Wigglesworth pitching and minor slam puts Pittsfield in district finals series / iBerkshires.com

PITTSFIELD, Massachusetts – The Pittsfield Little League All-Stars were simply dominant in the Don Gleason District 1 tournament.

Dominant, but not perfect.

And there was a moment in Tuesday’s 11-0, four-inning win over Dalton-Hinsdale that gave Pittsfield coach Ty Perrault a chance to help his 12-year-olds get a little better.

With two outs in the second, Dalton-Hinsdale’s David Duquette reached second base with a deep hit to left field.

Pittsfield starter Weston Wigglesworth got the next batter to bat and struck out six more in a row, giving him a 10-strikeout performance, so no harm done.

However, this did not stop Perrault from gathering some of his players outside the dugout before the end of the second inning to talk about how the extra-base hit could have been prevented – and how it later saved Pittsfield a base.

“Between innings, I try to talk about it,” Perrault said. “Because as I get older, I don’t have as many memories as I used to. But when I walk off the field each inning, I try to go through everything we could see. That wasn’t a good path to the ball. So we discussed that with all four kids who could play left field.”

“Just like the (runner) interference, we discussed it just because he didn’t know what he did wrong. We’re all committed to getting better every chance we get.”

Kody Lesser hit 2-for-2 with a grand slam to spark an 11-hit attack for Pittsfield, which scored all 11 runs in the first two innings to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three championship series.

Dalton-Hinsdale and Pittsfield will meet again for a second game on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Deming Park. If DH wins, the playoff game will be held on Friday at 5:30 p.m. to determine who advances to the Section 1 tournament.

Wigglesworth went the full distance on the mound on Wednesday, getting 10 of his 12 outs by K.

He also hit two of two shots and scored twice.

Wigglesworth started the first inning with a six-run single. Lesser, Spencer Kotski, Jeremiah Bullett and Jake Merwin each hit a single and Logan Slater hit an RBI double in the rally.

In the second inning, Mike Lesser was hit by a pitch and Wigglesworth, Sawyer Layne and Shayne Clairmont hit two consecutive singles to start a five-run rally.

Kody Lesser’s hit to right-center field capped the inning and gave Wigglesworth more than enough offensive support on a night when Perrault also had his ace work on improving his game.

“(Pitching coach Tanner Hanford) is out of town,” Perrault said. “It’s the first time since I’ve had him that I’ve had to call pitches. We’re trying to get (Wigglesworth) to throw a little bit more breakers than he’s been doing, just because we want to step that up so he’s got three pitches instead of one. And he’s doing a good job of that.

“He’s just a competitor. He just wants to keep getting better. That’s the kind of kid you love to coach.”

Ryker Williams walked two for Dalton-Hinsdale in the first inning and Duquette recorded a two-out double in the second inning.

Duquette also took to the mound to replace starter Cam Sievers at the beginning of the third inning and pitched around Bullett’s leadoff single, taking three batters out of the game in a row and leaving Bullett standing on third base.

DH coach Dustin Sievers said Duquette’s shutout inning gave the team something positive to build on Thursday night.

“He’s done a phenomenal job as a pitcher,” Sievers said. “We like our defense a little better with the rotation we had there. (Thursday) night we’ll have another pitcher coming in so David (Duquette) can go back to center so we have our outfielders.”

“So we feel a little better in that regard too, because we’re pulling ourselves together. But then there was the other thing, we have to get the batters to the ball. We preach to them: Wigglesworth is an incredible pitcher who hits first pitch. And we were just a little hesitant.”