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Berkshire Force 16u Team Wins Babe Ruth World Series

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JENSEN BEACH, Fla. -- Toni Satrape went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored Tuesday evening to help the Berkshire Force 16-and-under softball team defeat WVAC-Debary and claim the Babe Ruth Softball National Championship.
 
Ashley Keegan went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI at the plate and went the distance in the circle, striking out three and not allowing an earned run.
 
Haley Tobin, Toni Satrape and Erin Murphy each drove in a run. Britney Perkett went 2-for-3 and scored two runs.
 
Earlier Tuesday, Berkshire played its way into the championship game by winning the continuation of a game started Monday evening against host Jensen Beach.
 
Keegan struck out six and allowed three earned runs as Berkshire advanced with a 6-4 win.
 
Murphy went 2-for-3 with a walk, and Satrape was 2-for-4 with an RBI in the win. Isabella Aitken went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice and a run scored.
 
14-and-under
JENSEN BEACH, Fla. -- The Berkshire Force softball 14-and-under team fell in the final game of the losers bracket at the Babe Ruth World Series on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Force's second loss in the double-elimination tournament dropped it from contention in the national championship.
 
JPRD West emerged with a 6-2 win and the right to take on the USA Glory Broken Bow in Tuesday evening's championship round.
 
In the elimination game at Pineapple Park, Madison Tobin went 1-for-3 with a run scored, and Sarah McMahon went 2-for-3 for the Force.
 
Mary Lee (2-for-3) and Payton O'Connell drove in Berkshire's runs, and Tess Lyon, Abigail Santos and Brianna Clary each had a hit.
 
Lee went the distance on the mound, striking out three.
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Big Lots to Close Pittsfield Store

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Two major chains are closing storefronts in the Berkshires in the coming year.
 
Big Lots announced on Thursday it would liquidate its assets after a purchase agreement with a competitor fell through. 
 
"We all have worked extremely hard and have taken every step to complete a going concern sale," Bruce Thorn, Big Lots' president and CEO, said in the announcement. "While we remain hopeful that we can close an alternative going concern transaction, in order to protect the value of the Big Lots estate, we have made the difficult decision to begin the GOB process."
 
The closeout retailer moved into the former Price Rite Marketplace on Dalton Avenue in 2021. The grocery had been in what was originally the Big N for 14 years before closing eight months after a million-dollar remodel. Big Lots had previously been in the Allendale Shopping Center.
 
Big Lots filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. It operated nearly 1,400 stores nationwide but began closing more than 300 by August with plans for another 250 by January. The Pittsfield location had not been amount the early closures. 
 
Its website puts the current list of stores at 960 with 17 in Massachusetts. Most are in the eastern part of the state with the closest in Pittsfield and Springfield. 
 
Advanced Auto Parts, with three locations in the Berkshires, is closing 500 stores and 200 independently owned locations by about June. 
 
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