SPRINGFIELD — Mt. Greylock’s Jack Cangelosi was a problem the Frontier baseball team couldn’t solve on Wednesday in the Western Mass. Class C finals.
The Mountie ace was locked in on the hill from the opening pitch on. Iain Spearance was the only Redhawk to get on base, reaching on an error after the Greylock first baseman was unable to squeeze the throw long enough following a ground ball, otherwise Cangelosi would have had a perfect game.
The lefty ended up with a no-hitter while the Mountie bats were hot at the plate, with Greylock hoisting the Class C title with a 10-0 victory at Springfield College.
“We were ready for him, it just didn’t go our way at all,” Frontier coach Chris Williams said. “I have to give him a lot of credit. It seemed like he started every count 0-2. When you’re getting down like that, it’s tough.”
Cangelosi struck out 10 of the 22 batters he faced, with the Redhawks (16-5) unable to get any rhythm going off him at the plate.
“Our goal was to put the ball in play as much as possible and we didn’t necessarily accomplish that,” Williams said. “It’s back to the drawing board. We know what we have to do if we want to win in this next (state) tournament.”
The Mounties (17-4) opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Derek Paris reached on a single, stole second and moved to third off a Chase Doyle single. Landen Jamula grounded out to short, but Paris was able to score off the play to give Greylock the early lead.
The bats stayed hot for the Mounties in the second inning. Jackson Shelsy opened the frame by smashing a triple, Anthony Welch reached on an error and Thomas Martin walked to load the bases. Cangelosi helped himself by driving Shelsy and Welch in with a single and later, Martin was brought home on a bases loaded walk to give Mt. Greylock a 4-0 lead going into the third.
Two more runs came across the board for the Mounties in the bottom of the fourth. Cangelosi opened the inning with a double and was brought home on a Doyle single. Doyle took second and ended up scoring on a single from Jamula to make it a 6-0 game.
The final four Greylock runs came in the bottom of the fifth. Martin opened the frame with a triple and Jack Gladu scored him on a single on the next at bat. Liam Skribiski-Banack came on in relief of Tyler Baranowski — who finished with five strikeouts in four innings of work — and got the final three outs of the inning, but not before Paris scored Gladu with a single and Jamula hit a two-RBI single with the bases loaded to put the Mounties ahead, 10-0.
“We got a nice piece of humble pie,” Williams said. “If we want to accomplish the goals we set at the beginning of the season, we have to go bust our butts at practice tomorrow. We’ll get right back to work. It’s some motivation for us moving forward.”
Frontier now turns its attention to the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament, where it comes in as the No. 6 seed. It’ll take on the winner of No. 27 Bromfield and No. 38 BC Charter in the Round of 32, with Williams hoping to see his team bounce back after Wednesday’s loss.
“We just got punched in the gut,” Williams said. “How are we going to respond? We know the stakes were high for this one and the stakes are even higher in the state tournament. Hopefully we take care of that game in the first round and try to rejuvenate our squad.”