ANDOVER, Mass. – Bridgewater’s Brandon Moyer scattered five hits and pitched his way out of a fifth-inning jam on Thursday to lead his team to a 4-1 win over Pittsfield in the opening game of the 12-year-old Little League State Tournament.

 

Section 1 Champion Pittsfield drops into the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament and will face Melrose on Friday evening to stay alive.

 

Bridgewater Friday night will take on Acton-Boxboro, an 8-4 winner over Melrose on Friday, for a berth in Sunday’s state final.

 

Bridgewater’s Moyer struck out eight and walked one in pitching his team to the tournament semi-finals.

 

Pittsfield coach Ty Perrault was not sure why his team struggled to get solid contact most of the day in Friday’s opener.

 

“It might have been the travel,” he said. “It’s a two and a half hour ride. We’ve traveled before, but it was the first time in a while.”

 

Pittsfield played all three of its Section 1 Tournament games at Deming Park, which also was the site of the District 1 Tournament.

 

Another factor was Moyer.

 

“The kid had kind of a funky delivery, and I think he was what we call sneaky fast,” Perrault said. “It got up on you a little quicker than you thought. We put the ball in play, but not with the authority we usually do.

 

“In a game like that, you have to be pretty much flawless on defense. We made a lot of nice plays, but we didn’t execute on some of them.”

 

Bridgewater used three hits to load the bases with one out in the top of the third inning.

 

A hit batter then drove in the game’s first run, and a pitch that made it to the backstop brought home a second run to put Pittsfield in a 2-0 hole.

 

Pittsfield starter Kody Lesser got a called third strike for the second out of the inning, but a walk ended his day. Sawyer Layne moved from shortstop to the mound and got out of the inning with one pitch, a ground ball out.

 

Moyer, meanwhile, pitched around hits in the first and the third, striking out the side in the bottom of the third to preserve his two-run lead.

 

Pittsfield finally broke through in the fourth.

 

Alec Houghtaling led off with a double and went to third on Landon Marquis’ sacrifice bunt.

 

Houhgtaling then scored on an RBI groundout from Weston Wigglesworth to make it 2-1.

 

After Layne struck out a pair to strand a runner in the top of the fifth, Pittsfield had a strong chance to tie the game in the bottom of the frame.

 

Lesser got things started with a one-out single, but he was retired at second on a fielder’s choice. Spencer Kotski then worked a walk, and Jeremiah Bullett reached on an infield error to load the bases with two out.

 

Moyer escaped with a groundball out to leave the bases loaded.

 

“We could have used a key hit there, but it wasn’t to be,” Perrault said. “That’s why it’s double-elimination. This might be a wake-up call for them, and we’ll come out tomorrow and try to win three in a row.”

 

Bridgewater tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Landon O’Hearn started things with a one-out bunt single, and Brycen Buker and Luke Fantasia hit back-to-back doubles in the rally.

 

In the bottom of the inning, Mateo Fox (2-for-2) gave Pittsfield hope with a one-out single, but Moyer got a strikeout and a groundout to end the game.