Weber, McCann Tech Earn Walkoff Win over Lenox
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- On a day when the teams combine for 25 runs, it is a fair guess that they found a lot of different ways to score.
The winning run Sunday at Joe Wolfe Field was really something else.
McCann Tech’s Aaron Livsey was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the seventh to score Landon Champney and give the Hornets a 13-12, come-from-behind win over Lenox.
McCann Tech rallied from deficits of 3-0 early and 12-11 going to the bottom of the seventh, making a winner of freshman pitcher Ozzie Weber, who struck out five in five innings of relief.
Hornets senior Luke Thomas went 2-for-5 and drove in three runs, including the tying run in the seventh-inning rally. He credited McCann Tech’s junior catcher with keeping the team on an even keel in a game with plenty of peaks and valleys.
“Big props to my guy Seth [Farnsworth],” Thomas said. “He kept us motivated. But a lot of our young kids, they’re really happy to be here, and they work hard. Even with the ups and downs, we just pushed forward.
“He’s considered a captain, and he has great leadership potential. He really does great focusing our team and making sure we’ve got our eyes on the ball.”
Farnsworth also went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI while stealing a base and scoring two runs to help McCann Tech’s offense. Champney was 3-for-4 in addition to scoring the winning run.
The Hornets scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take the biggest lead for either team, 11-7, when Weber scored on an error.
But Lenox battled back in the top of the seventh, batting around and taking a one-run lead on a base hit to left by Cooper Shepardson with two out.
The Millionaires were down 5-3, 7-5 and 11-7 before the Hornets took the game’s last lead on the game’s last pitch.
“The bottom line is, we kept battling back, which is a good thing,” Lenox coach Kevin Downer said. “That’s all you can ask for. Heavyweight match. McCann came out on top. Unfortunately, we didn’t. … The team showed a lot of fight, a lot of character.”
McCann Tech’s winning rally started with a base hit to left by Joshua Livsey. Chase Vander-Woude then walked before Champney singled to right-center
Livsey attempted to score on the play, but Lenox’s Luke Patella got the ball to catcher Josh Hunter on the first-base side, and Shepardson dove across the plate to tag out Livsey and keep it an 12-11 Millionaires lead.
A wild pitch moved Vander-Woude and Champney into scoring position for freshman Austin Buda, who was then given an intentional free pass to get to McCann Tech’s cleanup man, Thomas.
“He’s a young kid but a lot of respect to him,” Thomas said of Buda. “He had a triple and a double in our last game. He’s unbelievable. … It was definitely an interesting thing.”
Thomas then delivered a base hit through Lenox’s drawn-in infield to plate Vander-Woude and tie the game at 12-12.
After Shepardson got the next batter to fly out to the left side of the infield, Livsey took a pitch on the arm to bring home Champney and end the game.
Factoring into that winning rally were two McCann Tech players who were not in the starting lineup: Joshua Livsey and Vander-Woude, who also laid down a sacrifice bunt to score a run in his first plate appearance in the fifth. The Hornets’ bench also contributed a pair of hits, an RBI and a run scored from Omar Uqhda.
“It’s a group effort,” McCann Tech coach Bill Farrell said. “We carry 16 guys on our team, and, in order to win, I need an effort, I need everything from 16 guys. And that’s pretty much what we got today.”
The Hornets also got a solid effort on the mound from Weber, who allowed no earned runs, not even in the seventh, when two McCann Tech errors helped fuel the Millionaires’ five-run rally.
“It was set up as a just-in-case,” Farrell said. “[Weber] was not planned to pitch today. Colin [Booth] was getting only his second varsity start. And I had set Ozzie up as a DH. He hasn’t pitched in a week because of all our cancellations.
“And we told him, if need comes, I’m going to pull you out of the DH spot, and you’re going to relieve Colin. That was a warrior’s effort. It wasn’t his sharpest effort. But he went out there and did what he had to do to compete and win.”
McCann Tech goes to Pathfinder on Tuesday. Lenox hosts Hoosac Valley on Monday.