Paronto Pitches Pittsfield Babe Ruth 16s Back to New England Regional
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PITTSFIELD , Mass. — Connor Paronto led the Pittsfield Babe Ruth 16-year-old All-Stars past Westfield with a dominant pitching performance, going the distance in a 10-0 win ended by the mercy rule on Thursday.
The win gave Pittsfield a 2-0 sweep of the best-of-three Western Massachusetts State Tournament and sends it on to the New England Regional.
Fans at Deming Park Thursday got to see a partial double-header.
The evening started with the resumption of Game 1 of the championship series, which ended due to darkness on Wednesday with the teams tied, 1-1, after eight innings.
Cam Hillard and Eddie Ferris combined to pitch the eight innings on Wednesday. Paronto needed just one inning to get the win in relief.
Hillard drove in Sam Glockner with a single to right with one out to give Pittsfield a 2-1 lead, and Ferris hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run rally in a 6-1 win.
The very next game Paronto started on the bump.
And he started strong with two strikeouts in the first inning to set the tone for the entire game.
Weatfield struggled to get the ball out of the infield, going down 1-2-3 in order each inning until the fourth inning.
Paronto crushed the strike zone forcing tough spots for the players to hit out of.
After an eight-pitch top of the second for the Taconic High student, Pittsfield's offense gave him a 2-0 in the bottom of the frame.
The two runs scored from a Cam Hilliard line drive to left field that dropped for a single.
Paronto was hit by a pitch during the rally, but he showed no sign of issues as he put Westfield down in order the very next inning.
Offensively for Pittsfield, Hilliard led the way for the ultimate victory over Westfield. Hillard went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs; Ferris and Luke Ferguson each had a pair of hits.
Coach Ben Stohr sees a lot of potential in his team going into Maine.
“It's incredible to watch how those two have grown," he said of Hillard and Paronto, the group's top pitchers when they went to the final game of the Babe Ruth World Series as 13-year-olds.
“I love these guys. It's a really special group, pitching and defense got us this far and batting today brought us far. They worked really hard for this.”
Winning two out of the three games against Westfield brought a lot of energy to Pittsfield.
During the game, Westfield had a lack of communication within their fielders, as Luke Fergusen and Connor Paronto each stole a base before the pitcher even looked up from his glove.
This confusing sequence of events led Pittsfield to score extra runs in the later innings because of walks and choppy singles up the middle.
Paronto needed only 35 pitches to get to the fifth inning.
He ended the game with 59 pitches following a foul ball heavy sixth inning by Westfield.
Pittsfield has a familiarity with Regional Tournaments on all levels in the past few years. The city also will send its 13-year-olds to the regional in Westfield and its 14-year-olds to the New England tournament in Newtown, Conn.
Pittsfield's 16U squad now advances into the New England Regional Tournament in Augusta, Maine, next week. It will open against the Rhode Island state champions on July, 19 at 10 a.m.
