Mounties Get by Blue Devils In The Fifth
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock baseball team received its third strong pitching performance in a row on Monday, leading the Mounties to a 5-2 home win over Drury and giving them enough wins to qualify for the Division 2 Western Mass. tournament.Senior Avery Cunningham and junior Andrew Leitch combined to hold the Blue Devils (6-8) to just four hits and two unearned runs, helping Greylock (10-4) to its third win in as many games. In its past three contests, the Mounties' pitching staff is allowing just 1.33 runs per game.
Cunningham got the start on Monday and threw just under five innings of work, allowing three hits and three walks with one strikeout. Cunningham started the game off with four scoreless frames until an error by the Greylock infield allowed Drury to score two runs in the top of the fifth. Juniors Nolan Bird and Ryan Ouimet each came up with RBI hits in the inning, helping the visitors tie the score after the Mounties scored twice in the bottom of the first.
Leitch came in and ended the Devils' threat, however, and the Mounties' offense responded by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth. After back-to-back walks by Drury starter Alex Bush to start the inning, the hosts' scored three runs in a row thanks to RBI singles by Eric Leitch and Billy Pulasky. Eric Leitch finished with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Pulasky finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs.
"This was a tough loss today," Blue Devils head coach Al Marceau said. "We couldn't get anything going offensively, and Alex threw a decent game. He appeared to tire a little in the fifth and kind of left the ball up. Greylock is an excellent team that makes all the plays. They can go a long way in the tourney if they get timely hitting."
Andrew Leitch allowed just one hit over the final two and one-third innings of play, striking out three to improve his record to 5-1 this season. Bush allowed five runs on seven hits in just over five innings of work to take the loss. He fanned four and walked four before letting sophomore Isiah Clark finish things up.
Senior Slayter Aubin led the Blue Devils' offense, going 2 for 3 in the game. The Blue Devils next host Monument Mountain at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, while the Mounties host Mount Everett at 5 p.m. on the same day.