Northampton Post 28 beat Agawam, 10-7, Friday, to stay alive in the Western Massachusetts American Legion playoffs.
The defending champions rallied from a 3-0 deficit and a 7-3 deficit to win at Arcanum Field.
Mike Mieczkowski finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Will O’Connor and Andy Grygorcewicz each had two hits, two runs and one RBI.
Northampton tied the game at 3-3 in the first inning and pulled within 7-6 after three innings.
Matt Bouley earned the win in relief. Bouley struck out two, walked one and allowed one unearned run on three hits over five innings. Tristian Szawlowski struck out two, walked three and allowed six runs (three earned) on four hits over two-plus innings.
Northampton committed four errors over the first three innings.
Post 28 plays Wilbraham Red at Spec Pond at 5 p.m. Saturday. Northampton needs to beat Wilbraham Red twice to advance to the championship three-game series. A second game, if necessary, will follow Saturday night after a short break.
Joe Schwartz 17, Amherst 2 (3) — Amherst fell in Worcester and was eliminated in the Little League 11-12 State Section 1 Tournament.
Shane Bussard and Jake Paasch each scored a run for the District 2 champions.
It marked the end of a successful season for Amherst. The program won its first Little League District 2 title since 1997. Amherst played in the 11-12 state sectional tournament for the first time since 1991.
Amherst 5, Northampton 1 — Eli Slovin singled twice and drove in a run, while Will Andresen (two runs, single) had an RBI double as the Amherst Mickey Mantle team won on the road.
Owel Toal (walk, run) doubled and struck out four over two innings in relief. Justin Masteralexis (walk) doubled and scored twice for Amherst (13-3). Thea Hanscom allowed one run over four innings for the win.
Patrick Serio collected two hits, while Jack Diggins, Owen Shelffo and Tommy O’Connor each had one for Northampton (9-7). Colin Ferrara scored on a Jamie Berrios sacrifice fly.
Northampton 8, TechPioneer 5 — Trevor Maslowski struck out four over 4⅔ innings for the win, while Luke Gaida finished off the win for Northampton, which advanced in the Sandy Koufax playoffs.
Zeb Hiranandani was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, while Matt Sullivan added a walk, a run and an RBI for Hamp (13-8). Eric Vandergrift scored and walked twice, and stole a base.
Northampton will play Frontier at 10 a.m. Saturday in a semifinal at Headmaster Field in Deerfield.
If Northampton wins, it will play either Amherst or TechPioneer at 4 p.m. in the finals.
Frontier 5, Westfield1 2 — Kevin Baumann was 3-for-4, while Matt Como (RBI) singled and tripled for Frontier in the Sandy Koufax playoffs.
Ben Zaranek, who was the winning pitcher for Frontier, doubled and drove in a run. Tyler Baranowski also doubled, while Ben Martino added a hit.
Frontier will play Northampton at 10 a.m. Saturday in a semifinal at Headmaster Field in Deerfield.
If Frontier wins, it will play either Amherst or TechPioneer at 4 p.m. in the finals.
Amherst 6, Mohawk 3 — Amherst advanced to the Sandy Koufax semifinals with the road win.
Amherst will play TechPioneer at 1 p.m., Saturday at Headmaster Field in Deerfield. If Amherst wins, it will play either Northampton or Frontier at 4 p.m. in the finals.
American Legion
Northampton 10, Agawam 7
Agawam 313 000 0 — 7 7 3
Northampton 303 202 x — 10 11 4
WP—Bouley LP—Kerr
Records: Northampton (15-6) Agawam (10-11-1)
Sandy Koufax
Northampton 8, TechPioneer 5
TechPioneer 000 140 0 — 5 9 1
Northampton 031 040 x — 8 3 3
WP—Gaida
Records: Northampton (13-8) TechPioneer (13-6)
Mickey Mantle
Amherst 5, Northampton 1
Amherst 101 210 0 — 5 10 2
Northampton 000 100 x — 1 5 2
WP—Hanscom LP—Shelffo
Records: Northampton (9-7) Amherst (13-3)