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Berkshire Reign Teams Earn Wins in 14U Division at 1791 Classic

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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DALTON, Mass. – Seth Laprade struck out four and allowed just two hits Saturday in leading the Berkshire Reign White team to an 8-0, five-inning win over the Eastern New York Blackhawks in the 14-year-old Division of the 1791 Classic at Wahconah Regional High School.
 
Laprade gave up just one walk in the shutout win, which ended when Fernando Vasconcelos came home on a ground ball in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Vasconcelos two innings earlier delivered an RBI double for the Reign, which scored in each inning.
 
After a top of the first highlighted by a successful rundown to help the Reign get around two errors, its bats delivered two runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
Michael Ressler reached on a one-out walk and scored all the way from first on John Naventi’s double to left for the game’s first run.
 
Naventi moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball to make it 2-0 after one.
 
In the second, a walk and an error helped produce another run.
 
One inning later, Shayne Clairmont led off with a walk, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Ressler’s sacrifice fly. Then Naventi walked, stole second and took third on an errant throw before Vasconcelos crochet a ball to left field for a two-bagger and a 5-0 lead.
 
Ressler (1-for-1, three RBIs) provided a two-run single in the fourth after Ryder Raifstanger and Mikey Ireland reached on an infield single and a hit-by-pitch, respectively.
 
In the fifth, Vasconcelos led off by reaching on an error and went to third on Laprade’s groundout. Roman Raifstanger then hit a ball to the left side that allowed Vasconcelos to score and end the game via the run rule.
 
Photos from this game to come.
 
Berkshire Reign Purple 13, Berkshire Reign White 5
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Reign Purple ended a 3-0 weekend in pool play by topping their friends in a split-squad game under the lights at Joe Wolfe Field.
 
Spencer Kotski went 3-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs batted in to lead the offense.
 
Camden Sievers also doubled and drove in three runs, and Kai Laframboise drove in three runs in a six-hit attack for the Reign Purple.
 
Sievers and Avery Powell combined on the win on the mound in the five-inning game. They struck out eight hitters between them.
 
For the Berkshire Reign White, John Naventi doubled, and Ryder Raifstanger went 2-for-2.
 
The Purple ended up 3-0 with the No. 1 seed for the tournament semi-finals that begin Sunday morning at the Alcombright Complex in North Adams. The Reign White went 2-1 in pool play.
 
Berkshire Reign Purple 19, Rip City 13U 2
DALTON, Mass. – Spencer Kotski was 4-for-4 with a triple and a double to lead a 14-hit attack for the Reign Purple in its first game on Saturday, which ended in four innings.
 
Kotski drove in four runs and scored four times
 
Avery Powell went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, and Kai Laframboise went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs.
 
Camden Sievers tripled, and Kody Lesser and Alec Hougtaling each doubled for the Reign Purple, which started the tournament with a pair of wins going into Saturday’s pool play finale against the Berkshire Reign White Squad.
 
Laframboise and Houghtaling split time on the mound in the win, combining to strike out three and allow one earned run.
 
Parker Lussier went 1-for-2 with an RBI for Rip City, which also got a run batted in from Oliver Brown.
 
ENY Blackhawks 9, Rip City 13U 1
DALTON, Mass. – The Blackhawks exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game via the tournament’s mercy rule.
 
Ryker Williams and Oliver Brown each had a single for Rip City.
 
Brown’s hit drove in Thomas Kuzdeba in the top of the second to tie the game, 1-1.
 
Kuzdeba was one of six Rip City players to take a turn on the mound. Together, they gave up six earned runs in the loss.
 
?Photos from this game to come.

 

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Reign Goes Unbeaten in 17U Division at Home Tourney

By Stephen Dravis and Ben McDonoughiBerkshires.com Sports
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Berkshire Reign exploded for seven runs in the top of the fourth and held off the Berkshire Bananas down the stretch to earn a 12-11 win in the 17-and-under Division of the 1791 Classic at Joe Wolfe Field on Saturday.
 
Darius Taliferro hit a three-run double, and Robby Bazinet hit a two-run double in the winning rally as the Reign finished pool play with a record of 3-0 and the top seed in Sunday morning’s semi-finals.
 
Scott Hoffman went 2-for-3 with a triple for the Reign in a wild game filled with momentum swings.
 
The Bananas jumped on top with four runs in the bottom of the first to take a 4-2 lead only to see the Reign take a slim, 5-4 advantage after three.
 
Then, after the Reign scored seven times in the fourth to take a 12-4 lead, the run-rule was on the table, and all looked lost for the Bananas.
 
But they got off the mat with a five-run rally in the bottom of the fourth and scored twice in the fifth and had the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second in what was sure to be the game’s final inning due to the tournament’s time rule.
 
But Reign reliever Trevor Leonard delivered his only strikeout in an inning and a third on the mound when he needed it most to close the door and secure the win.
 
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