WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Southern Berkshire Knights 16-and-under Babe Ruth Baseball team Friday battled back from an eight-run deficit to put the tying run on third in the bottom of the seventh.
But the Maine State Champions sat down three hitters in a row to secure a 9-8 win in the opener of the New England Regional Championship at Bullens Field.
Reliever Parker Bjorklund got two strikeouts and a groundball to shortstop to stop a four-run Southern Berkshire rally as the Greater Sanford, Maine, All-Stars opened pool play with a win.
Southern Berkshire (0-1) will be back at Bullens on Saturday afternoon to face Franklin County, Vt., before finishing play in the four-team pool on Sunday morning against Rhode Island.
Though the Knights go into the weekend without a win, they also take the field with a little bit of momentum after erasing most of the 6-0 lead Maine took in the top of the first inning on Friday.
“I am proud of the way they fought back,” Southern Berkshire coach Chip Paul said. “I mean, a six-run deficit after a half inning, it’s hard to boost them. We made some mistakes in that first inning.
“But I knew we had the team that can chip away. We were able to do that. We just weren’t able to score all nine.”
Cam Simmons went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles to lead the Knights’ offense.
John Brighenti had a hit and three RBIs, and Andrew Miller singled in a four-hit attack for Southern Berkshire.
The Mainers took control of the game early, taking advantage of a couple of walks, a hit batter and an error in a six-run first.
Bjorkland singled to drive in a run and scored in the middle of the rally, which ended when Knights starter Simmons induced a ground ball to the right side to strand a runner at second base.
Simmons settled down from there, throwing scoreless innings in the second and third, twice stranding runners at third base.
“He’s a mature pitcher,” Paul said. “He’s a seasoned pitcher. It’s his second year traveling with the Knights. And I think his head is a little bit more with it this year.
“He’s just matured as a ballplayer. He’s able to calm down. He realizes that the offensive part of baseball is just as important as the defensive part of baseball, and he does both.”
Simmons came up big on the offensive side in the bottom of the fourth.
After Maine scored a pair of unearned runs to go up, 8-0, Southern Berkshire scored three in the bottom of the frame.
Gabe Ranzoni got things started with a leadoff walk, and Simmons followed with a double to left-center to put two runners in scoring position.
With one out, Brighenti reached on a two-base error that allowed Ranzoni and Simmons to score. Brighenti moved up on a wild pitch and came home when Tyler Giardina reached on a fielder’s choice to make it 8-3.
Southern Berkshire pulled within four in the fifth inning, when Lincoln Fisher led off with a walk and eventually scored when Simmons was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
But Maine answered in the top of the sixth to go back ahead, 9-4.
Southern Berkshire could not cash in on a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth. But it did just that one inning later.
Cam Coon started the inning by working his third walk of the game, and Ranzoni followed with another free pass.
Simmons then doubled to drive in a run and put two men in scoring position with nobody out. Another walk – this one to Miller – then loaded the bases.
Brighenti hit a ground ball to the left side that was misplayed, allowing both Ranzoni and Simmons to score and leaving Miller at third with the score 9-7.
Miller scored on a wild pitch, but Bjorkland was able to stop the bleeding and preserve the victory.
Caeden Thayer and Dom Newton combined on 3 and two-thirds innings of one-run relief for Southern Berkshire. As a team, the Knights allowed just four earned runs.
“We did clean up some of those mistakes [as the game went on],” Paul said. “I think getting out the inning with a couple of timely double plays and making pitching changes when it was the right time – we made some smart moves.
“We were able to get the bats going. I just think we’ve got to make fewer mistakes than the other team. That’s just really what it comes down to.”
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The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.
Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director.
Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.
The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.
"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.
Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.
"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."
One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.
Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.
"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.
They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.
"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.
The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.
Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.
"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said.
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