GREENFIELD — It was a back-and-forth contest at Beacon Field between the Greenfield and Frontier PVYBL Sandy Koufax squads on Wednesday.
The lead changed hands throughout the contest. Frontier led early before Greenfield stormed back to take a 6-4 lead going into the sixth inning. Frontier didn’t quit, scoring one in the sixth and tying the game in the seventh to send action to extras.
After a scoreless eighth, Greenfield kept Frontier from scoring in the top of the ninth. Xavier Woodard reached on an error for Greenfield, worked his way to third and following an error after Carter Malouin put the ball in play, scored to lead Greenfield to a 7-6 extra inning victory.
With the summer being a time to improve and work on your craft, Greenfield coach Jonathan Bones said these games are the ones you hope to play every time out where numerous different scenarios take place to practice.
“I want to see games like this the rest of the summer,” Bones said. “Games like this are what make you want to keep coaching and keep playing.”
Both Greenfield and Frontier feature young Koufax squads, as the majority of both teams are made up of seventh graders. While the hope is that playing against older and tougher competition will pay off down the line, it’s still nice when two teams of the same caliber get together on the diamond like what took place on Wednesday.
“These are 100 percent the games we are trying to play,” Frontier coach Andrew Clogston said. “It was a tight game the whole way between two well-matched teams. We have a young team for this league and we run into teams that are majority older kids. All the games against Greenfield are competitive which makes for a fun game. Tonight was a barnburner.”
Bones said his Greenfield team has been playing together for a long time, which helps them come together and rally in tight spots.
“We’re a young team,” Bones said. “They’re amazing. They’re making progress and that’s what it’s all about. The boys have been playing together through GMLB. Watching them grow to this is amazing.”
Luca Pontani put Frontier on the board in the first with a single that drove in two. Asa Bouchard gave Greenfield its opening run of the game with an RBI single in the third to cut the lead to 2-1.
Dylan Collin-Hammson tied the game with a single in the fourth and Woodard gave Greenfield the lead with a double that scored Collin-Hammson.
Jack Bajnoci tied the game at three in the top of the fifth with a double before a passed ball allowed Frontier to score and take a 4-3 lead.
JJ Bones blasted an RBI single for Greenfield to tie the game back up in the fifth and Logan Batiste hit a sacrifice fly that scored one and an error on the throw home allowed a second to score to give Greenfield a 6-4 lead.
Luke Levangie doubled and Christian Powell scored him on a single in the sixth for Frontier before a hit by pitch with the bases loaded tied the game in the seventh. Both starting pitchers — Greenfield’s Casey Burke and Frontier’s John Welcome — performed well on the mound.
As the season progresses, Jonathan Bones said he wants to see his team continue to build confidence at the plate.
“Offensively they’re doing great,” Bones said. “They get up there, they don’t give up. When the head goes down, it quickly rises back up. They’re starting to hit the ball. You can’t give up and they didn’t today.”
Clogston said he’s seen great improvement from his team, but wants to see continued focus in the field.
“They’ve come a long way,” Clogston said. “They’re hitting the ball well. Some small errors in the field have cost us. We just have to get better at the routine stuff and they’ve been getting a lot better with it as the year has gone on.”