Armstrong Leads Lenox to Win in Slugfest
LENOX, Mass. – Brendan Armstrong went 3-for-5 with a double and five RBIs, and the Lenox baseball team was able to put away Mount Everett in the sixth inning of a 20-10 win on War Memorial Field on Thursday afternoon.
Sam Joyce ended the game with one out in the sixth when he singled home Zack Nickotra to make it a 10-run game for the second time on the day.
The first time, the Millionaires led, 17-5, after a seven-run fourth inning.
But Mount Everett battled back with three runs in the fifth to stay alive.
Michael Devoti (3-for-4 with a double) drove in a pair of runs in that fifth-inning rally to extend the game one more inning.
And after reliever Michael Ullrich retired the side in order in the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles used that momentum to score twice in the top of the sixth and trim the deficit to 17-10.
Anthony Rahilly was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Ben Shannon doubled home a run to make it a seven-run margin going to the bottom of the sixth.
Ullrich got the leadoff man on a fly ball to left, but Armstrong worked a walk to start the game-ending rally.
After Armstrong stole second and moved up on a pitch that got to the backstop, Cliff Flynn drove Armstrong home with an RBI single. Flynn stole second and scored on Nicotra’s single, and Nicotra stole a base and moved up on an error ahead of Joyce’s RBI single.
Flynn finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
He also earned the win on the mound, going 4-⅔ innings, striking out six and allowing five earned runs before Nicotra came on to pitch the last 1-⅓.
Lenox’s win prevented Mount Everett (10-6, 7-1 Bi-County South) from securing an outright league title. The Eagles have two more chances in their last two regular season games – at Hoosac Valley on Monday and home against Drury on Wednesday.
Lenox (8-7, 5-3) hosts Monument Mountain in an independent game on Saturday before going to Drury on Monday and hosting Lee on Wednesday.