Western Mass 11U Cal Ripken State Champion Lanesboro Bulldogs: front, Derek Paris, left, Catherine Worthington, Carter Parker, Dominic Bartini, Dom Paris, Colin Finnegan; middel, Tom Fraser, Cal Messina, Russ Gates, Phil Guest, Matt Tibbetts, Eli Ostheimer, Strike the Mascot; back, coaches Steve Messina, Jimmy Finnegan, Rick Paris and Russ Gates.
HUDSON, Mass. — The Lanesboro Bulldogs went 4-0 this past weekend in Hudson to win the state championship and advance to the New England Regional Tournament which will be held in Newton on August 4-9.
The Bulldogs are made up of Cal Ripken players from Williamstown, Lanesborough, Lee and Pownal,VT.
In game one of the tournament, Lanesboro faced powerhouse Marlboro and beat them 5-4. Phil Guest was the winning pitcher. Cal Messina had two hits, including a double and two runs scored. Eli Ostheimer also had two hits and a RBI while Russ Gates doubled and scored a run.
Lanesboro then moved on to play Frontier and beat them 10-8 in a back and forth affair. Tom Fraser had a nice day at the plate with two hits including a double, two runs scored and a RBI. Matt Tibbetts had a home run and drove in two runs. In the fourth inning the Bulldogs' pitching ran into some trouble giving up four runs. Cal Messina came in to pitch with runners on and only one out, and was able to get out of the jam. Lanesboro found themselves down by a run in the sixth inning but came up with three runs and put the pressure on Frontier. In the bottom of the sixth Frontier put two men on base with one out, and a fly ball down the left field line which looked like trouble until left fielder Tibbetts made a diving catch. The Frontier runners advance on the catch but an appeal play was made and the runner was called out for leaving the bag too soon and the game ended. Messina was the winning pitcher and Phil Guest recorded the save.
Lanesboro faced Hudson and beat them handily 10-0. They came out hot scoring three runs in the first inning, two were driven in from a double by Phil Guest. Guest would later score on a wild pitch. Lanesboro would add four more runs, and the rout was on. In the fourth they scored two more and ended the game on a steal of home to make it 10-0. Cal Messina was again the winning pitcher.
Game four was a rematch with Hudson, and this one was going to be a lot tougher. Lanesboro took a 2-0 lead in the second. The 2-0 lead would stand until the fifth when Hudson would get one run back to make it 2-1. The Bulldogs would score two more in the bottom of the fifth on home runs by Matt Tibbetts and Phil Guest and the score was 4-1.
Hudson would get two runs in the sixth but Phil Guest would shut the door and picked up the win. Lanesboro advances to the New England Regional Tournament in Newton on Aug 4.
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