Pittsfield 13s Face Hawaii in Friday Afternoon's World Series Final
GLEN ALLEN, Va. — The Pittsfield Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Stars came to the World Series with a perfect record.
They end it Friday by attempting to keep another team from finding perfection.
Pittsfield, the New England Regional Champion, takes on Pacific Southwest Champion Hawaii at 1 p.m. at Glen Allen Stadium for all the marbles in a tournament that started with 10 teams back on Aug. 12.
The game can be viewed via live stream through the team's account on Gamechanger, where they are listed as "Pittsfield 13u All Stars."
The Kado, Hawaii, team has been dominant here in central Virginia, going through the tournament's American Division with a 4-0 record and outscoring its opponents by a combined margin of 32-5 in that process.
On Thursday night, Hawaii scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to earn an 11-1 "mercy rule" win over the Mid-Atlantic Champions from Williamsport, Pa.
"I think Vegas probably has us as the underdogs," Pittsfield Manager Ben Stohr said after Thursday's semi-final win.
"Vegas" might be stretching the point. It is unlikely even the most degenerate gamblers are looking for action on 13-year-old youth baseball games. But it Stohr has a point.
Pittsfield's road to the final was impressive but not without peril.
It started with a dramatic 6-5 nail-biter over that Williamsport team in the opener last Friday, includes a 5-3 loss in which the team was no-hit on Monday and ended Thursday night with a game that was 3-0 going to the sixth inning.
The good news for Pittsfield is that it's eventual 6-1 win in the semi-finals came over the same Fargo, N.D., team that gave Hawaii its biggest challenge in pool play.
The Pacific Southwest champs won that game, 3-1, in its second game of the tournament on Sunday.
But take away that game, and Hawaii is averaging 10 runs per game in its other four contests in Glen Allen.
In Thursday's semi-final, Jadon Anzai was the catalyst.
Hawaiii's leadoff man went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and a pair of doubles to left-center against the Pennsylvanians.
"His bat came alive for us today," Hawaii coach Sam Bustillos said. "Once he hit the ball, it's a chain reaction — everyone else in the lineup hitting and doing their job and executing the game plan, which is good."
Hawaii collected nine hits in that five inning win, going through three Pennsylvania pitchers in the process.
Pittsfield likely will counter with Cam Hillard, who has allowed two earned runs in 9-and-one-third innings over three appearances at the World Series.
Stohr will not be able to split time between Hillard and Connor Paronto as the team has done so effectively this summer, because Paronto is coming off a scintillating complete-game effort on Thursday night. But Morrie Fried emerged as a strong option on the mound if needed. On Monday, Fried struck out 10 in 5-and-two-thirds innings in a loss to Winchester, Va.
Hopefully, Pittsfield's bats, which started to come alive late on Thursday night, will continue to produce like they did early in the New England Regionals, where they scored more than 12 runs per game.
Whatever happens this afternoon, these Pittsfield 13s can take pride in an amazing 12-1 run that started with the Western Massachusetts State Championship and brought them to the cusp of a national title.
But Stohr on Thursday night did not sound like a coach who was just "happy to be there."
"I think this is probably the farthest a team from Pittsfield has ever gone," he said. "These guys are going to soak that up tonight, enjoy it, make sure they get a lot of rest. … But why not win it all?"
iBerkshires.com's coverage of the Babe Ruth World Series is sponsored by General Dynamics.
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