Pittsfield 12-Year-Olds Complete Tournament Round-Robin Unbeaten
DALTON, Mass. – Colton Smith went 2-for-2 with a home run, and Hector Reyes-Colon hit a grand slam Friday to lead the Pittsfield Little League 12-year-old All-Stars to a 14-1 win over Adams-Cheshire in the Don Gleason District 1 Tournament at Chamberlain Park.
Carmelo Coco earned the win on the mound, striking out five and walking one in three scoreless innings of work as Pittsfield ended the tournament’s round-robin phase with a record of 4-0.
Adams finished the round robin 3-1, and both teams came into the game knowing that they will meet again at Chamberlain on Wednesday to decide the District 1 Championship.
But even though Friday’s game did not mean anything in terms of advancing in the tourney, Pittsfield had an objective going in, Coach Joe Skutnik said.
“We wanted to come out and hit the ball and play good defense,” Skutnik said. “We’re building every game. And we know that the next time we play Adams, it’s going to be an entirely different game.”
Neither Pittsfield nor Adams-Cheshire threw their No. 1 pitcher to start the game.
But Coco pitched like an ace, giving up just a single and a walk before giving the ball to Sean Rozak to pitch the fourth with a 14-0 cushion.
“He threw the ball very well,” Skutnik said of Coco, who was making his first appearance on the mound of the all-star tournament. “We’ve been working with him. He’s had quite a few bullpens, and we thought this would be a good time to get him out there and see what he’s got. And he threw great, really well.”
His offense gave him two runs right off the bat.
Mason Fox worked a one out walk, and, with two out, Smith hit a line drive over the fence in left center field to make it 2-0.
Pittsfield tacked on a run without a base hit off of Adams-Cheshire starter Mason Kucka in the second. Thomas Lacatell led off with a walk, moved up on a couple of pitches in the dirt and scored when Rozak, who was hit by a pitch, drew an errant throw in a rundown between first and second.
Another Adams error got things started for Pittsfield in its 11-run third.
Chase Albano reached on a two-base miscue, and Brody Hamilton singled to move him to third. After Myles Morrison-Gould walked to load the bases, Fox was hit by a pitch, making it 4-0.
That brought up Reyes-Colon, who crushed an 0-2 pitch at least 20 feet past the fence in left-center to double Pittsfield’s lead.
“The game doesn’t mean anything, but we’ve still got to play better,” Adams-Cheshire coach Steve Albareda said. “I told the guys all week: I’ve played Pittsfield for years now, and the errors aren’t going to do it against this team.
“Two ground balls in the field, neither of them gets fielded, Hector comes up and hits a bomb into the trees. And we were already down [four]. It’s not good enough.”
Pittsfield kept the rally going with consecutive hits by Smith, Shaun Boehm, Lacatell and Coco before Adams-Cheshire could get the first out. Later in the rally, Albano drove in a run with a single to right, and Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly to push the margin to 14-0.
Adams-Cheshire reliever Lukas Benson got the final out on a ground ball to the left side to end the inning, strand a runner at third and avoid a 15-run margin that would have ended the contest then and there.
And AC’s offense used the opportunity to earn a run in the top of the fourth.
Lador Lawson worked a walk, moved into scoring position on Kucka’s infield single and scored when Maddox Milesi doubled down the third-base line. Avry Decker later reached with one out.
But Pittsfield’s Rozak picked up his second strikeout for out No. 2 and ended the game with a fly ball to right field.
“We don’t give up, that’s for sure,” said Albareda, whose team earned a dramatic, come-from-behind, walkoff win earlier in the tournament. “I knew with the top of the order coming up: Let’s scrap one across and have some momentum going into Wednesday.
“But it’s the same thing over and over all tournament. It takes us two, three innings to get a run in, and then we start to open it up. … We’ve got to get going early. That’s what you’ve got to do against Pittsfield.”
Final standings: 1. Pittsfield, 4-0; 2. Adams-Cheshire, 3-1; 3. Great Barrington, 2-2; 4. Dalton-Hinsdale, 1-3; 5. Lanesborough, 0-4.
