The Frontier Sandy Koufax baseball team won three games in two days to claim the league championship.
Frontier capped the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League playoffs with a 4-1 victory over Northampton, Sunday evening at Headmaster’s Field in Deerfield.
Frontier trailed 1-0 into the fourth inning, but rallied with two runs. With the bases loaded, Tyler Baranowski executed a suicide squeeze that plated Matt Como with the tying run. Gehrig Brynda continued running on the play, and he scored the go-ahead run from second base to give Frontier a 2-1 lead.
The squad tacked on two insurance runs in the fifth inning. Aidan Falla scored on a Kyle Barnes’ RBI single, and Como drove in Barnes with a sacrifice fly.
Baranowski earned the win on the mound, striking out two in a complete-game effort that was aided by an outstanding defensive effort behind him.
Frontier (20-3) reached the championship game thanks to a pair of victories in elimination games on Saturday.
The weekend began with a 3-2 win over Northampton, as Brynda earned the victory with eight strikeouts. He was also 2-for-3 at with an RBI. Baranowski and Tom Alber both had a hit and an RBI, while Ben Martino totaled two hits and Maxwell Edwards added a single.
That victory was followed by a 6-0 win over Amherst that sent Frontier into the finals. Barnes struck out nine and helped himself with a single.
Falla was 1-for-1 with an RBI and Alber had another RBI. Barnes, Martino, Kevin Baumann, Brynda and Baranowski all singled.
Amherst beat TechPioneer, 13-3, in an elimination game, Saturday.
Northampton 12, Trumbull (Conn.) 6; Franklin Township (N.J.) 7, Northampton 4 — Northampton eliminated Trumbull, Sunday, to stay alive in the Little League Intermediate Eastern Regionals, held at Cedar Road Park in East Northport, New York.
Northampton will play Greencastle (Pennsylvania) at 2 p.m. Monday in the losers bracket.
Liam Flynn and Marty Maslowski each went 3-for-4 with all singles and scored twice in the victory.
Beau Elson (two runs, double) and Cayden Payne (run) each had two hits. Peter Sullivan (two stolen bases, run) and James Elliott (double, two runs) had one hit apiece. Cody West and Trey Rios each scored once.
Northampton used six pitchers in the win. David Shycon started, while Maslowski, Flynn, Elliott, West and Michael Rubeck worked in relief. Rubeck threw one pitch, but got the final batter to flyout with runners in scoring position.
In Saturday’s opening loss to Franklin Township, Elliott was 3-for-4 with a home run, two singles and two stolen bases.
Sullivan (run) added two singles, while Maslowski doubled and scored. Cody West also scored for Northampton, which never led.
Elson, Maslowski, Flynn, West and Elliott all pitched in the loss.
A Home Run Derby was held Friday. Jordan Rickles, Rubeck and Maslowski participated for Northampton. Maslowski was the lone Hamp player to advance. He hit four homers in the first round, but was eliminated in the second round.
Wilbraham Red 4, Northampton Post 28 3 — Post 28, the defending Western Massachusetts American Legion tournament champion, held the lead in the seventh inning of an elimination game on Saturday, but Wilbraham rallied to advance to the best-of-three championship against Pittsfield.
Matt Bouley hit a leadoff single in the seventh, then scored from second on Aidan Chapdelaine’s double to give Post 28 a 3-2 lead.
Wilbraham chased starter Jake Brittain following a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. A balk by reliever Will O’Connor and an error put runners at the corners.
O’Connor induced two flyouts, but a walk loaded the bases and a hit batter scored the tying run. Another walk won the game for Wilbraham.
Post 28 (15-7) took a 1-0 lead in the second. Andy Grygorcewicz walked and took second on Devontay Edmonds’ single. Grygorcewicz moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Zac Brittain’s one-out sacrifice fly to center.
Wilbraham (17-4) answered, but Mike Mieczkowski’s third homer in the last four games gave Hamp a 2-1 lead in the third.
Jake Brittain struck out one, walked five and allowed two earned runs on three hits over six-plus innings.
It was the final Legion game for Zac Brittain, Ian McNamara, Mieczkowski, O’Connor and Tristan Szawlowski.
American Legion
Wilbraham Red 4, Northampton 3
Northampton 011 000 1 — 3 7 1
Wilbraham Red 010 001 2 — 4 3 0
WP—Catellier LP—O’Connor
Records: Northampton (15-7) Wilbraham Red (17-4)