BUCKLAND — The rain brought in better fortunes for Amherst during a PVYBL Mickey Mantle playoff game on Thursday against West County.
Amherst trailed 3-0 going into the sixth inning, having just four hits, when the rain began pouring down at Mohawk Trail Regional School, causing a short delay. When play resumed, Amherst looked like a different team.
A pair of walks got things going in the top of sixth before the bats got going to the tune of two hits. A pair of West County errors later and suddenly Amherst held a 6-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth. West County fought back late but it wouldn’t be enough to get the job done, with Amherst earning a spot in the championship game with an 8-6 victory.
“Giving us a break was good because our mentality wasn’t there,” Amherst’s Elijah Rubinstein said. “Once we got the momentum going, we started doing well.”
West County is still alive in the double-elimination tournament, facing South Hadley on Saturday. The winner will play Amherst in the finals.
“There’s a lot of teams that don’t have a season anymore,” West County coach Ruben Bassett said. “We’re thankful to still be in it. Our eyes are still on the championship. We still think we’re the best team in the league and we can take on whoever.”
Spencer Waite and Ian McDonald got things started with walks for Amherst in the sixth. Elijah Rubinstein singled to load the bases and Shane Bussard drove Waite and McDonald in with a single and Rubinstein made it home on an error on a ball put in play by Evan Ferguson to tie the game, 3-3.
Bussard scored on a missed pickoff attempt and Ferguson reached home on a balk. Riley McDonald, who walked, got home on an error on a ball put in play by Brendon Capshaw to make it a 6-3 game going into the bottom of the sixth.
“The rain delay we were up but when we came out we had a couple innings left and were laid back,” Bassett said. “They took advantage. Stuff like that happens. It’s baseball. It’s not a huge deal and we have a lot of season left.”
West County got a run back in the sixth. Cayden Payne was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a groundout and scored on a Jacob Martin base hit to cut the lead to 6-4.
Amherst tacked two runs on in the seventh to make a West County comeback that much tougher. McDonald got on with a single, Rubinstein was hit by a pitch and Bussard walked to load the bases for Ferguson, who blasted a single to bring McDonald and Rubinstein in and extend the lead to 8-4.
West County rallied in the seventh. Marshall Ingram cracked a double and Eathon Bryant got on with an error, scoring Ingram in the process. Charlie May drew a walk before Wyatt Edes hit a single to drive Bryant in, making it an 8-6 game. That was all Rubinstein, who pitched the final four innings for Amherst, as he got a double play to end the game.
“I had a couple bombs hit off me but I just had to wipe it and keep going,” Rubinstein said. “I just threw strikes and tried to be consistent.”
West County got on the board in the first inning. Braynt reached on a single, May walked and Edes singled to load the bases. Payne knocked a single to drive Bryant in and Jesse Dubreuil cracked a sac fly to right field to bring May in, giving West County the early 2-0 lead.
In the second inning, Carter Blanchette launched a triple and Ingram brought him in on a sac fly to give West County a 3-0 lead.
May pitched the first five innings for West County, striking out four. Jack Gancarz pitched one and one-third before Carter Miller came on to get the final two outs.
McDonald started for Amherst, striking out one in three innings work. Rubinstein struck out two the rest of the way. Amherst now awaits the South Hadley and West County winner, sitting in the drivers seat as it still hasn’t lost so far this tournament.
“It feels good not having a loss,” Rubinstein said. “We know someone will have to beat us twice to win the championship.”