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As good as it was to be a Berkshire County baseball fan early this week, that's how bad it is to be one today. St. Joseph's fell 9-2 to Harwich despite keeping it close for three innings. Wahconah was blown out 13-0, giving up all 13 runs in the first two innings. The Warriors were also no-hit by Oliver Ames starter Michael Holmes.
Wahconah makes it two state semifinal wins in a day for Berkshire County. The Warriors took a 4-1 win over Worcester Tech. They'll play Oliver Ames at 3:30 p.m. at LeLacheur Field in Lowell. Oliver Ames took a 5-0 win over Belmont in their state semifinal.
--Carlson
A hearty congratulations to the Crusaders, who moved on the the state finals with a 6-4 win over Bartlett. The Crusaders advance to face South Mass. champion Harwich, which moved on to the state finals with an 8-1 win over Tyngsborough. They'll play Saturday at noon at Lowell's LeLacheur Park.
Also, Wahconah's winning its Division II final against Worcester Tech 2-0 after two innings.
--Carlson
The St. Joseph's baseball team has continued it's run with Brenden Wyand on the mound in the thid inning St. Joe is leading 3-1 against Bartlett in the Division III baseball state semifinal. If the Crusaders hold on, they'd move on to play for a state title on Saturday.
--Carlson
Hey folks, thanks for checking in. Had to write the game story for last night's Division II baseball final fast and furious, and there were some points and tidbits that I didn't get a chance to throw in. So, for those of you who are hankering for a little more on the game, here are a few things I noticed while watching Wahconah become the D-II champs at Joe Wolfe Field.
- The plate umpire was giving both pitchers a real wide strike zone early on, and other than the middle innings when both starters had some command issues, they had almost the whole area from the inside stripe of each batter's box to work with. What they weren't getting was a high strike, which hurt Joe Kovacs in the fourth. Kovacs' sharp curve wasn't getting called for a strike, and after running Southwick's Tanner Bathel to an 0-2 count, he tried the curve twice to no avail. What followed was two walks on six straight balls.
- One inning prior to that, Kovacs kept his short-lived perfect game going with the kind of thing that always impresses me in a high school pitcher. After Ryan Griffin worked the count to 3-1 in the first at-bat of the inning, Kovacs found a groove and delivered seven straight strikes, punching out Griffin, Calvin Arnold, and Brian Scott-Smith.
- Going back to that outside strike call, Kovacs got into trouble for several different reasons, but one of them was that after losing a little command, he wasn't getting the outside pitch anymore. For those who might not be too familiar with how umpires generally think, if a pitcher isn't proving to the man in blue that he can find the strike zone regularly, the ump will usually start taking away the marginal strikes. That might have been what was happening here, because the walk to Evan Serella that brought Kyle Van Etten in with the first run of the inning was in the same spot as the strikes both pitchers were getting early on.
- Pretty funny to watch the Warriors do an impromptu victory lap after the game. As there was no reason to go all the way around the stadium, they took off for the corner down the right field fence. I couldn't see in the dark, but there may have been one or two people out there walking to their cars who got an up close and personal look at the Western Mass. trophy.
- The BEST trophy moment came shortly before the Warriors finally took off for home. After all the players had their fun with the big hunk of "gold" and wood, Aaron Robb called his wife over to the fence by the field. "I want my son to touch the trophy!" He said with a big ol' smile on his face. And sure enough the newest Warrior, little weeks-old Colby, blessed the WMass trophy with his pink little hands.
- Good quote from Robb, when I asked him if he could believe his team had just won the WMass title: "No. I can believe these kids did it, but it's just not real right now because of what we went through this year. The way you guys wrote about it, it's like it had to happen."
- Brian Pedrotti (who by the way only pitched 1 1-3 innings last night, which I had wrong in the box score), is on the hill for Wahconah tonight against Worcester Tech. Tech will likely throw staff ace Tim Collins, who no-hit Auburn in the Central Mass. final. Tech is 21-2, and well rested (the CMass final was on Sunday), so the Warriors should have their hands full tonight at Szot Park.
TO TIVNAN FIELD
Head South on 7/20/South Street, etc. down to the Mass. Pike in Lee. Go east on the Pike (and really, if you're surprised by anything this far, maybe you want someone else to do the navigating). Take EXIT 10 and merge onto I-290 East in Worcester. You'll be on 290 for about seven miles before you take EXIT 15 onto Shrewsbury Street. After a mile and a half, take a slight right onto Belmont Street, which is also Route 9 East. After a half mile, take a right onto Lake Ave. The field will be on the right, but you'll want to take a right onto Hamilton Street right before it and park in the lot across the street from the field.
TO SZOT PARK (I'll probably be checking these before I head out, as I always get confused trying to get to Szot)
Once again, south on 7/20/South Street in Pittsfield (Dalton folks obviously may want to take shortcuts). Down to the Pike in Lee, go East. Take Exit 5 for Route 33 in Chicopee. Go right when the exit forks, and stay right to go on Memorial Drive (Route 33 South). After going over the bridge over the Chicopee River Reservoir, you'll take a slight right at a five-way intersection (so, go to two-o'clock). Now you're on Church Street. Take a left at the end onto Grove Street, and then bear right onto Front Street. Take a left onto Wheatland Ave., and then a right onto Bliss Street, and you'll find parking for Szot. It's a little tricky, and most of those turns after the bridge come fast, so keep your eyes open.
One more thing: If you're interested in asking any questions of myself or Chris, don't hesitate to leave a comment here or shoot one of us an email. If your email question is one you want answered on the blog, just put "Blog Question" in the subject line.
- Andy Merritt
In case you missed it (and even with coverage on ESPN, it's possible), the Major League Baseball draft was held this week. At the moment, we know of three alumni of the Berkshire County NECBL entries who were selected.
Randy Gress, who is the only player to have spent three summers with the Pittsfield Dukes, was taken in the 18th round (558th overall) by the Atlanta Braves. After stopping at the team's rookie camp at DisneyWorld, Gress will join the Danville (Va.) Braves, a short-season Single A rookie team in the Braves' system. Gress, a senior at Quinnipiac, tied for the Northeast Conference lead in home runs (12) this year, and was on the All-Conference First Team.
Also, former North Adams SteepleCat Jefferies Tatford was taken in the 15th round (483rd overall) by the Mets, capping a senior season in which he hit .351 for the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, and was named to the Sun Belt Conference's second team, as well as the league's All-Tournament team. Joining Tatford is Devery Van De Keere, a former SteepleCat and Louisiana-Lafayette teammate, who was taken in the 48th round by Kansas City, 1392nd overall.
This may not be a complete list of Dukes and SteepleCats alumni selected in the draft, so if you hear of any others, feel free to let me know with an email to AMerritt (at) berkshireeagle.com.
-Andy Merritt
This just in from the UMass Softball Complex...
Drury 5, Athol 0. Drury is the Division II Western Mass. Softball Champion. Check tomorrow's Eagle for full coverage of the game.
The spotty weather we had today had just enough oomph to knock out two baseball games. The Division III semifinal between St. Joseph's and Mahar was postponed until tomorrow (Sunday). It will be played at 1 p.m., and in a location change from the original plan, it will take place at Szot Park.
Also, the Division II semifinal between Hoosac Valley and Southwick-Tolland was halted in the top of the third inning over at the Duquette Sports Academy. The game will be completed tomorrow as well, starting back up at 1:30 p.m. The score is 0-0 with the Hurricanes batting and one out.
Anybody got a dome we can borrow?
-Andy Merritt
So, we ALMOST got everything in today. Wahconah and Southwick FINALLY got their softball game in (Southwick won, 2-1), and Hoosac Valley found a way past Greenfield in baseball. In tennis the big Taconic-Pittsfield showdown not only happened, but it rivaled anything you're watching on ESPN at the French Open these days. Alas, the Mount Greylock softball team fell to Palmer, so the Mounties might have been OK with another day of weather. Finally, The Lenox boys beat Lee 4-1 in the Division III semis.
Now, for the stuff that DIDN'T quite make it in before the rains came pouring down....
South Hadley and Monument Mountain will play their Division II baseball quarterfinal today at 4 p.m. And in Division III hardball, Mount Everett and Westfield Vocational will give it another shot today, but the way that one's going, you might be reading about it while waiting for the 4th of July Parade to get going.
St. Joseph's and Minnechaug are scheduled to play their lacrosse quarterfinal at Minnechaug High (don't ask me how to get there, I vaguely remember a bridge the width of my car during the journey. Might have been lost, though.) That one's scheduled for 4:30 p.m., unless, of course, we get even more rain. Then again, lacrosse in the mud might be fun.
Also today, Mount Everett and Pioneer are scheduled to play their Division III softball semifinal at 5:30 at UMass.
Check back this week for more changes. Thanks for stopping by, Berkshire County.
- Andy Merritt
OK folks, here's how the rainy day changes shape up.
Today's local schedule originally looked like this:
BASEBALL
D-II: South Hadley at Monument Mountain, 4 p.m.
D-II: Greenfield at Hoosac Valley, 4 p.m.
D-III: Mount Everett vs. Westfield Vocational at Bullens Field, 4 p.m.
SOFTBALL
D-II: Southwick at Wahconah at Pine Grove Park, 4 p.m.
TENNIS
D-I Boys: Pittsfield vs. Taconic at Herberg Middle School, 3:30 p.m.
After the rain (apologies for another musical reference, and now I have that song stuck in my head, too), all five of those events were bumped to today, with one time change. Pittsfield-Taconic boys tennis will be played at 2:30 p.m. over at Herberg.
So, barring any further thunderstorms, this is the schedule for the next few days. (Translation: This schedule has a shelf life of about 15 minutes, and you can feel free to substitute "Giraffe races on Deck 4 of Noah's Ark" as a tentative alternative for any of them.)
Western Mass. Softball
Division III semifinal: Mount Everett vs. Pioneer, at UMass, 5:30 p.m.
Division II quarterfinal: Southwick at Wahconah, 4 p.m.
Division II quarterfinal: Mount Greylock at Palmer, 4 p.m.
Western Mass. Tennis
Boys Division I semifinal: Taconic at Pittsfield, Herberg M.S., 2:30 p.m.
Boys Division II semifinal: Lee at Lenox, Lenox public courts, 3:30 p.m.
Western Mass. Lacrosse
Division II Quarterfinal: St. Joseph’s at Minnechaug, 4:30 p.m.
Western Mass. Softball
Division II semifinals: (all games at UMass) Wahconah/Southwick vs. Drury, TBA; Palmer/Greylock vs. Athol, TBA
Western Mass. Tennis
Division II semifinal: Lee vs. South Hadley/Cathedral, 3:30, site TBA; Lenox at Mohawk, 4 p.m.
(Oh, and by the way, despite the name that appears below, this is Andy Merritt posting, so if anything here is fouled up, yell at me and not Chris.)
Those folks eager for baseball and softball quarterfinals and tennis semifinals will need to wait another day. It looks like everything's been postponed due to the bad weather today.
That's the second day in a row that Wahconah softball and Mount Everett baseball haven't gotten their games in. Greylock's game from Sunday was moved to Tuesday as well, meaning the rest of the week should be pretty full. We'll update you on when and where all these games will be made up, so keep checking back.
--Carlson