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Paronto, Roccabruna Pitch Pittsfield NL to District Title
By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires.com Sports
05:33PM / Saturday, July 06, 2019
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Connor Paronto threw four no-hit innings in Saturday's win.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The roots of Saturday’s Pittsfield National League 8- to 10-year-old District 1 Championship lay in the Nats’ Wednesday win to reach the title game.
 
That victory kept the NL out of the elimination bracket and kept starting pitcher Connor Paronto in line to start Saturday’s final.
 
He threw four innings of no-hit ball and combined with Evan Roccabruna on a no-hitter as the Nationals beat rival Pittsfield American League, 10-3, to win the title and advance to next week’s sectional tournament.
 
The signature moment came in the top of the third.
 
The Nats trailed, 3-1, and the AL earned three straight walks to open the inning.
 
Paronto settled down and sat down the next three hitters on strikeouts to silence the threat.
 
In the bottom of the frame, he hit an RBI single in the NL’s three-run rally to take control of the game.
 
Paronto went 2-for-4 at the plate and scored twice, but it was his seven strikeouts over four innings that made the difference.
 
Pittsfield NL manager Mark Socie made a mound visit during that critical third inning, but afterward Socie said it was not to impart any words of wisdom about Paronto’s delivery.
 
“Honestly, it was really more about ice cream than anything else,” Socie said. “When they’re in that kind of situation, it’s really about calming them down and getting them unfocused from what’s really happening in the field.
 
“He got us out of it, and thankfully we got to move forward.”
 
The NL won the double-elimination tourney with its second win over the Americans, avoiding a potential Sunday winner-take-all final.
 
The Americans, reached Saturday’s final by taking a must-win game against Great Barrington on Friday night to stay alive -- while Paronto and the NL enjoyed two days off to get ready for Saturday.
 
“He’s the No. 1 pitcher on the team,” Socie said. “That’s why he was on the mound to start the game today, and he got us the win.
 
“It’s definitely an advantage [to get two days off], for sure.”
 
The Nationals came out rested and grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Roccabruna singled and moved up on a passed ball. He went to third on a deep fly ball to center off the bat of Paronto, and a throwing error allowed Roccabruna to score on the play.
 
The Pittsfield AL answered with three in the top of the second, scoring all its runs without benefit of a base hit.
 
Two batters reached by being hit by pitches and one reached on an error. A couple of pitches that got to the backstop allowed two men to score, and Jake Williams brought in the third with an RBI groundout to the left side.
 
The Nats made the most of three hits in the bottom of the third to retake the lead.
 
Cade Demary drew a leadoff walk, and Roccabruna and Paronto followed with singles, the second making it 3-2.
 
Jason Fields hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Roccabruna. And, with two out, Caysen Blasioli came off the bench to single up the middle and drive in the go-ahead run.
 
“What we drilled into them from Day 1, ever since we picked the team was this was all about teamwork,” Socie said. “It’s all about teamwork and everybody giving 100 percent, regardless of how many innings or how many at-bats you get. We started the game with ‘1-2-3 Team,’ and that’s what we did from Day 1.
 
“Everyone matters. We put them in positions so, hopefully, they put us in the right position to win the game.”
 
Roccabruna moved from first base to the pitcher’s mound to start the fifth inning. He allowed a runner with a two-out error, but Fields eventually threw that man out trying to steal third. Roccabruna got his third strikeout of his two innings of work to end the sixth, stranding a runner on third.
 
Meanwhile, the Nats’ offense gave Roccabruna some insurance with six runs in the fifth.
 
Paronto singled to leadoff the rally, which included an RBI triple to right by Michael Bondini.
 
The Pittsfield Nationals will be home next Saturday to open the sectional tournament at Clapp Park.
 
The Americans’ season continues later this summer at the Jimmy Fund Tournament.
 
“I’m very proud of my team,” Pittsfield AL coach Derek Demary said. “Congratulations to the NL for moving on, and good luck to them.
 
“To me, it’s about these kids playing a little bit more. Everyone wants to win, but I’m very proud of these kids. They worked hard. The rest of the league had two more weeks on us. We only had eight days to get our boys ready. And with eight days, I couldn’t have asked many more from these kids. I’m very, very proud of every single one of them.”
 
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