Pittsfield Walks Off Tourney Opener

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Cam Zerbato singled to center field in the bottom of the seventh to give the Pittsfield baseball team a 2-1 win over Hampshire Regional in the Western Massachusetts Class B Quarter-Finals on Wednesday.

 

Jackson Almeida started the seventh with a double to center.

 

Pinch-runner Christian Barry then stole third before Zerbato hit a 2-0 pitch for the game-winner.

 

Hampshire took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second with an unearned run against Pittsfield starter Matthew Burega.

 

The Generals trailed until the sixth, when Connor Devine reached on a one-out single, went to third on Jack Abel’s single and scored on Morrie Fried’s RBI groundout to make it 1-1.

 

“We did just enough to win,” Pittsfield coach Drew Pearce said. “Matthew Burega pitched a great game, and Camden Zerbato came up clutch to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.”

 

Burega struck out six and walked none in 6 innings of work on the mound. Simon Mele struck out one in a scoreless seventh to earn the win.

 

Top-seeded Pittsfield (15-4) advances to the regional semi-finals to face Monument Mountain, a 19-1 winner at East Longmeadow on Wednesday.