Grand Slam Helps Post 70 Knock Out Westwood

Defense, simply put, is becoming the mantra of Norwood Legion Baseball this summer.

With pitching that pounded the strike zone and timely blows throughout the lineup, Post 70 improved to 13-2 overall with a victory against Westwood last night, and looks to be gaining momentum heading into the tournament.

Post 70 had only one error in registering another 8-1 win over Westwood Wednesday night at Wall Field, in a game that managed just the minimum 4 ½ innings due to lightning.

"The number one thing is defense, these guys make the plays," said manager Paul Samargedlis. “But no matter what lineup I put out there, I don’t care if it’s a starter or not, no lineup commits errors.”

Pitcher James Bussiere kept the ball down and pounded the strike zone, allowing only three hits over five innings to get the complete game win.

Norwood was held off the board in the first two innings despite doubles by John Gorman and Jordan Davis. The Davis double in the second was on a hit and run that sent Anthony Perriello to third, but he was erased at the plate by Westwood right fielder Aiden Desrosiers on the next play - a fly out to right.

Westwood, however, couldn’t manage to uphold the same defensive prowess in the third inning. They committed four costly errors that lead to seven runs.

Both Jordan and Brandon Davis had big blows in the inning with Brandon knocking in an RBI single to make it 3-0 Norwood. Jordan, with the bases loaded, swatted a fastball up in the zone, over the 330 mark in left for his first career home run as either a Legion player or at the varsity level.

“I was just trying to drive one with one out,” said Jordan Davis. "And score the guy on third…I didn’t know it was out.”

The stunned bench crowded the plate and swarmed the second baseman as the hopes of the Westwood bench deflated.

Westwood did manage a big blow, as Mike Uradmik went yard against Bussiere in the fifth, to give Post 320 their only run.

Norwood now has three games left before the postseason, and only trail Walpole in the standings.

“They played themselves into that position,” said Samargedlis. "It's nothing that we’ve done as coaches.”

With Sean O’Neil, Bussiere and Gorman in the rotation, Post 70 is looking to not only host a tournament game but make a deep run as well.

“Our goal is to win state and I think this team can do that,” said Samargedlis. “We’ll be there when it counts.”