BELCHERTOWN — Three runs is all the Belchertown Post 239 Senior American Legion baseball team has needed this week, winning both of its games by scoring thrice, with its latest installment coming in the form of a 3-0 shutout against Pittsfield Post 68-No. 1 on Friday night.
Belchertown plated all three runs in the bottom of the first inning, then played nearly flawless baseball the rest of the contest to pick up its eighth straight win at Belchertown High School, narrowly beating an approaching thunderstorm.
Post 68-No. 1 entered Friday’s matchup undefeated at 9-0 and in first place in the District 3 standings, but Belchertown’s clean-sheet ‘W’ bumped the Orange and Black into the top spot with a record of 10-1.
“We’ve been pretty consistent with that this year,” Post 239 head coach Todd McDonald said on his team’s defense. “Same thing happened against East Springfield [earlier this week]. They went up on us early then we scored, I think, three in the bottom of the first against them and then we beat them 3-2. Our defense and pitching has gotten the job done the past couple games, so hopefully that continues.”
Josh Misiaszek and Jake Waller kept Pittsfield to just three hits in this one as the duo combined for seven strikeouts from the hill. Misiaszek went the first four innings for Post 239 and fanned six, then Waller shut the door for the final three innings, not allowing a single hit.
Misiaszek grabbed the win from the bump as Belchertown’s starter never let the visitors get their bats going. Post 239’s twigs weren’t exactly on fire either as the hosts only recorded two hits during Friday’s clash of the top two teams in District 3, rather, it scored all three of its runs on three consecutive passed-balls.
Regardless, Belchertown did what was required of them on the mound and in the field (save for committing the game’s only error) following its good fortune during the first frame.
“We haven’t used as many arms as I would’ve liked,” McDonald said on his pitching of late. “That’s a blessing and a curse, so next week we’re going to use a lot more guys to get them lined up for postseason, which is looking promising at this point. We’ve used very few pitchers, but we’re only playing like two games a week, the way the schedule falls, so we’ve been able to manage their pitch count effectively.”
McDonald added that his confidence level in his pitching arms is high at this point with just two regular season games remaining.
Chace Earle and Ian McDonald had Post 239’s hits, trailing Pittsfield’s Roshan Warrior (two) and Matthew Burega’s sum by one. Belchertown left four runners on base, which bested Post 68-No. 1’s final tally by three as it surrendered seven runners on the bags.
As the two-time defending District 3 champions, Belchertown had a proverbial target on its back entering this season, but has still managed to take down most of the competition this summer (a defeat to Northampton Post 28 on June 13 is its only blemish). With that said, McDonald noted one key difference between this summer’s squad is that it’s more well-rounded, particular at the plate.
“We didn’t know what to expect coming into this year, because last year we had some power in the middle of our lineup,” McDonald said. “I knew that these guys could get the job done, but were going to have to play a little bit different style. We probably run a little bit more, some base hits, we have to string things together because when we get guys on, we can make things happen. That’s the difference between last year’s team. At any given point, we had four guys that could hit the ball out of the ball park. Here we got a couple guys that can do that, but not as consistently, so we’re looking to string hits together and score runs, rather than that big inning, which is why we need to rely on our defense a little bit more.”
Post 239’s year-over-year success also contributes to players wanting to stick around all summer and finish the job they started, something not every program can count on.
“We got just a bunch of baseball kids that just love being around the game,” McDonald said. “Whether they’re playing every inning or whether they’re playing a handful of innings. They seem to enjoy being around each other and I’m grateful for that because that’s part of the summer baseball experience. Yes, we want to win games, it’s fun to win games, but it’s also about development and about spending time together.
“You got to remember that we got guys from five different towns, five different schools, so when we come together, it doesn’t instantly mesh,” McDonald continued. “The good news is several of these guys play together on travel teams, so they’re familiar with each other. Then when you insert some others, it’s a very welcoming group and I appreciate what they do for each other.”
Belchertown will return to the diamond on Monday when it travels to Greenfield Post 81. First pitch at Veterans Field is set for 7 p.m.
