PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- It is always nice when a baseball team can get a little extra batting practice.

 

The Pittsfield Babe Ruth 15-year-old All-Stars got theirs Thursday in the first game of the Western Mass. State Tournament.

 

Pittsfield pounded out 18 hits in four innings to defeate Worcster's West Side, 21-3 at Deming Field.

 

Jake McNeice went 3-for-3 with a home run and five runs batted in and gave up two earned runs in three innings of work on the mound to help propel Pittsfield to Friday's semi-final against Holden, an 8-7 winner over Westfield in Thursday's first game.

 

"Everybody was on the same page," Pittsfield coach Tom Rizzo said. "They're really starting to catch on to that short, quick swing. That's where the line drives come from.

 

"Every time we go in the cage, we make them hit line drives and ground balls. When we first started practice, a lot of us were hitting fly balls, which, on a line, that's a base hit."

 

Even McNeice' homer was on a line, getting out of the park quickly to left-center field.

 

That three-run shot came toward the end of Pittsfield's second big inning to start the game.

 

In the first inning, the home team sent 15 batters to the plate, scoring 10 of them to take a 10-1 lead.

 

After Izaiya Mestre drew a leadoff walk and Drew DeMartino was hit by a pitch, the next five batters connected for singles. Brendan Peaslee's drove in two to make it 4-1 at the time.

 

DeMartino (2-for-3, four RBIs) ended the night for starting pitcher Steve Chivailati with a two-run double to left-center. DeMartino then came home when McNeice greeted West Side's first reliever with a base hit to make it 10-0.

 

Pittsfield's six-run second inning started with another walk, this one a one-out free pass earned by Tyler Cowdrey. Devon Walker singled and DeMartino drove in two with a double before McNeice went long to make it 16-1.

 

Jack Cooney then reached on a swinging third strike, went to third on a Peaslee single and scored on Brett Murphy's second single of the game.

 

Pittsfield tacked on four runs in the fourth. The highlight came from Cooney, an RBI double after he fouled off four pitches in a two-strike count.

 

In the end, everyone provided some kind of highlight for Pittsfield. Perhaps lost in the team's offensive explosion was its defensive performance in the top of the second.

 

After grabbing the nine-run lead, Pittsfield got back to its dugout with a four-pitch inning that featured three strong plays.

 

First, first baseman Hunter Brasie fielded a hot shot down the line for an unassisted putout. Then second baseman DeMartino went into the hole to snare a grounder for out No. 2. Finally, Brasie stretched for a throw from across the diamond to record the third out.

 

"Like I told these guys, all around today: great effort," Rizzo said. "Defensive, offensive, pitching. It all came together. And that's how you win ballgames.

 

"You play like that, teams are going to have a hard time beating you."