ATHOL — The Chuck Stone All-Stars finished Wednesday’s game the same way they started it: with a home run.
Aedan Erickson led off against Lunenburg with a homer to center field and Jenna Bonenfant ended the game in the fifth inning with a shot to nearly the exact location as Erickson — right over the signs in left — to win 12-1 in a mercy-shortened opening round matchup during District 3 group play in the pursuit of the Little League World Series.
“It feels great,” said Chuck Stone coach Tony Vitello, who filled in for Matt Bonenfant as head coach on Wednesday. “I knew we had a good team going in and we had a lot of confidence coming in, but it’s nice to see it play out on the field like that. We hit the ball great tonight.”
Chuck Stone hit the ball well, generating nine hits and taking advantage of four Lunenburg errors to create the team’s 12 runs. Erickson went 4-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs, two doubles, two runs and a home run, a triple short of hitting for the cycle. Marky Gauthier went 2-for-2 with three runs, one double and one walk.
Bonenfant pitched all five innings for Chuck Stone, allowing one run (zero earned) while striking out 10. She stranded eight Lunenburg runners, which included getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and third innings.
“She shut them down,” said Vitello. “We had some mistakes in the field and she bailed us out every time. She pitched exactly 85 pitches (the little league maximum in one start) and her one run was an unearned run. She was lights out tonight. We’re going to rely on her a lot this tournament.”
After Chuck Stone provided three runs in the top of the first, the team got into trouble in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases on three infield errors. Bonenfant bailed her team out though, striking out the next three batters to end the inning unscathed.
Bonenfant did the same in the third.
After allowing a double to Lunenburg’s Hunter Matson that closed Chuck Stone’s lead to 4-1, Bonenfant loaded the bases with two outs on a walk to Jaxson Petricca. She then got Miles Seminatore swinging on four pitches to end the threat.
Chuck Stone broke open the ballgame in the bottom half of the inning.
Gauthier and Robert LaFosse, who came in defensively in the top of the inning, started the inning of with back-to-back walks. With one out, pinch hitter Branden Engelke-Aiken and David Johnson also had back-to-back walks, this time scoring Gauthier to put Chuck Stone up 5-1. A grounder to first by pinch hitter Hunter Smith allowed LaFosse to score from third. On the play, Engelke-Aiken rounded for home and a wide throw allowed both him to score, putting his team up 7-1. Johnson then came home on a double by Erickson, giving Chuck Stone an 8-1 lead.
Chuck Stone added two more in the fourth. The squad had the opportunity to end the game as Vitello sent Engelke-Aiken home on a double by pinch hitter Stephen Mack. With two outs, a strong relay from Lunenburg first baseman Stephen Parker got Engelke-Aiken by a foot and catcher Willem Dumais tagged him to end the inning.
It didn’t matter for Chuck Stone however.
After a leadoff single in the fifth, Bonenfant sat down three Lunenburg batters in a row to end the inning. In the bottom half of that inning, after Erickson led with a double and after Bonenfant hit two long outs to the wall in her previous two at-bats, Bonenfant sent a 2-0 fastball over the signs in left to send Chuck Stone home on a 10-run mercy rule.
Chuck Stone will now travel to Leominster to face Leominster North on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Jeremy Vezina is Chuck Stones probable starter. Vezina was the Rotary Club’s No. 1 pitcher during the regular season. His most recent performance came in the form of a four-run, six-hit performance in the championship series against the VFW. Vezina struck out 10 batters in 4 ⅔ innings during that game.