Pittsfield 10s Outlast Dalton-Hinsdale in Championship Series Opener
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – After the Dalton-Hinsdale All-Stars stormed back to outscore Pittsfield, 4-0, over the last three innings, Pittsfield coach Matt Stracuzzi felt fortunate to escape with a 6-4 win in Game 1 of the best-of-three District 1 Championship Series on Thursday night.
“Thank God for the first couple of innings where Dalton gave up some runs, and thank God we took that, and that was our cushion,” Stracuzzi said. “Because we just … I thought we were prepared, but I guess it’s on me that we weren’t prepared, so I’ll take the blame for that.”
Pittsfield won despite committing four errors and collecting just five hits against three Dalton-Hinsdale pitchers.
Four of those hits came in the first three innings, when Pittsfield built a 6-0 lead.
After the designated home team scored five through the first two innings, it looked like Pittsfield might be on its way to another big win after outscoring its opponents by a combined 24-2 in the two round-robin games.
But Dalton-Hinsdale had other ideas.
Its coach said DH has made it a habit to respond to adversity in this tournament.
“We saw this other day against Adams, when we had a 3-0 lead and they came back and scored four, and then our guys came back and tied it up, and we went to extra innings,” Brian Duquette said. “And we saw it tonight when we gave them a six spot, and then our guys battled back and had a runner in scoring position in the last inning.
“So, for us, this was some good momentum going into the next two days.”
Dalton-Hinsdale and Pittsfield will hook up again at Deming Park at 5:30 on Friday evening for Game 2. If the series is tied, the rubber match will be Saturday at noon back on Meadow Lane.
Pittsfield used a little small ball to build its lead early.
After a few errors brought two runs home and put a runner in scoring position with one out in the first, Caleb Tierney dropped down a sacrifice bunt to plate Henry Chevalier to make it 3-0.
Another miscue and a walk put two runners on to start the bottom of the second, and Jayden Klinger’s sac bunt put both in scoring position. Grayson Christopher’s ground ball to the right side brought home the fourth run, and Thomas Crawford doubled to right center to make it 5-0.
In the third, a walk and a pair of pitches that got to the backstop put P.J. Garner at third base, and Luca Bassi drove him home with a single to right.
Bassi, on the mound, meanwhile, cruised through the first three innings with four strikeouts, allowing only one Dalton-Hinsdale batter to reach base, Murphy Duquette on a leadoff double in the second.
“I almost took Luca out in the fourth because he got to the 35-pitch count,” Stracuzzi said. “I was thinking about it, but I just didn’t feel comfortable. And [the game] showed why I didn’t feel comfortable. Just the way we were playing.
“I’m a big believer that we’re about today, today. Take care of tomorrow, tomorrow.”
Dalton-Hinsdale’s Finlay Storti singled with one out and a runner on first in the fourth inning. After Weston Dietlin reached on a fielder’s choice that erased the lead runner, Camden Duma hit an infield single to load the bases.
A pitch in the dirt brought home Storti, and Murphy Duquette’s RBI single up the middle brought home Dietlin to make it 6-2.
Bassi (eight strikeouts) put out the fire by getting a called third strike to end the inning.
But Dalton-Hinsdale went back to work offensively to start the fifth, getting singles from Callen Bradley and Blake Preston and some help from the Pittsfield defense to score two more runs to get within two before Bassi closed the door with a pair of strikeouts to end his outing on the mound.
Dalton-Hinsdale’s pitchers – Storti, Murphy Duquette and Cooper Kennedy – allowed just one earned run. Kennedy gave up no runs after heading to the mound with two out in the bottom of the third.
“Cooper Kennedy came in and kind of kept them off balance,” Brian Duquette said. “What we’ve been preaching to our guys is: Trust your defense. These young hitters have been hitting against 11- and 12-year-olds, so a 10-year-old is certainly not going to blow the pitches by them. So trust your defense, and the guys made some great plays.”
One of the best came in the bottom of the fifth with one out and Pittsfield runners on first and second. Preston made a sliding catch in center field to deny extra bases and keep his team within two runs heading to the sixth.
Lincoln Brown worked a one-out walk, and Dietlin reached on an error with two out to put the tying run on base for Dalton-Hinsdale. But Pittsfield’s Garner fielded a comebacker to the mound and fired to first to finish the game and complete his save of Bassi’s win.
“I told PJ, just take your time, make him swing, go at him, and he did a nice job,” Stracuzzi said. “That was good that PJ came in. He’ll start tomorrow, so it gave him an inning to get ready for tomorrow.”
Whatever happens Friday – or Saturday – both Pittsfield and Dalton-Hinsdale will head to the Section 1 tournament with District 3 not fielding a 10-year-old team this summer.
Dalton-Hinsdale’s Brian Duquette said comeback efforts like Thursday’s can only help his team in the next two days and beyond.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, Pittsfield has really been the hallmark of District 1 all these years, and in many games, people don’t make a full six innings,” he said. “So for us to hang in there for a full six innings and actually have some meaningful at-bats where potentially we could have tied the game up or gone ahead … yeah, I like how our guys are playing, and I love their confidence.
“As we all head into sectionals, everything gets a little bit tighter. Hopefully you’ have these one-run games, and you hope that these types of situations have got you set for the sectionals and hopefully to make a run at the states.”
