By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
With two runners on and no one out in the bottom of the seventh, Springfield shortstop Michael Barrett hit a missile off of Emerson pitcher AJ Ortega which smacked the top yellow line of the right field fence and bounced over for a three-run homer to give the Pride a 6-3 lead late.
“I knew it was going to be an extra-base hit. That was a bullet,” said Pride head coach Mark Simeone. “The ball was hit hard and I’m happy it went out. That was a big hit.”
Not only did this give the Pride a lead they would not relinquish, but this home run was also the start of an offensive rampage they would go on the final couple innings, winning the game in a mercy rule by the score of 13-3.
The Pride managed to put six spots on the board in the seventh and eighth, with the nail in the coffin being an Andrew McCarty two-run double. Outside of the home run from Barrett and McCarty double, they also got key hits from Tommy Hyjek, Joe Traversa and Kevin Gower in the seventh, and Cadin Maynard, Ryan Sorgi and Cole Zalegowski in the eighth.
“We’re capable of doing those types of things,” Simeone said. “It’s just doing it more often.”
Before the offensive burst the Pride experienced, Lions starter Ty Bourne held them to one run through the first six innings before Springfield adjusted.
“I was a little frustrated with the lack of offense early,” Simeone said. “But we stayed patient, we stayed competitive, and that three-run homer really put a spark in us.”
On the pitching side for the Pride, first-year starter Ryan Baker took the bump﹣someone Simeone has a lot of praise for.
“He’s a steady customer,” Simeone said. “He’s a strike thrower, he can throw strikes with all pitches he has in his repertoire, and he’s a confident guy too.”
Baker kept Springfield in the game, leaving after 4.1 innings with two runs allowed..
“[Ryan Baker] knows who he is,” Simeone said. “[He] knows he’s not gonna blow the ball to people. [He knows if] he uses his repertoire, he’s going to have a chance to be successful. He’s got great command of the strike zone. That’s important, too.”
With the season coming to a close in the coming weeks, Simeone is looking to see all his guys give it their all until their final game against Coast Guard on April 29.
“I expect us to lay it on the line first pitch to final out for the rest of the year,” Simeone said. “That’s what we’re going to need to do to be able to win our side and have a chance to play in the postseason.”
The Pride look to get another one in the win column as they travel to Worcester to take on Clark Friday at 3:30 p.m.