PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Olivia Archambault threw three innings of no-hit ball Saturday to lead the Berkshire Force 12Us to a 13-3 win in a must-win game at the Babe Ruth Softball New England Regional.
The victory, Berkshire’s second of the day, keeps the Force alive to take another crack at the Stamford, Conn., Stars on Sunday at 10 a.m. at the Doyle Complex on Benedict Road.
Archambault, Lilly Pudelko and Tori Blanchard had two hits apiece in Saturday’s elimination game against Windham, N.H., which the Force ended in the bottom of the fourth inning via the run rule.
“We had to play a third game for the day,” Force coach Mike Lodowski said. “They came back and they put it on these guys to get out of here, get some rest and come back tomorrow and fight hard.
“That’s a tough team we’re playing tomorrow. We’ve got to get through it. But all our players have played great.”
The Force began bracket play on Saturday morning with a 12-4 win over the Windham Wildcats.
Kaylana Altman went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and Archambault tripled twice and drove in two runs in the victory.
Archambault also picked up the win in the circle, throwing six innings and striking out nine.
That set up a rematch against Stamford, which beat Berkshire in Friday morning’s tournament opener.
In the rematch, the Force scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-2 lead over the top-seeded Stars.
Altman got the rally started with a bunt single, and she went to third on Addy Farkas’ single to center field. Archambault’s line drive out to right field allowed Altman to tag up and put Berkshire on the board.
Cassidy Flynn then singled to put runners at the corners. She moved up on a passed ball before Gianna Moses delivered a double to center to drive in two runs and make it 3-2, Force.
Berkshire tacked on two runs in the top of the sixth on RBIs from Archambault and Flynn to make it 5-2.
But down to its last at-bat, Stamford rallied with four runs in the bottom of the inning, ending the game with Maddie McGrath’s two-run triple to right field.
“We had ‘em,” Lodowski said. “Three runs in the last inning. They tattooed the ball on us. [Flynn] was pitching well. And they got a hold of two of them, and ended up beating us by one.
“It was tough.”
Flynn struck out six and allowed five earned runs in the loss.
That meant the Force had to beat the Windham Wildcats for the third time in three days to stay alive for a chance to go to Alabama and the Babe Ruth World Series.
The home team wasted little time taking control.
After Archambault pitched around a one-out error to retire the side on three groundball outs in the top of the first, the Force scored eight times in the bottom of the inning.
Archambault and Flynn each drove in a run with singles. Five Berkshire runs came in on pitches that got to the backstop as a steady rain impacted Windham’s battery.
Archambault retired six of the next seven hitters she faced to get through three innings before hitting her inning limit for the day. Daisy Caron went to the circle to finish the game, striking out one.
Meanwhile, Berkshire’s offense tacked on two in the second to push its lead to 10-0. Pudelko had an RBI single in the rally.
Then, up 10-3 going to the bottom of the sixth, the Force got consecutive singles from Pudelko, Blanchard and Caron to push the margin to nine. Caron then scored the game’s last run on a wild pitch.
On Sunday morning, the Force will again face a Stamford squad that is 20-4 since the start of May in the final round of the double-elimination tourney. If Berkshire wins the first game, it will force a winner-take-all finale for the regional crown.
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Companion Corner: Glo at the Berkshire Humane Society
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and playful dog at the Berkshire Humane Society waiting for her new family.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.
"Glo is about a one-year-old, sweet female pitty mix who has nothing but love to give," said kennel supervisor Stacey Broderick.
Glo has been at the shelter for about three weeks after unfortunately being kicked out of her previous home.
"She came here because her previous home, she was being crated an awful lot, and unfortunately, was creating a little bit of a raucous when she was left by herself," said Broderick. "So she was just being a little barky, a little loud. Neighbors obviously shared walls in an apartment setting we're complaining to the landlord, and the landlord said, unfortunately, that she had to go."
But since coming to the shelter she has been learning a lot.
"She's been nothing but a sweet little girl ever since she is working on crate training, she has been very good for us. We're practicing it with her. She is also working on her house training. In addition to it, it seems that we had a little bit of a reverse situation going on, where she likes to go potties inside, but we are working very hard, and she is learning so quickly," she said. "So even after just a couple weeks with us, she's been really getting the point to go outside and do all of her potties out there."
She would do best in the home as the only dog and possibly without cats. She would also do best with older children who can understand her needs as she needs less activity than other dogs.
"The perfect home would, because of the necessity for her to have a lower activity level, probably without other dogs, just because she can get a little bit rambunctious when she gets excited around them," Broderick said. "So she could certainly have doggie play dates, but her perfect home would be no dogs. Unfortunately, we do have a bit of a prey drive with kitty cats, so probably leaning away from the cats, unless they're incredibly dog savvy ...
"Probably looking toward a home without super young kids, just so they're not jumping, you know, or leaning, or anything along those lines, and understanding that sometimes she's going to just need a break."
Because of a medical condition she wouldn't be able to go on long hikes or do anything extraneous but she is still very active and playful.
"She is absolutely lovely. She's sweet, she's young, she's playful. She wants to be with her people all the time. She loves toys. She does like going out for walks. We do have a couple of medical things that we can certainly give more information to adopters, too," she said. "We have some hip dysplasia that we're looking at, so probably moderate activity level would be best for her.
"She shouldn't necessarily be going on super long hikes, even though she would love to, but she is young and full of life and full of energy, and wants nothing more than to be with her people."
Since Glo has hip dysplasia she will need to maintain a healthy weight to not add stress to her joints and can also benefit from hydrotherapy.
"It's something that somebody will have to have a good relationship with a veterinarian physical therapists, and then if they were interested in doing a hydrotherapy type situation, it can only help her," Broderick said. "We want to keep those muscles built up in the hind end so that her hips are not taking the brunt of the bone on bone action while she is kind of living out her very best life."
Glo hasn't shown any symptoms or difficulties since being at the shelter, but it is a condition that her owners need to understand and it increases her chances of arthritis as she gets older.
Broderick said Fritters Critters in Lee specializes in pet hydrotherapy.
"They basically work on an underwater treadmill. So that's walking under the water so that she has a little bit of resistance and the water is warm, so that it's optimum for therapeutic benefits," she said. "They do have a pool there, too, where she would be able to do some swimming, and it really gives her the ability to exercise and really extend those joints and build up those muscles without the added pressure of gravity and impact as she's walking or playing or running.
"So the hydrotherapy is a great option for dogs, even if you just want to do it for fun. She could really benefit healthwise, from it, too."
She will also have to stay on her joint mobility food to help her.
But Glo is a very happy and playful dog and loves everyone she sees and is hoping to find someone who will love her just as much to take her home.
"I can't say enough good about her. I know that the hip dysplasia sounds like a scary piece of it, as well as the house training," Broderick said. "But honestly, there was not a friendlier, sweeter, more outgoing, social, wants to be best friends with you, kind of dog. She was in the front lobby this past Saturday, and she met like 10 people at the same time, and just made rounds and loved every single person as they came in."
You can visit Glo at the Berkshire Humane Society and read more about her on the website.
The Berkshire Humane Society is open Tuesday through Sunday. The adoption center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
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