to the final with a win on Monday and 10-0, five-inning triumph over Capital Area, Maine, on Monday afternoon.
Then, the players and their families had to wait out a protracted weather delay when tournament officials decided to protect the field and keep it playable for the final by rolling out the tarp.
When the game originally scheduled for 4 p.m. got underway at about 6:30, Ermo and Pittsfield’s Simon Mele locked horns in a pitchers’ duel.
Mele dodged a bullet in the second when he left the bases loaded by getting Norwalk’s leadoff hitter to line out to Gavin O’Donnell in center field.
The visitors managed to scratch out all the offense Ermo needed one inning later.
Jacob Fields hit a one-out double for Norwalk and ended up scoring from third on Ermo’s infield single three batters later. Norwalk collected four hits in the inning but got just the one run as Mele again left the bases loaded, this time with one of his three strikeouts in the game.
Meanwhile, Pittsfield’s offense could not get untracked.
Uy’s squad worked a couple of walks through the first three innings but did not get its first hit until Jack Abel reached on an infield single to start the fourth.
Ermo retired the next three in a row.
Pittsfield finally got a runner past first base in the fifth inning. Ethan O’Donnell hit a one-out single to left and stole second base. Ermo got the next hitter to look at a called third strike and the final out on a ground ball to third to preserve the shutout.
Ermo gave himself an insurance run in the top seventh. After Michael Marini reached on a one-out single, Ermo hit a two-out triple deep into the corner of right field to make it a 2-0 game.
The late innings saw Pittsfield twice pull a rabbit out of the hat to stay in the game.
In the sixth, Matt Egan, who relieved Mele in the fifth, saw the first three Norwalk hitters reach. But then he struck out a pair and got out No. 3 on a fly ball to the outfield to keep it a one-run game.
In the seventh, Pittsfield immediately erased Ermo after his triple on a hidden ball trick by Ethan O’Donnell.
Both times, the defensive stands appeared to give Pittsfield the lift it needed to tie things up. Both times, Norwalk closed the door.
“They could have been huge momentum swings,” Uy said. “I mean, we brought the momentum into the dugout with the little hidden ball trick there at third. That was a huge boost for us. It kept us up.
“Unfortunately, we just couldn’t pull it out in the end.”
In the bottom of the seventh, Connor Devine reached on an error, and Ermo retired the next two hitters he faced before hitting his pitch limit.
Norwalk reliever Antonio Marchetti gave up a single to Jason Codey to put the potential tying run on base, but the next hitter grounded out to the left side to dash Pittsfield’s hopes.
But one loss could not diminish the memories of this Babe Ruth All-Star season and the three that preceded it for Uy and his players.
“I took these guys on their 13-year-old year,” Uy said. “I was thinking about retiring from coaching a couple of years ago, and I got asked to coach this squad. I coached a couple of them in fall ball and in Little League. So I jumped at the opportunity to coach them again and see it through to the end.
“I love this group of boys. They’re great kids. It’s been really fun. … We’re going to continue to watch them in high school and Rip City and everything. So their careers are far from over. So [they should] just keep fighting. Keep playing hard. Keep working hard.”
13-year-old All-Stars
ROCHESTER, N.H. – The Rhode Island State Champions scored on a pitch that went to the backstop in the top of the seventh to break a 1-1 tie and went on to a 2-1 win over Pittsfield in the Babe Ruth New England Regional semi-finals on Monday morning.
Robby Bazinet went 6 and two-thirds innings on the mound for Pittsfield, striking out one and scattering five hits. Jason Fields came on to strike out the last two hitters in the seventh.
After giving up a run to the Rhode Islanders in the top of the first, Bazinet shut them down for Pittsfield, which entered with a 3-0 record in the regional after winning its pool over the weekend.
He got the tying run in the bottom of the fifth.
Mario Zerbato worked a leadoff walk and then stole second and third bases.
With one out, Cameron Reynolds laid down a sacrifice bunt to drive in Zerbato and tie the game.
Sebastian Herrera, Brenden Merwin and Eli Kristensen each had a hit for Pittsfield.
