BELCHERTOWN — Hits were hard to come by Monday night between Belchertown Post 239 and Greenfield Post 81.
Each team produced a run through three innings before Belchertown took a lead in the fourth following a Cody West sacrifice fly.
It was a Belchertown rally in the sixth that put the game away, where the hosts scored three runs to take firm control going into the final frame. Ryan Schneider came on to get the final three outs for Belchertown and secure a 5-1 victory in an American Legion Senior Division contest played at Belchertown High School.
“We knew this was going to be a tough one,” said Belchertown coach Todd McDonald, who graduated from Greenfield High School in 1992. “There’s a great baseball culture in Greenfield. I’ve known it for quite some time. We knew we had to come ready to play baseball today from the first pitch until the last.”
While Schneider got the save, it was Ryan Decoteau who held Greenfield down for the first six innings. Decoteau struck out just two but only gave up three hits, not allowing Greenfield to make good contact on the ball.
“They’re always a good hitting team,” McDonald said of Post 81. “We knew that’d be the case. We’ve known these players for quite some time. Our pitchers had command of the strike zone. There was one inning where it got away from us and [Decoteau] composed himself and got back to it.”
Greenfield coach Julian Diamond noted that it’s not going to be easy to win a game when the bats are cold against a tough team like Belchertown.
“You can’t win against a team like this with three hits and the amount of errors we made,” Diamond said. “You just can’t do it. I’m not worried. I see the kind of team we can be and I think the guys do too. My first year of Legion [as a player] we lost our first three games but still made Western Mass. There’s some things we have to fix but I’m not worried.”
Belchertown got on the board in the first inning. Brady Perkins and Decoteau knocked back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. Greenfield catcher Cayden Payne tried to catch Decoteau sleeping at first, but the ball sailed into the outfield which allowed Perkins to score and give Belchertown a 1-0 lead.
A pair of walks then loaded the bases but Greenfield pitcher Tyler Baranowski got a ground out to end the inning without any additional damage done.
Greenfield threatened in the second, loading the bases after John Marchefka reached on a fielder’s choice and Baranowski and Jesse Dubreuil both walked. bBt Decoteau got a strikeout to end the inning without giving up a run.
Greenfield loaded the bases again in the third, but this time managed to get on the board. Liam Skribiski-Banack and Ian Simpson singled, Payne drew a walk and Marchefka also walked to force in Skribiski-Banack, tying the game 1-1 going into the fourth.
Simpson’s single was the final hit of the game for Greenfield however. David Carey had the visitors’ only other hit of the night when he opened the game with a single in the top of the first.
Andrew Fijal and Ian McDonald singled for Belchertown to open the fourth. Both moved up a base on a Cooper Beckwith fly out, and West brought Fijal home on a sacrifice fly to right to give Belchertown a 2-1 lead.
McDonald got on after a dropped strike three, and Beckwith walked to get things going in the sixth inning for Belchertown. Baranowski — who went five and one-third innings, striking out two and scattering seven hits — was then relieved by Tyler Podolski.
West cracked a single to load the bases and Perkins launched a single to right to plate McDonald. Jacob Smith singled to bring Beckwith home and West came home on a wild pitch, giving Belchertown its 5-1 lead going into the seventh.
“It was a 1-0 game and you can’t rest on that,” McDonald said. “When they came back and tied it up we just kept battling. I thought we had some really good at-bats late in the game. Their pitcher threw the ball well. He shouldn’t be ashamed from his standpoint. He threw strikes and made us work. Late in the game we put together at-bats that produced runs.”
Greenfield (3-3) is back in action on Wednesday when it’ll host Chicopee. Belchertown (5-1), which won its fifth game in a row, will host Longmeadow – also on Wednesday.