SOUTH HADLEY — Braeden Lamirande stayed calm, even with a storm bearing down on South Hadley.
The Tigers lefty sat down the first eight Frontier batters he saw in Thursday’s Mickey Mantle tournament elimination game as part of a two-hit shutout. Lamirande struck out six and only walked one, throwing 61 pitches.
“If we lost this, we’re out. Just trying to get it done out there,” he said. “I try to just throw strikes all the time, just find the zone constantly. Good defense, so if I just find the zone we can make outs.”
South Hadley won 4-0 to end Frontier’s season, but the game was called after lightning flashed with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Tigers will face West County at 10 a.m. Saturday at Deerfield Academy. Whoever emerges from that game gets Amherst needing to defeat the Hurricanes twice to claim the title.
“We’ve seen these teams a number of times already. We’ve beat both of them already,” South Hadley coach Ray Carillon said. “I’m not saying that it would be an easy win, but it’s a team that we’ve played, we feel comfortable with and we’ve played competitively with.”
Lamirande was comfortable pitching at Landers Field, South Hadley’s home field, though the Tigers were the away team batting in the top half of the innings because of the tournament and field availability. He led off the top of the first with a walk, and Matt Drobiak brought him home with an RBI double.
That run was all Lamirande needed. He didn’t allow a baserunner until Frontier’s Phillip Morin walked with two outs in the bottom of the third. A strikeout endd the inning.
Frontier’s first hit came on a Nico Fasulo single with two outs in the fourth. He stole second, but a popout stranded him there.
Thomas Unkles dropped in a bloop single to lead off the bottom of the sixth then went to second on an errant pickoff throw, but the game ended with him standing there. No Frontier baserunner reached third base.
“He just pounds the strike zone,” Carillon said. “They put the ball in play, and we make the plays.”
The Tigers also executed on the basepaths to extend the lead. They notched five hits. Jackson Keller singled with one out in the third then came home on an error after Lamirande put the ball in play.
John Viola turned a fourth-inning walk into South Hadley’s third run after stealing second and third. He came home on a groundout.
Ryan Netkovick gave the Tigers their fourth run with a walk in the fifth. He stole second then came home on an error.
“We ended up with a couple of timely hits. That’s ultimately the difference when you have a 4-0 game,” Carillon said.
Now the Tigers will prepare for a potential long day Saturday. They only used one pitcher Thursday, so their bullpen should be stocked. Any loss ends their season.
“Our team plays up to competition,” Carillon said. “The better opponent we have, the better that we play. I think they get up for those kind of games.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.