Easthampton tops Lincoln-Sudbury for Intermediate Little League state championship

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

@kylegrbwsk

Published: 07-17-2017 2:30 PM

Justin Colpack stared down an 0-2 count.

The deciding game of Easthampton’s Intermediate Little League state championship series against Lincoln-Sudbury was tied Sunday in Auburn.

Ryan O’OLeary stood on first base for Easthampton after opening the sixth inning with a walk.

Colpack turned on the next pitch he saw, sending it over the center field fence for a two-run homer. It sparked a four-run sixth inning, and Easthampton won the decisive Game 3 5-1 to claim the state championship.

“(The home run) gave them a lot of energy,” Easthampton coach Tom Colpack said.

Easthampton now advances to the East Regional Tournament, which starts Thursday in Commack and Dix Hills, New York, which is on Long Island.

“It was amazing to see these kids with all of their hard work celebrate and win a state championship,” Tom Colpack said.

Justin Colpack finished 2-for-3 in Sunday’s game with two RBIs.

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Ryan O’Leary, Colin Larson and Otis Follet also added a hit, run and RBI each.

O’Leary also picked up the win in relief, pitching two innings and allowing just one hit with two strikeouts.

Ohm Patel started the game and threw three innings, striking out six on three hits and three walks. He faced a bases-loaded situation in the third inning with zero outs and only allowed one run.

Before Sunday’s game, Easthampton split two games on Saturday, winning the opener 13-0 in five innings before dropping Game 2 11-5.

Justin Colpack was 4-for-4 with four RBIs in Game 1, while Tommy Vaillancourt, Patel and Nick Jolicoeur added two RBIs each.

Jolicoeur threw a shutout with two strikeouts and just allowed four hits.

In Game 2, Justin Colpack had two hits and three RBIs.

Jolicoeur, O’Leary and Nick Lloyd each contributed two hits.

Losing the second game after a dominant opening performance didn’t faze Easthampton going into Sunday’s decisive match.

“They’re resillient. they know what’s at stake,” Tom Colpack said. “When they showed up (Sunday), they knew what they were playing for.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.

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