SOUTH HADLEY – After going 17 plate appearances without a hit, Belchertown Post 239’s Marshall Ingram got his bat going at just the right time on Monday.
Ingram blasted a double to open the bottom of the fifth inning against Wilbraham Post 286’s second team in the quarterfinal round of the American Legion Senior Division playoffs at Landers Field. With the game tied 5-5, Ingram’s hit was a critical turning point for Post 239. Ingram moved over to third base on a passed ball and ran home on a hit from Jacob Smith to give Belchertown back the lead.
“I’ve been rusty all season, you can ask anybody,” Ingram said. “But through encouragement, I’ve been finally able to knock a little bit of that rust off… I was pretty happy finally getting on base. I haven’t done that for a while. So getting on there gets the energy back, gets the confidence back.”
After Ingram’s go-ahead run, Brady Perkins gave Post 239 a bit more of a cushion in the bottom of the sixth, singling to get on base and eventually scampering home on an overthrow to third base in an effort by the Wilbraham catcher to catch him off the bag.
Belchertown Post 239 made it into the semifinals of the American Legion playoffs against a tough Wilbraham team in a 7-5 victory. Belchertown will play either Wilbraham’s number one team or Greenfield Post 81 in Tuesday’s semifinal (the result of that quarterfinal wasn’t known at print deadline), with a spot in the District 1 final on the line. That title game is tentatively set for Wednesday, with the district winner representing Western Mass. at the American Legion state tournament.
Belchertown starting pitcher Cody West made it through nearly the entirety of the game before head coach Todd McDonald pulled him for reliever Ryan Schneider, who got the final three outs. Ingram led the team with two hits and a run scored, while West, Cooper Beckwith, Perkins and Tyler McDonald all had a hit in the win.
West recorded 10 strikeouts and allowed nine hits, most of those coming from Wilbraham’s first two batters Maurice Kearney and Bryce Barlow, who combined for six on the night.
Center fielder Andrew Fijal and third baseman Eli Sayball-Wimmer combined for an epic final play to end the game. With one out and Wilbraham runners on first and second, Fijal caught a pop fly in center field and threw a laser to Sayball-Wimmer on third base, who tagged a Wilbraham runner that had tagged up after the catch for a double play.
“I have confidence in our guys. Obviously you don’t want to take any at bat lightly, but I have confidence that we can make the play,” McDonald said. “We’re doing little things right – Ryan (Schneider) went over and backed up third base in case the ball got by (Sayball-Wimmer), we had somebody there so that they didn’t steal a run. It’s all those little things that when you add them up at the end of the game, make a big difference.”
After Wilbraham scored in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, Belchertown responded emphatically with a five-run second inning to take the lead. Wilbraham clawed its way back to a tie game, notching two runs in the top of the third to make it 5-3 and then scored two more in the top of the fifth. Ingram’s double and run proved to be the eventual game winner, and Post 239 held the visitors scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Post 28 eliminated by Monson
PALMER – Ty Miller pitched Monson Post 241 to to a 14-1 victory over Northampton Post 28 in an American Legion Senior Division first-round playoff game on Saturday night at Legion Field.
Post 28 finished its season at 7-7 after not fielding a team in 2022.
Northampton scored its lone run of the game in the top of the fifth inning when Phil Morin scored after singles by Max Edwards and Jamie Fowler.
It was the final game for Edwards and Dom Badorini in a Post 28 uniform, as the rest of the team (16 of 18 players) will be eligible to return in 2024.