WESTHAMPTON — The Frontier Regional baseball team settled down and took advantage of scoring opportunities to beat Hampshire Regional, 4-0, Thursday.
“Myself included, we made kind of bone-headed, over-aggressive mistakes,” Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “We just have to get a little more focused, concentrate on scoring runs the right way, and not being overly aggressive.”
Frontier left four runners on base through the first two innings, but was able to capitalize in the third. Matt Hildreth (2-for-3, three runs, two steals) made a heads-up play by scoring after a collision in the field between an infielder and batter Bryan Baumann (3-for-4, two steals) to give the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Frontier capitalized with runners on in the fifth. Garrett DeForest and Hildreth opened with back-to-back singles. Baumann then delivered an RBI single, which was followed by an RBI groundout from Kiernan Freeman (1-for-4, RBI, steal) that gave the Red Hawks a 3-0 lead.
Frontier (19-1) added an insurance run in the seventh when Hildreth scored on a wild pitch. The Red Hawks could have had more, but the Raiders turned a double play with the bases loaded.
Ben Arnold (1-for-2) struck out 13 and allowed three hits in a complete-game effort. He received a solid performance from the defense behind him.
“We were counting on our defense to make the routine plays and have our bats show up and put the ball into play,” Williams said.
Hampshire’s defense played well behind pitchers Jordan Washburn and Mike Baldwin, but the offense struggled against Frontier’s ace.
“We were gonna try to get ’em on, get ’em over, and get ’em in and you have to tip your cap to their pitcher,” Hampshire coach Dan Korpita said. “He pitched a heck of a game and we just never found our groove against them.”
Washburn threw five innings and allowed three runs on six hits with one strikeout and no walks. Baldwin worked two innings and allowed one run on two hits with one walk.
Washburn, Matt Hurd and Garrett Antosz each had a hit for the Raiders (13-5).
Both teams will now look forward to the playoffs. Tournament seeds will be announced Tuesday.
For Williams and the Red Hawks, they are going to keep going with the flow.
“Frontier’s a team that’s always been good at making strong postseason runs, so we’re not gonna change a thing,” Williams said. “We’re gonna rely on the things that got us where we are.”
For Korpita and the Raiders, they will look to improve.
“I thought we had some great defensive plays out there, and I thought our pitching was pretty good, so we have that to build on,” Korpita said.
Korpita believes staying focused and getting prepared are the best things for his team.
“We’re focusing on being ready every play, knowing where we can be to anticipate, having fun and enjoying the moment,” Korpita said. “It’s the playoffs, this is what we work hard all year for.”