2 weeks Ago
LONGMEADOW — Six days have passed since Minnechaug baseball’s team has seen in the field for competitive play, and some questions arose on whether the prolonged rest was going to do more good or harm for the Falcons (4-3). Yet, on Tuesday, as the contest was underway against Longmeadow, there was no rust in sight for Minnechaug, who captured the 7-1 victory for its second straight win. “(Longmeadow’s) a tough team, they have a lot of talent and they do a lot of things really well so it’s a great time for us to be able to pick up a win,” Minnechaug’s head coach Mike Netkovick said.
“We were able to do some things offensively early in the game and set our pitcher up...
and we were able to control what we needed to control.” At the top of the first inning, the Falcons scored four runs, the most either team would score in an inning for the remainder of the game. Of those four runs, they were scored by Bryce Barlow, Ben Daniels, Alexander Savlick and Evan Liverseidge.
Continued deep hits into the outfield by Minnechaug, combined with some early mistakes by the Lancers (6-4), helped build up momentum to create the early 4-0 lead. During this span, the Falcons had cycled through their entire batting lineup until Longmeadow forced the third out against Barlow, his second time at-bat of the inning. After this spark of offense by Minnechaug, Longmeadow’s defense responded and shut down the Falcons, who were held scoreless until the sixth inning.
Despite the defensive stand by the Lancers, they couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity, only scoring one run throughout the game in comparison. Longmeadow’s lone run of the game occurred at the bottom of the second, as Ethan Goodman ran from second base to home, following an overthrown ball by Minnechaug. During the scoreless innings, the Falcons’ pitcher Ethan Purcell was automatic on the mound and helped keep the Lancers from getting on the bases to maintain their lead.
“That four runs was all we needed,” Purcell said. “I knew that I could go from that and that was the motivation to just pitch well for the rest of the game.” At the bottom of the fourth inning, Purcell showcased some of his best talent.
The senior threw three straight strikeouts against Longmeadow’s first three batters, tallying the quick outs to carry his team into the fifth inning. Purcell pitched for all seven innings, allowing five hits and one run along with one walk and seven strikeouts. “It was good, I was able to hit all my locations, so that was good, not missing out in the middle, and not leaving anything hanging,” Purcell said.
“This season and the last few years, (Purcell’s) been great for us,” Netkovick said. “He’s a smart kid with what he does on the mound; he really utilizes his physical abilities and maximizes what he has and pitches really well.” As Minnechaug entered the top of the sixth, the offensive momentum seen at the start of the game returned.
Savlick struck a ball deep into center field for a double that allowed Barlow to score his second run of the game, breaking the Falcons’ scoring drought. Carrying that momentum into the seventh, Sam Przybyl lined up to bat and sent a fly ball over the head of the Lancers’ left fielder. Przybyl’s powerful hit brought Paul Diehl and Liverseidge back home to notch two runs in one play.
This brought the score to 7-1, and during Longmeadow’s last-ditch effort to salvage the game, Minnechaug forced a quick three outs to bring the game to an end. Leading at bat for the Falcons were Savlick, Liverseidge, and Przybyl, who each tallied two hits, while Przybyl led with three runners batted in. As for the Lancers, no batter had more than one hit against Purcell’s pitches.
Goodman represented the one run scored while Clifton Lalime got the runner batted in credit. Longmeadow had scored 13 runs in its previous game, but on Tuesday, it was held to its lowest runs-scored total so far this season against Minnechaug. “I think everything defensively worked well,” Netkovick said.
“We’ve spent a lot of time just working on simplifying what we do defensively and making the plays we need to make in front of us and today we were able to do it.” On the mound for the Lancers, Brayden Koegel started and pitched for 4.2 innings, allowing four hits, four runs, and notching four strikeouts.
In relief, Jackson Passonno and Griffin Gauthier each pitched one inning to follow, combining for four hits, three runs and four strikeouts as well. The Falcons will look to extend their win streak to three when they travel to East Longmeadow. For Longmeadow, they will look to bounce back at home when they host Westfield.
Both games are set to be played on Thursday, April 24 with first pitches at 4 p.m..
