Post 293 hopes for strong second half after 'building block' win


East Longmeadow Post 293 is hoping the clouds continue to disperse as they make a run at the playoffs in American Legion baseball. Reminder Publications photo by Chris Maza

July 2, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — When can a game during which a team commits seven errors be considered a building block for the season?

When the team still finds a way to win.

Such was the case for the American Legion East Longmeadow Post 293 baseball team in its 8-7 comeback victory over Springfield Teddy Bear Pools Post 21 on June 27.

Post 293 got itself into trouble with misplays and poor throws and trailed 6-2 in the middle of the fourth inning, but battled back and took advantage of some luck of their own to crawl back into it.

They then scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take their first lead of the game since the first inning when Matt O'Neil launched a two-run home run to deep left center.

Defensive replacement John Bortolussi scored twice in Post 293's last two times at the plate and laced a line-drive double down the third baseline in the fifth to spark the rally.

"The guys never gave up," Post 293 coach Jason Shea said. "This one got us back to .500 and hopefully we can use this as a building block for the rest of the season. There were plenty of reasons for us to give up on this one, but the guys didn't give up and we're still shooting for the playoffs."

After a rough start and not much help behind him defensively, starting pitcher Jake Smith was lifted in favor of Jeffrey Klofas, who allowed just one unearned run over 3 2/3 innings, striking out four.

Shea said that a strong outing by a pitcher carrying the team is nothing new.

"Our pitching is definitely our strength," he said. "Even in the games that we have lost, we've gotten some pretty good pitching. We've lost some tough ones — 3-0, 2-1 — so clearly our pitching has kept us in games."

The seven errors highlighted Shea's comments that defense remains his biggest concern.

"We are really struggling defensively," he said. "That's something we definitely need to improve upon."

While pitching has carried the team to this point, Shea said he's seen signs of life from the Post 293 bats and believes if the two can be put together, the team could be dangerous.

"Our hitting is finally coming around," he said. "You have to score runs in this league or you're not going to win many games. If we start scoring runs like we did today, I think things could be very good for us."

Post 293 has a full slate of games this week as they attempt to build momentum, including a pair of games bookending Independence Day. On July 3 they take on Westfield Post 286 at Westfield Vocational Technical High School's Jachym Field and they return home on July 5 to host East Springfield Post 420 at East Longmeadow High School.

On July 7 and 8, they return to the road, taking on Greenfield Post 81 at Greenfield High School's Veteran's Field and Belchertown Post 239 at Belchertown High School, respectively.

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