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The Pittsfield Little League American Division 10-year-old All-Stars Saturday celebrate their win in the Don Gleason District 1 Championship Game.

Pittsfield Americans Outlast Dalton in Back-And-Forth Tourney Final

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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DALTON, Mass. – Jeremiah Bullett drove in the tying run and raced around the bases for the go-ahead score in the bottom of the bottom of the fourth Saturday as the Pittsfield Little League American Division 11-year-old All-Stars beat Dalton-Hinsdale, 9-7, in the Don Gleason District 1 Championship Game.
 
Bullett went 2-for-3 with a double, and Jake Knauth and Landon Marquis combined to strike out seven for the Americans, who went 4-0 over the last eight days to win the four-team tournament.
 
Dalton-Hinsdale earned nine hits, but Knauth and Marquis allowed just one walk. They also got a couple of big assists from catcher Alec Houghtaling, who threw out runners attempting to steal in the first and second.
 
Knauth stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, and Marquis left a runner at third with a game-ending strikeout in the sixth.
 
“We work really hard with our pitchers to not get shaken up when they see runners on the bases,” Pittsfield American Coach Demary said. “They just keep pitching and pitch hard and work hard, especially when they see bunters square up to bunt. If they bunt it, they bunt it; we’ve got to play defense.
 
“Our pitchers today worked really hard. They did the best they could.”
 
Marquis, who started the game at shortstop, delivered a first-inning triple and scored on a pitch to the backstop to give the Americans a 1-0 lead.
 
They doubled that lead in the second when Lennon Greene walked, moved up on a passed ball and Oliver Brown’s groundout and scored on another pitch to the backstop.
 
“We were a little bit behind the ball today,” Demary said. “We weren’t swinging the bat efficiently at the top, and then we basically had to manufacture our runs on the baspaths – just put pressure on the other team.
 
“But that’s a great team over there, Dalton-Hinsdale. They played really well, and they kept us on our toes today. Hats off to them.”
 
Thomas Kudzeba led off the top of the third with a triple and scored on Cam Sievers’ ground ball to give Dalton-Hinsdale its first run. Leah Melle, who drew a two-out walk, eventually scored on Sully Duquette’s single up the middle to tie the game.
 
Pittsfield American struck for four runs in the third with the benefit of just one hit, Bullett’s double.
 
But Dalton-Hinsdale mounted a five-run rally in the fourth to take a 7-6 lead.
 
An error and a catcher’s interference call got the rally started. But the designated visitors got singles from Kuzdeba, Sievers and David Duquette and an RBI triple from Melle, who scored on an error on the play to give her team a one-run advantage.
 
In the bottom of the frame, Brennan Lyon hit a one-out single but was thrown out attempting to go to third on a single by Will Nichols. By drawing the throw, Lyon allowed Nichols to reach second, and he scored on Bullett’s single. Bullett went to second on the throw home, and a couple of miscues by Dalton-Hinsdale allowed him to come home on the play and make it 8-7, Americans.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Mike Ressler reached on an error and eventually scored on Lyon’s RBI groundout to give Marquis a little bit of a cushion going to the sixth.
 
Sully Duquette and David Duquette handled the pitching duties for Dalton-Hinsdale, combining to strike out five.
 
Pittsfield American, whose program won the 10-year-old State Championship a year ago, now heads to sectional play, where it will travel to District 4 on Thursday. 
 
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Letter: What's Happening With Dalton's Finances?

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

What's the problem? We are approaching our tax levy limit. As a result of rapid increases in spending over the last four years, Dalton's buffer before we reach our tax levy limit has dropped from $1,200,000 to $772,000 in 2023, which is OK, and likely to be approximately $140,000 in 2026, which is very concerning. If it gets to $0, the town of Dalton will have to cut services and reduce spending in many ways.

What is the levy limit? Proposition 2.5, which is part of Massachusetts law, says that the maximum amount a town can tax its residents (the levy limit) is 2.5 percent of the total assessed overall value of the homes in Dalton plus new growth. New growth in this town has been small for several years. In 2024 the total assessed value of all property was $895,322,865 so the total amount the town could raise from taxes is approximately $22.4 million. In 2024 the total amount of revenue collected was $21.2 million, which means we had $864,000 buffer that we could collect before reaching the levy limit. Each year the assessed value of homes increases, which in turn increases the levy limit and helps Dalton meet its ever-increasing obligations. Over the last four years, the increase in our town's expenses has been outpacing these increases, cutting into our buffer.

Does a Proposition 2.5 override save us? A Prop 2.5 override is intended for large capital purchases. It's like a mortgage, but town governments call them bonds. We did overrides for the new school, repairs to Town Hall and Dalton Division Road, which were then covered by bonds. But overrides are not helpful for annual expenses like salaries, benefits, supplies or any other expense. An override may help us not hit our levy limit, but it is still money that must be raised through taxes to pay for the debt, so it still appears in your taxes.

Speaking of taxes, do you know that if this year's proposed budget passes Dalton's resulting rate of approximately $18.13, which combines the town and fire district tax rates, will likely be one of the highest rates in Berkshire County? Do you know that if a new building is built that costs $15 million this would require a Proposition 2.5 override that would result in an average annual increase in our taxes of approximately $250 per household? If this bothers you, when the time comes you should vote!

What can we do?

Attend the annual town meeting on May 5 at 7 p.m. at the Wahconah Regional High School and VOTE. It might be a long evening but your vote on each item is extremely important in controlling costs and increasing the tools our town government has for the future.

To prepare for the meeting every Dalton resident who is concerned about their taxes and their town should read the annual Town Report, which contains all the financial and policy items that you will be asked to vote on at the meeting. The report will be dropped off at your door by the Boy Scouts on Saturday, April 19. If the report is not clear or, like many others, you have questions, I hope you all will feel comfortable stopping by and talking with me about them. Getting ahold of me is easy. I will be at my campaign office in the old bank across from the Town Hall each weekday from 4:30-6:00. I can also be reached on Facebook at William Drosehn Candidate or instant message me.

Please vote yes on Article 27 for the Capital Planning Committee.

Thank you!

William Drosehn

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