BELCHERTOWN – Before anybody even put on a jersey or touched a baseball diamond this summer, the Belchertown Post 239 coaching staff knew their team had a chance to put together a historic season.
On paper, the team was loaded. The only question was whether they would be able to come together as a cohesive group and win as a team.
So far, that answer is a resounding yes.
“This is a fun group of kids. We said this before the season started – talent-wise, on paper, this could be a special group of kids,” Belchertown head coach Jon Endelos said. “They’re… a special group. They’ve got that potential.”
Belchertown 239 is still undefeated nine games into its American Legion Senior Division season, an unprecedented run for a program that was still putting itself together just a few years ago. Now, teams are struggling to stay with Belchertown – whether it’s batting, fielding, or pitching.
It wasn’t just the coaches that thought this group had a chance to be different – the players were well aware of the massive amount of talent they had coming in.
“I think coming in this year we knew we had talent to do some damage,” Belchertown’s Eli Sayball-Wimmer said. “So I don’t want to say we expected it, but I think we earned it.”
Over their nine-game winning streak thus far, Belchertown has outscored its opponents 72-17, and four of those nine victories have come via shutout. Thursday’s 10-0 win over Ludlow was the second consecutive game that Post 239 had mercy-ruled its opponents, indicative of a trend that’s seen players finding their swing at the plate.
“I think they’re making adjustments. We were averaging four, five, six hits in the first six games or so. The last few games, we got nine, 10, 11, 12 hits… I think they’re seeing the ball better right now,” Endelos said. “They’re playing with confidence. And it takes that one hit with these guys. One guy gets a key hit and everyone else is following suit because they’re trying to match each other.”
Their offense is taking care of opponents right now, but the key component of the nine-game streak is the team’s pitching group. Post 239 has an abundance of arms to choose from, and no matter who is on the mound, it’s a formidable hurler who can challenge hitters.
“Our starting pitching has been phenomenal. Whether it be (Jordan) Talbot, (Jack) Feltovic, Ryan Schneider, Andrew Ciaglo now got a couple of starts – that pitching has been the core of what we’ve done,” Endelos said.
Even though the team knows it now has a target on its backs, Post 239 is having fun during this unprecedented run. Sure, everyone wants to win, but they’re focused more on building chemistry and having fun. After every win, the team has a little dance party and cranks up the speaker by the dugout to celebrate, and they keep that loose energy going all through games.
“Everyone’s just kind of clicking. There was a good chunk of guys that played together before, and we’re all just hitting it off right now with each other,” Sayball-Wimmer said. “Chemistry is through the roof.”
The usual superstitions are still there, of course – Sayball-Wimmer and Ciaglo both admit they haven’t washed their jerseys since they started the winning streak weeks ago, and Tyler Laramee has a lucky Boston Celtics’ Tacko Fall jersey he wears underneath his uniform. But the vibe around the Belchertown clubhouse is a positive one, and the club is hoping to keep its winning streak alive for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. By then, Endelos said, they should hopefully have their full lineup back and ready to roll for a potential deep run. And if that’s the case? There may be no team in Legion that can stop them from taking the title.