Adams-Cheshire Earns Berth in District 1 Little League Final
ADAMS, Mass. – The Adams-Cheshire Little League All-Stars got an inside-the-park home run from Dennis Wells-Vidal to highlight a 13-hit attack in a 9-2 win over Great Barrington in the Don Gleason District 1 Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
The win sends Adams-Cheshire into the championship round of the county phase of the Williamsport tournament. The district tournament hosts will play Pittsfield on Thursday at 5:30 p.m, at Willard “Beaver” Bard Park for the right to represent District 1 in the sectional tournament.
Oliver Quinto went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, and Maddox Milesi and Mason Kucka had two hits apiece in Sunday’s win, the final of pool play for both teams and, essentially, a semi-final for two squads that entered the day with matching 1-1 records.
“We’ve been expecting to break out [offensively] any time,” Adams-Cheshire coach Steve Albareda said. “I’ve been waiting for it. When we piece together a couple, we can hit. That’s for sure.”
Milesi’s infield single in the bottom of the first drove in the only run scored in the first two innings.
A-C broke through for four runs in the third and four more in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead.
Lador Lawson started the third inning with a single to left, and he came all the way around to score on Colton Braman’s triple to center field. Quinto then drove in a run with a single but was erased when Great Barrington turned a 6-4-3 double play.
Kucka’s two-out single set the stage for Wells-Vidal, who lined a shot into left field and chased Kucka around the bases for a round-tripper that made it 5-0.
In the fourth, an error and a walk put two runners on with two out for the top of Adams-Cheshire’s lineup. Lawson drew a walk to load the bases and, eventually, Quinto, Milesi and Kucka singled back-to-back to back.
A-C attempted to score a run on Kucka’s single that would have ended the game via the mercy rule. But GB pitcher Satchel Fisher got the relay from right field and fired to catcher Brayden King, who applied the tag to end the inning and keep Great Barrington alive.
“Very proud of the guys,” Great Barrington coach Jowe Warren said. “We’ve been in a tough spot this tournament being shorthanded, losing another player today to being sick. So very proud of the guys getting out and not giving up. We battled there at the end to score a run. The kids fought hard.”
GB, which came from behind twice to win in extra winnings on Thursday night, took advantage of the new life it got from the play at the plate and went the distance on Sunday.
Tyler Warren hit a leadoff inside-the-park home run in the right-center gap to get GB on the board in the top of the fifth. In the sixth, Weston Tremont started the inning with an infield single, went to third on Massi Bruno’s bunt and scored on a pitch to the backstop to make it 9-2.
The late runs, though, could not make up for missed opportunities early on.
Adams-Cheshire pitchers Wyatt Cross and Braman retired the side with the bases loaded in the first, third and fifth innings.
Cross earned the win on the mound in the start, striking out seven in four innings of work.
“Wyatt was fantastic today,” Albareda said. “He battled, and he’s getting better every day. He’s putting in the work. And Colton [Braman] comes in in a big situation [after Warren’s homer] and gets us out of it.”
Braman finished with three Ks in two innings on the mound.
Ezekiel McLaughlin and Fisher split time on the hill for Great Barrington, allowing three earned runs while striking out three between them.
Warren said Sunday was likely the end of the line for GB, which had to cobble together a lineup for this year’s tournament but could have brighter days ahead.
“[Losing a player on Sunday morning] meant we had to adjust the lineup and figure things out, put guys in new positions,” Warren said. “But it is what it is. We just wanted the kids to come in and have a fun time.
“But we only had a few 12-year-olds. If the rest all come back and we build a little bit, get a few kids that didn’t play this year that will be 12-year-olds next year, it could be a solid group next year.”
Adams-Cheshire, meanwhile, will look to win its second District 1 title in three years on Thursday – this time on its home field. Standing in the way will be defending district champion Pittsfield, which beat A-C, 10-0, in pool play on Wednesday.
“We’ll be ready,” Albareda said. “Got the ace on the mound. That’s no secret. We’ve got to make plays and somehow scrap a couple of runs together. Anything can happen in a one-game playoff.”
