AMHERST — Josh Misiaszek pitched four innings and struck out seven as Belchertown beat Amherst, 6-3, in pool play of the Little League District 2 8-10 Tournament, Friday at Mill River.
Misiaszek didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning when Shane Bussard tripled and scored on an error. Misiaszek finished with no earned runs, two walks and one hit. At the plate, he was 1-for-2 with two runs scored.
“He’s our ace,” Belchertown coach Todd McDonald said. “We wanted him on the mound. He’s got a mentality that he’s up there on the mound to throw strikes and he’s just tough to hit.”
Will Vachet was 3-for-3 with a double, two singles, two RBIs and a run scored.
Evan Ferguson was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
Ian McDonald doubled and scored.
“Hitting was one of the things I thought would be a strength coming into this tournament,” Todd McDonald said. “Up and down the lineup kids like to swing the bat. We put hits together, when you get hits from one through seven in the lineup, that’s good.”
Brady Poreda started for Amherst. He struck out one and walked one.
Collin Eddy reached base three times via two walks and a hit by pitch.
Shane Bussard went 2-for-3 with a triple, a single and two runs scored. Bussard also pitched in the fifth inning and recorded two strikeouts and one walk.
“Belchertown is always a very well-coached team. Todd McDonald does a fantastic job,” Amherst coach Luke Bussard said. “I knew it was going to be a good game. They’re always good on defense and always hit the ball quite well.”
McDonald said that at this age, the most important thing to teach his team is to love the game.
“We want to teach them to compete and respect the game,” he said. “Those are the things that are important to me, to respect your opponent. It’s fun to win but we’re going to win the right way and we’re going to lose with grace if and when it happens.”