Easton Falls to Acton-Boxborough, 3-2

Easton hosted a non-division match this morning against visiting Massachusetts team Acton-Boxborough, which is coached by longtime Easton resident Patrick Grucela.

Key pitching from Acton’s Tyler Dickinson set the tone for Easton's loss near the end. The senior pitcher struck out two of Easton’s hottest hitters, Jon Bisci (who leads the conference in home runs) and Greg Butto (who has consistently hit doubles, triples and home runs as of late.) 

“When he pitches with confidence, it’s special to watch. And today, he was as confident as I’ve seen him, maybe since the state tournament last year,” said Acton-Boxborough coach Pat Grucela. Grucela, a 2000 graduate,  played baseball and basketball for Easton. 

“It was a great win. Easton has a fantastic program and we come down here to play just for the competition. We’ve talked all year about playing solid baseball for an entire game. And this is the second time this year that we let up some runs early, but we haven’t gotten away from our philosophies.

“I give the boys a lot of credit. They just dug in there and we came out on top.”

The game wasn't without controversy, though. As Ian Hayden attempted to score a run in the second, he was called out in one of two calls that visibly irritated Easton coaches. And with the press box mic in the unintended 'on' position, spectators heard more of the same discouraged sentiment from the press box.

Determined – even angry – the team went into the seventh. Easton’s Alex Lawson and Kevin Nemeth had hits to reach base, but the team did not score and ended the game 3-2, with the win going to Acton-Boxborough.

Scott Anderson pitched for five, Alex Lawson for two.

Key offensive plays for Easton:

1B: Anderson, Butto (2), Case, Hayden, Lawson, Nemeth

RBI: Beinlich, Nemeth

SB: Case, Hayden

Tomorrow’s varsity game at Hackett’s Park vs. Phillipsburg is slated for 6:30, but may start before 6 depending on the outcome of precluding games.