PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Hunter Werman threw four innings of shutout baseball as the Westfield 10-year-old Litte League All-Stars defeated Pittsfield, 9-5, in the Section 1 Tournament on Thursday.

 

In his strong outing, Werman recorded eight strikeouts.

 

Pittsfield used six different pitchers in the loss.

 

“We really just wanted to test our arms tonight,  and we learned a lot from what we called a 20/20 pitcher,” Pittsfield coach Matt Stracuzzi said.

 

“This means we put a new pitcher in every 20 pitches just to get to see how they perform and I was not disappointed despite the loss.”

 

Caleb Tierney of Pittsfield came up big offensive. He recorded a key RBI single in the fifth to spark his team’s energy late in the game.

 

Werman, who pitched 68 total pitches, led his team through the deeps of the game getting out of bases loaded trouble.

 

The Westfield crowd really came out to support their 10u on Thursday.

 

Meanwhile, Pittsfield had a very strong crowd as well. The players could feel both sides' energy and it propelled a strong first round game.

 

Colton Rowe had a single, double, and a triple as well as recording four runs had the bat for Westfield.

 

For Pittsfield, the production came with good at bats at the plate drawing full count walks late in the game.

 

“I’m not happy with the result but I am pleased with how the team responded late in the game,” Stracuzzi said.

 

“Being down 9-0 did not discourage the kids at all, they came out to play and just came up short. Not much we can do about it now, we just need to focus on our game on Friday.”

 

Despite this loss for Pittsfield in a double elimination tournament it has a chance to survive in a losers bracket. That road begins at home on Friday at 5:30 back at Deming Park.

 

On the flip side, Westfield continues in the winner’s bracket on Friday.