Longmeadow Tops Adams-Cheshire in Little League Sectional
ADAMS, Mass. – Longmeadow’s three-run rallies in the fifth and sixth innings were the difference in Adams-Cheshire’s 6-3 loss in Tuesday’s Little League Section 1 tournament opener.
But it was Adams-Cheshire’s inability to capitalize on its offensive chances that stuck with manager Steve Albareda.
“It all goes back to leaving a ridiculous amount of runners on base, per usual,” he said. “We just need that one timely hit.”
Longmeadow’s pitchers stranded eight runners – at least one in five of the six innings.
The visitors erased a 3-0 deficit en route to advancing to Wednesday’s game against Leominster, a 7-0 winner over Rutland on Tuesday night.
Adams-Cheshire will host Rutland on Wednesday at 5:30 in an elimination game back at Willard “Beaver” Bard Field.
The home team gave the local fans something to cheer about early on Tuesday night.
Jaden Wells-Vidal led off the bottom of the first with a single to left field, and Brayden Durant, for the second time in as many games, took the ball over the fence in his first at-bat, crushing a pitch to left-center to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Julius Valentine and Carson Kelly-Phillips each followed with a single, and a pitch to the backstop allowed both runners to move up.
And that is when Albareda’s frustration began.
“I just think it comes back to not getting these runs in,” he said. “In the first inning, we’re up 2-0. Everybody’s feeling good. But we leave second and third no outs. You’ve got to get a ground ball. You’ve got to get a fly ball.”
Instead, Longmeadow starter Teddy Craft got a pair of strikeouts and a grounder to the right side to end the inning and keep it a two-run deficit.
Adams-Cheshire again got the leadoff hitter on to start the second inning, and it was able to cash in for one run.
Owen Manning was hit by a pitch to start things off, and a passed ball allowed him to move up to second. With two out, Patrick Wells-Vidal drove Manning home with a double to push the lead to 3-0.
That is where Durant kept things through four innings on the mound.
He struck out 10 and allowed two hits over the first four innings, not letting a runner past second base.
He picked up strikeout No. 11 to start the fifth but then Longmeadow’s Ryan Aldrich hit a single to center field.
That is when Albareda opted to pull Durant to save his arm for later appearances in the sectional and try to piece together the last five outs with the rest of the pitching staff.
Longmeadow had other ideas. A walk and a single loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly gave the visitors their first run.
Then Ethan Chandler hit a triple to right-center to drive in a pair of runs to tie the game.
In the sixth, Owen Hunter’s two-out double sparked a three-run rally for Longmeadow, which took advantage of a couple of Adams-Cheshire errors to build a 6-3 lead.
Adams-Cheshire went to the bottom of the sixth with the top of its order due to hit.
Jaden Wells-Vidal led off by beating out an infield single, and Longmeadow intentionally walked Durant to bring the tying run to the plate.
Valentine’s productive groundout moved both runners into scoring position, but Longmeadow reliever Mac Dunnirvine got a strikeout and another ground ball to end the game.
The game was marked by a bit of consternation among local administrators over Longmeadow’s lineup, which included just 11 players. Massachusetts Little League’s districts agreed to require teams to suit up 12 players per game in light of Little League’s institution of the “continuous lineup” rule, where all players in uniform hit, 1-through-12.
By shorting its lineup, Longmeadow got to the top of its order one hitter sooner in the decisive sixth inning, which started with its No. 11 hitter.
District 1 Administrator Bryon Sherman said after the game that as far as he knows, most of the state’s four sections largely have seen compliance with the agreement to dress 12 players, but he is aware of a couple of instances where the issue has come up, as it did Tuesday night.
Sherman said Adams-Cheshire was given the option to protest to New England Little League officials in Bristol, Conn., before the game but chose not to make that appeal.
After the game, Albareda was focused on getting his team ready to play on Wednesday night.
“We’ll talk to them tonight, talk to them tomorrow morning, remind them that they’re the District 1 Champs,” he said. “We’re not upset with anything. We knew it was going to be tough. Sectionals is tough.
“And when you play [potentially] four games in a row, you can’t throw Brayden every night. It’s tough. It’s just getting tougher. And that’s the fun part of it. We’re having fun. We look a little down tonight, but we’re having fun.”
