Adams-Cheshire 10-Year-Olds Stay Alive in Little League Tourney
ADAMS, Mass. – Bentley Martin went 3 and a third innings on the mound and drove in runs in two big rallies Saturday as the Adams-Cheshire 10-year-old Little League All-Stars beat Dalton-Hinsdale, 16-6, in an elimination game in the District 1 Tournament.
Martin went 2-for-3 with a triple and a pair of RBIs for host A-C (2-1), which stays alive for a rematch against Pittsfield (0-1) in the championship round of the double-elimination tournament on Sunday at noon.
Martin struck out five before giving the ball to Joey Milesi in the top of the fourth inning.
Martin then delivered an RBI in a six-run fourth that allowed Adams-Cheshire to end the game via the run rule.
“That was huge – both sides,” Adams-Cheshire coach Marty Durant said. “We’ve put [Martin] in spots before, and he comes in and pitches well. He came out and did what he needed to do today with every pitch he had – all 75 of them.”
Dalton-Hinsdale, which lost a 14-5 decision to A-C the first time around on Wednesday, jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Saturday.
Murphy Duquette singled with two out and ended up scoring on a wild pitch, and Alex Dearborn was hit by a pitch and scored on an error later in the inning.
Adams-Cheshire responded with two runs in the bottom of the first, Hudson Ziter drew a leadoff walk and Milesi singled to start the rally. Both eventually scored to tie the game.
In the second inning, the teams matched each other again.
D-H’s Graylan Milano worked a bases-loaded walk to put his team ahead 3-2, but Martin closed the door with a strikeout to leave the bases loaded.
A-C answered with a run in the bottom of the second when Justin Mayotte walked and scored on a wild pitch.
Martin pitched the game’s only clean inning in the third thanks to a 5-4-3 double play: Carmine Zocchi to Ziter to Melesi.
In the bottom of the third, the first seven batters reached base and scored for Adams-Cheshire.
Milesi, Zocchi, Martin and Abel Lysko each singled in a run during the rally, which left Adams-Cheshire with a 10-3 lead.
D-H got singles from Jacob Henault and Liam Cooney in a three-run fourth to cut into that lead.
But Adams-Cheshire was able to put the game away in the bottom of the frame as Caden Stump, Martin and Lysko each drove in a run before Caleb Gladu ended it by dropping an RBI single into left field with one out.
“Baserunning was huge today,” Durant said. “They ran the bases well when given the opportunity. So I’m happy with that. Now, we have to keep the bats hot and piece something together for tomorrow.”
D-H, meanwhile, sees its tournament end in disappointing fashion but has more baseball ahead this summer.
“The kids have made tremendous progress in two weeks,” Dalton-Hinsdale coach Brian Duquette said. “We’ve basically been practicing every day, and they’ve all come along very well.
“I think we’ll be ready for the Jimmy Fund [Tournament]. I would say that we probably played our two worst games against Adams. But we scrimmaged them and played very well, so we’re capable. We just have to keep that mental focus for six innings.”
