BELCHERTOWN – An opportunistic second inning ensured the Hampshire Regional baseball team’s three-game losing streak ended Wednesday.
The Raiders scored five runs with just two hits in that frame to give themselves the necessary separation in a 9-4 road win over Belchertown.
Their previous three losses came by a combined five runs, and Hampshire (6-5) hadn’t scored more than five in any of them. The Raiders had five on the board before most fans had set up their camp chairs.
Will Hogan opened the inning reaching on an error – one of six by the Orioles, then Liam Pond also got to first on an error following a strikeout. A Zach Phakos walk loaded the bases. Nine-hole hitter Jake Sicard hit a slow grounder to Belchertown’s shortstop, who was playing deep and by the time the ball reached him had no play, scoring the first run of the game.
Luke Gaida followed it with a ground-rule double that plated two, making it 3-0. The Raiders added a fourth on a passed ball, then Tyler Vanasse’s RBI single put Hampshire up 5-0.
“I think we could see it out of his hand pretty well. We had a hard last game that we played,” Gaida said. “We were all dialed and ready to play.”
Sophomore Jack Boyle cranked it up in the third. After Nick Quenneville got to first on an error, Boyle lofted a hit to deep center. The ball floated and carried in the wind, ultimately landing over the fence for his first high school home run.
“I thought it was just going to be a pop fly, maybe a double,” Boyle said. “It was really windy, so it definitely helped. Once I saw Nick Quenneville put his hand up, I knew it was pretty far. It was a big moment for me, just a lot of happiness there.”
The Raiders added run No. 8 on a passed ball in the top of the sixth, then Hogan tacked on another with an RBI single.
“It was nice to see some of those hard hit balls that we’ve had find gaps, those bloopers find gaps, those bounces that seem like they haven’t been going our way, they went our way,” Hampshire coach Dan Korpita said.
That let Hampshire pitcher Tyler Galpin work with a lead and stay aggressive the entire game. He struck out seven, allowing four hits and three walks.
“All of our losses we’ve got down to five-run deficits, then we make an error and we get down on ourself and we lose our energy and we don’t play fundamental baseball,” Belchertown coach Evan Berneche said. “You’re not going to win a lot of games where you’re giving teams three or four extra outs an inning. It was an energy thing, I think. I’m disappointed, I guess I’ve got to do a better job getting the team ready.”
While Belchertown’s starters struggled against Galpin, its bench provided a spark late. Freshman Josh Misiaszek had three hits including a double and drove in a run in the seventh inning.
“He’s earning himself in the lineup,” Berneche said. “If I gotta flip the lineup and do things that are unconventional and really just flip guys into better positions to get our best hitters, that’s what it is. We just have to play better all the way around.”
Ayden Cardwell and Derek Gould also had an RBI each during Belchertown’s last stand in the seventh inning. The Orioles (5-4) scored all four runs with their final three outs after loading the bases with no outs.
Andrew Fijal reached on an error, then Aiden Torna wore a pitch and Jack DiNapoli loaded the bases after another error. Cardwell drove in Belchertown’s first run with a bases-loaded walk, which forced Hampshire to swap pitchers to Gaida.
A passed ball plated Torna, then Gould launched a sacrifice fly to make it 9-3. Misiaszek crushed an RBI double to left to bring the Orioles within five with runners still on the base paths and just one out. A pop out and strikeout ended the inning.
“We can’t get down that early. We can’t wait around to play a good inning of baseball in the seventh,” Berneche said. “Four losses, all of them have been that same story. Five-run deficit, claw our way back to the end and it’s not enough.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.