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Berkshire Force Top Greylock Thunder in 12U Final at Dalton CRA Tourney

By Leland BarnesiBerkshires.com Sports
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DALTON , Mass. — Cassidy Flynn threw another complete game as the Berkshire Force 12U defeated the Greylock Thunder Klein, 10-4, in the Dalton CRA Softball Tournament Championship Game on Sunday.
 
“They put it all together today,” Force coach Cliff Flynn said. “Really kept their heads in the game, always striving forward and giving it their very best efforts.”
 
“We have already started to move some coaches and families down south toward Alabama for our World Series visit this week. Funding was really significant to our travels in the coming days traveling south, a lot of programs and sponsors also helped us fund the trip.” said Force Coach.”.
 
While Berkshire Force anticipated their journey south, they still had a ball game to play against a tough Greylock Klein team.
 
Savannah Hammon of Greylock Klein brought the bat for her team, bringing in 2 runs as well as going 2-for-3 with two doubles.
 
“The girls for Greylock [Klein] kept their heads in the game the whole time, a very well coached team with a lot of bright futures,” Flynn said.
 
The game got busted open following Liv Archembauer’s two-inside-the-park homerun day, on top of her 3-for-3 performance.
 
Greylock Klein 12u had the unfortunate situation of playing later than Berkshire Force prior to their face off. The Force advanced with an 8 a.m. semi-final against the Greylock Thunder Black squad; the Thunder Klein team faced the ACS Swat in an 9:45 semi-final.
 
As a whole both teams were making really good contact and strong defensive plays.
 
Flynn threw five strikeouts in seven innings, only allowing two earned runs.
 
Throughout the highly competitive game, many minor injuries occurred.
 
But even with the high competition, both teams stayed in it till the very end and showed no sign of fatigue or misery. Both teams were happy to have made it to the championship and play in the 14th annual tournament.
 
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CBRSD Makes Cuts to Lower Town Assessments

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — School officials say reductions in the Central Berkshire Regional School District's budget will be felt, but remain optimistic that it will not prevent them from being "the best regional district in the state."
 
Throughout the budgeting season, officials said they strived to keep the seven member towns informed amid contractual increases outside their control and concerns with a state aid funding formula described as "remarkably wrong."
 
The initial budget was about a 9 percent increase, but with "strategic reductions" the district was able to cut that down to 2.99 percent, bringing the total budget to $37,740,005. 
 
"This was no small feat," said Paul Farella, district's Finance Committee chair.
 
In earlier budget drafts, towns voiced concerns over significantly higher assessments, which ranged from approximately 7 to 15 percent, compared to prior years, when it was about 2 to 7 percent. 
 
With the revised budget, projected net town assessments are: 
  • Becket for $2,859,205, an increase of 5.49 percent
  • Cummington for $670,246, an increase of 5.11 percent 
  • Dalton for $10,106,445, an increase of 5.86 percent
  • Hinsdale for $3,277,495, an increase of 10.54 percent 
  • Peru for $1,083,751, an increase of 6.11 percent 
  • Washington for $826,774, an increase of 6.64 percent
  • Windsor for $995,438, an increase of 9.37 percent
"[The cuts] will be felt, but we believe that it is what is necessary for the time being to not overburden our towns while still being able to provide a quality education to our community," Farella said. 
 
Delivering high-quality education while responsibly managing public funds in a district, which like many rural areas, faces financial constraints is a duty Superintendent Michael Henault said he takes very seriously.
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