WESTFIELD, Mass. -- One bad inning was all it took to send the Pittsfield Babe Ruth 14-year-old All-Stars home from the New England Regionals on Tuesday.

 

But one bad inning could not erase all that this group of youngsters accomplished this summer.

 

Host Westfield scored four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning on the way to a 4-3 win over Pittsfield in the final game of the losers bracket of the double elimination tournament.

 

Westfield, which got in the field by virtue of its host status, moves on to Wednesday morning's final against Portland, Maine, (3-0), which knocked both Pittsfield and Westfield into the elimination side of the draw. If Westfield wins the 11 a.m. game, the two teams will play a second game for all the marbles.

 

Pittsfield goes home after a season that included district and state titles and a strong performance at the regionals.

 

"I told them, 'Don't hang your heads,' " Pittsfield coach Eric Stone said. "They did a helluva job.

 

"Last year, they lost in the state finals. This year, they won the states, now they're in the regionals -- the semi-finals. Hopefully next year, as 15-year-olds, we can get to the finals and go to the World Series.

 

"They've got to develop. They've got to get stronger. They know what it takes now to get to the next level."

 

Pittsfield started Tuesday needing to complete an elimination game that was suspended on Monday. Stone's team led Cranston, R.I., 3-0, after Monday and finished the job with a 6-0 win for its second win of the tourney over the Rhode Islanders.

 

That set up fourth game this season against Westfield, who Pittsfield beat to win the district title earlier this month.

 

Pittsfield started strong, scoring two in the first thanks to a sacrifice fly by Cedric Rose and an RBI single to right by Joe Cracolici.

 

But Westfield struck back in the fourth, finally getting to Pittsfield starter Ian Benoit, who faced the minimum over the first three innings.

 

Westfield wrapped two singles around a Jimmy Hagan double to start the inning and tie the game. Then, after Benoit retired the next two men, Spencer Cloutier hit an RBI single to give Westfield a 3-2 lead. Pitcher Sam Parker's double drove in a fourth run for Westfield.

 

Parker stranded a runner at third in the fifth to maintain the two-run lead. But in the sixth, Rose led off with a single, moved up when Cracolici drew a walk and Ryan Gaudette buned both men into scoring position and scored on a sac bunt by Joe Woronick.

 

Parker got the next batter swinging to strand a runner at third and end the threat.

 

Pittsfield had one more chance, and in the seventh, Jon Hulse hit a one-out single off reliever Hagan and stole second. But a flyout and a grounder to third ended the game.

 

Earlier in the day, Pittsfield made the most of the three-run lead generated by four Rhode Island errors on Monday.

 

That was all the support Cracolici needed in a six-inning outing on the mound. He struck out four and scattered five hits before Carter Matthews came on to pitch the seventh.

 

Pittsfield got its first hit of the game in the fourth, and it was an RBI single by Joe Traversa, who drove in Woronick to make it 4-0.

 

In the top of the seventh, Rose hit a two-run double to left-center to drive in Hulse and Benoit, who reached on a hit-by-pitch and a walk, respectively.

 

"I'm proud of these kids," Stone said when it was over. "I'm proud of every one of them. I know you guys worked hard and came to practice every day. They did what their coaches asked. And they were a team."

 

Pittsfield Wins 15-Year-Old Regional

 

TRUBMULL, Conn. -- The Pittsfield 15-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars on Tuesday night defeated host Trumbull, Conn., to win their regional and earn a berth in the Babe Ruth World Series, scheduled for Aug. 13-20 in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.