NORTHAMPTON – After every game, Northampton Post 28 coach Adam Krol makes sure his team goes into the crowd and thanks one person that they know who came to watch them.

“A lot of my best memories growing up with my parents and my grandparents were they'd come to my baseball games, and sometimes I feel that I was just so locked in the zone. I didn't want to say anything,” said Krol, who grew up in Sunderland but lives in Northampton. “It means so much. Baseball’s about family.”

Every summer, Post 28 and Western Massachusetts’ other American Legion baseball teams allow participants to experience America’s pastime with their own families and grow their own by playing with teammates from other towns and teams that often are opponents during the high school season. Northampton didn’t have a team last season for the first time in recent memory because of low tryout numbers but brought it back for 2023.

“It’s just good for Northampton baseball as a whole. If I was a younger kid looking up seeing there was no Legion team, I’d be discouraged,” said Dominic Badorini, a Northampton High School graduate. “It’s good to have it back.”

Some of those younger kids are playing for Post 28. The roster fields two eighth graders and a handful of freshmen, skewing younger than the program historically has. 

“I’ve never played with this large of an age difference. My learning buddy from Ryan Road (Elementary School) is on the team,” Badorini said. “The older guys are trying to pass down some tips here that we picked up along the way.”

They had plenty of time in Wednesday’s 15-6 win over Sheffield Post 340 that was called after six innings due to darkness and lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes. After a 2-2 tie after two innings, Northampton's Trey Kuzmeski ripped a go-ahead two run double in the bottom of the third. Cody Keel followed with a two-run single to put Post 28 up 6-2. 

Kuzmeski finished with two hits and four RBIs.

Post 28 eventually went up 9-3 after four innings, but Sheffield clawed back with three in the top of the fifth before Northampton ripped off six unanswered runs to put the game away.

“It was hard to stay in it, mentally hard to stay focused for two and a half plus hours,” Badorini said.

Liam Flynn added a two-run single and an RBI. Griffin Smiarowski contributed a single and a double.

Badorini legged out an RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the sixth that could have ended the game had he made it all the way home to score a 16th run and put Post 28 ahead 16-6, but Kroll stopped him at third.

But the umpires called the game anyway, as Northampton won its second game in a row.

“We get to come out here and work with each other and it helps develop our game and keep us going,” Smiarowski said.

The team is still coming together and gelling after adding players from recently completed high school seasons but has time before the playoffs in mid July.

“You’re playing for a physical town, you’re playing for your buddies that you grew up with, your family, your neighbors,” said Krol, who played for Easthampton Post 224 growing up. “That’s what it means being a part of a really strong community. We want them to be good teammates, you want them to grow as human beings, and that’s what they want from each other, not just to win but also to grow and learn from each other. We’ve got a good group of guys that is really embodying and embracing that.”

TRACK RESULTS 

David Pinero-Jacome competed in the fourth and final heat in the Battle Road Twilight series at Bentley College on June 17 and placed fourth overall in the 800 meter dash. 

Pinero-Jacome, who originally was seeded seventh, ran a personal best 1:56.20 to finish fourth. His twin brother Miguel also PR’d with a time of 2:01.98, good for 14th place. 

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