Zac Brittain and the Northampton Post 28 American Legion baseball team were efficient in their first playoff game.
Brittain threw 73 pitches and allowed three hits as Post 28 blanked Aldenville Post 337, 3-0, in 67 minutes, Wednesday at Arcanum Field.
Mike Mieczkowski hit a solo homer to left field in the first inning, and two runs in the third accounted for all the runs Hamp needed.
Jackson Heath led off the third with a single then stole second base. Devin Kellogg followed with a double to plate Heath. After a Mieczkowski popout, Will O’Connor doubled to score Kellogg.
Andy Grygorcewicz doubled, while Dillon Diemand added a single to account for Post 28’s six hits.
Brittain struck out seventh and walked none. He allowed infield hits in the second and sixth, and a single in the third.
Defending Western Massachusetts champion Post 28 (14-5) will play Wilbraham Red at Minnechaug, Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Pittsfield American 7, Amherst 2 — Charlie May and Shane Bussard each hit RBI singles in the third inning to pull Amherst within 5-2 in the Little League 11-12 Sectional Tournament game, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.
Amherst will play in the losers bracket and travel to Leominster for a 5:30 p.m. game, Thursday.
May’s single scored Piet Hartman, while Bussard knocked in Aryeh Rubinstein.
Three throwing errors led to three Pittsfield runs.
“We could have played a better game, but the kids battled and played hard,” Amherst coach Luke Bussard said. “I’m proud of how they fought.”
Hartman started and worked one inning. May pitched three innings in relief, while Elijah Rubinstein and Aryeh Rubinstein each worked one inning in relief at Mill River.
Dalton 12, Northampton 8 — Owen Shelfo and Kavan Powers each had a hit and two RBIs, but the Northampton Mickey Mantle team (9-6) fell on the road.
Northampton 7, Amherst 5 (9) — Dominic Badorini, Will Shaw, Matt Sullivan and Trevor Maslowski combined on a one-hitter as Northampton (12-8) won its second straight Sandy Koufax playoff game.
Badorini struck out nine, walked four, hit three batters and allowed one hit over 4⅔ innings. Shaw and Sullivan combined for 3⅔ innings of relief. Maslowski worked the ninth for the save.
Amherst scored five runs in the seventh to force extra innings.
Sullivan was 3 for 5 with two RBIs, while Max Callan scored two runs and walked four times. Mazlowski was 2 for 5 with two runs and an RBI. Shaw added a walk and two RBIs.
Braedon Tudryn singled for Amherst (16-3), which fell into the losers bracket.
TechPioneer 5, Frontier 2 — Dylan Martin had two hits and Kevin Baumann had a single, but Frontier (16-3) dropped to the losers bracket in the Sandy Koufax playoffs. Max Edwards struck out two in seven innings in the loss.
Valley Blue Sox 1, Vermont Mountaineers 0 (10) — Tyler Kapuscinski hit a walk-off single in extra innings as the Blue Sox (22-10) won in Holyoke.
Endy Morales struck out six, walked three and allowed six hits over six innings for Valley.
West Side 13, Frontier Blue 12 (8) — Frontier led at one point by five runs and by four runs, but West Side rallied each time. Frontier took a 12-10 lead in the eighth, only for West Side to score three runs and walk off with the Suburban League victory.
Madison McKemmie (two triples), Olivia Machon, Mollie Gates, Stephanie Barton (triple), Shea Huntley and Abby Patterson all had multiple hits and combined for nine runs.
Margaret Edwards doubled, while Lilly Warchol added a hit for Frontier (0-7).
American Legion
Northampton 3, Aldenville 0
Aldenville 000 000 0 — 0 3 1
Northampton 102 000 x — 3 6 1
WP—Brittain LP—Fournier
Records: Northampton (14-5) Aldenville (10-9-1)
Greenfield 11, Easthampton 6
Easthampton 002 004 0 — 6 8 2
Greenfield 103 160 x — 11 7 0
WP—Peabody LP—Fortin
Records: Easthampton (9-11) Greenfield (14-4-1)
Sandy Koufax
Northampton 7, Amherst 5 (9)
Northampton 004 100 002 — 7 8 1
Amherst 000 000 500 — 5 1 2
WP—Sullivan LP—Leonard S—Maslowski
Records: Northampton (12-8) Amherst (16-3)