Confident Nats Stay Alive in 11-Year-Old Tourney
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Shane Clairmont pitched a gem, and the Pittsfield Little League National Division 11-year-old All-Stars pounded out 12 hits to earn an 11-1 win over the Americans on Thursday night at Deming Park.
The win in Game 2 of the best-of-three Don Gleason District 1 Championship sets up a winner-take-all finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. for a berth in the state tournament.
The Nats, who took a heart-breaking loss in Wednesday’s district opener when their rivals rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 4-3 walkoff win, jumped on top early and never looked back.
After an error, a walk and a hit batter set the table in the top of the first, Damian McCluskey and Troy Malloy each drove in a run, and Logan Slater hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Nationals a 4-0 lead.
“I told them to believe in themselves and that [Wednesday’s] game is behind us,” Nats manager Steve Kotski said of his pregame message. “We have a whole new practice, whole new game, whole new day. We have to win today to advance, and they can do it.
“The bottom line is: They can do it. They just have to make the plays and hit the ball.”
Nine different Nats had at least one hit on the day.
Defensively, the only run Kotski’s club allowed was the first player the Pittsfield Americans sent to the plate.
Jake Knauth led off the bottom of the first with a double to center field. He went to third on a one-out groundout by Will Nichols. And Jeremiah Bullett singled to left to drive in Knauth and make it a 4-1 game.
Clairmont got the next hitter to ground back to the mound, and he gave up no more runs in a 5 and two-thirds inning performance, striking out seven and walking none before hitting his pitch limit and giving the ball to Fernando Vasconselos for the final out.
“Excellent pitching today, for sure,” Kotski said of Clairmont. “He’s very athletic. He has a great attitude, and I’m glad he had a fantastic day. He gives 100 percent the whole time.”
After eating up nearly six full innings for the team, Clairmont gave his coach the luxury of having all his other pitchers available for Saturday’s title game.
Clairmont’s offense gave him some breathing room with two additional runs in the second thanks to a Spencer Kotski RBI double and a Seth Laprade RBI single.
In the fourth, Malloy walked, took second on an error and scored from second on a grounball out to make it 7-1.
“Very, very aggressive,” Steve Kotski said with a laugh. “I’m not quite sure. I don’t think he had the sign to go [home]. We did address that out there in the field. But, you know what, it worked.”
All hopes for a comeback for the Amercians this time around were dashed when the Nats scored four more runs in the top of the sixth. Slater (2-for-3), Vasconselos, and Troy Choquette each had a two-out RBI single in that rally.
“They have to have confidence going up to bat,” Steve Kotski said. “Confidence in this game is everything. I keep telling them, ‘It’s not if you’re going to hit the ball or “God, I want to hit the ball.” ‘
“It’s, ‘I’m gonna hit the ball.’ Then, when you don’t hit it, you ask yourself, ‘Gee, I didn’t hit the ball, why didn’t I hit the ball? I expect to hit it every time I’m at bat.’ That’s the way to address it.”
Photos from this game to come.
