WILBRAHAM — David Carey took his show on the road Wednesday night. The Greenfield Post 81 ace struck out 10 batters on the mound and was involved in both of his team’s runs at the plate, lifting the defending District 1 champions to a 2-1 victory over Wilbraham Post 286 in an American Legion Senior Division Zone 1 tussle at Minnechaug Regional High School.
“He did it all for us tonight,” Post 81 skipper Kevin Luippold lauded of Carey. “It was his show. You have to have confidence with your ace on the mound against a good team and we did that with David.”
Carey struck out five through two innings and finished with 10 for the game before being lifted with a 2-1 lead and one out in the bottom of the seventh after reaching his pitch count limit. Brody Baird came on and got the final two outs for the save.
“Brody’s been wanting to pitch this year so it was a good spot to put him in and he shut it down for us,” Luippold said.
Carey drove in the game’s first run, dropping a single in with two outs in the top of the third to plate Kyle Barnes and make it 1-0.
It stayed that way until the top of the sixth, when Post 81 added what wound up being an important insurance run. Carey led off the frame with a triple, and scampered home just a few pitches later when Wilbraham hurler Frank Gulluni’s pitch bounced to the backstop to make it 2-0.
Wilbraham finally broke through with a run in the home half of the sixth, as Gulluni scored on a fielder’s choice to pull the hosts within 2-1. Carey prevented further damage with an out at the plate, as a pitch got past catcher Cullen Brown with Jeff Dupuerre on third base. Dupuerre broke for home, but Brown managed to find Carey, who was covering the plate, in time to get the second out of the frame and keep Greenfield on top.
With runners on second and third, Barnes got the final out with a nice play at shortstop. It was a theme of the night, as Barnes was busy in the field but made every play sent his way.
“He’s probably made a dozen plays already this season and we grow more and more confident with each play he makes,” Luippold said of Barnes.
Carey walked four and allowed just two hits (none until the sixth inning) to snag the victory against a Wilbraham team that expects to be one of the top teams in Western Mass. this summer.
“For us, it’s a great win,” Luippold said. “It’s one of those games where the hair on your neck is standing up the whole time. Wilbraham has a great program every single year so hopefully a win gives our guys some confidence going forward.”
Greenfield (4-0) finished with five hits on the night. In addition to Carey’s 2-for-3 outing, Barnes, Shawn Davenport and Baird all added singles against Gulluni, who went all seven innings for Post 286.
Next up for Post 81 is a home game Friday night against Agawam at Vets Field (7 p.m.).