North Adams Transcript
NORTH ADAMS -- Apparently a shutout four days prior wasn’t enough to satisfy Robert Jutras. He needed to show it wasn’t a mistake by throwing his second complete-game victory within a week against the same team.
Behind Jutras’ stellar performance on the mound, North Adams Post 125 won the American Legion county title, 10-4 over Post 68 on Saturday afternoon.
"I’m definitely tired," Jutras said. "It wasn’t too bad coming into [Saturday], but over those last couple inning, I was definitely feeling it."
He almost wasn’t able to last the whole game. After throwing about 80 pitches Wednesday against Post 68, he threw 98 Saturday. That’s 178 before factoring in pre-game warm-up pitches and warm-ups each inning. His total is actually in the mid-200s.
Coach Bob Rumbolt made a visit to the mound in the seventh inning and was considering taking him out.
"The kid is just great," Rumbolt said. "I wanted him to have the complete game and the complete win. I said, ‘Kid, you have a big heart and you’re great. Go for it.’ "
Jutras did and struck out the final batter looking. It was his fourth strikeout of the game, but the better number is the three walks, only one of which came in the final four innings. Jutras went to a three-ball count just four times in the game. He threw 62 of his 98 pitches for strikes and never threw more balls than strikes
"No wasted pitches, especially when I pitched on Wednesday," he said. "I just wanted to attack and see what they could do. Let them put the ball in play because I know I had a defense."
He sure did.
Zach Larabee tracked down a crushed line drive to straight-away center field and made an over-the-shoulder basket catch in the fifth inning, which helped prevent Post 68 from scoring more than two in the inning.
Alex Bush ran down a leadoff shot into the right-field corner to start the top of the seventh, cutting Post 68’s rally hopes to just two outs.
"Chico [Larabee] did a hell of a job out there," Jutras said. "I think he was running laps out there for a minute."
With Jutras settled in on the mound, the offense continued to put numbers on the scoreboard. With one in the first and two in the second, it had built a 3-0 lead. North Adams duplicated that in the third and fourth for a 6-2 lead. Four runs in the sixth pushed Post 125 to a comfortable lead.
The No. 2 through No. 5 hitters did much of the damage for North Adams. They combined to score six runs and pounded out seven hits, four of which went for extra bases. Tanner Bird’s pair of triples highlighted the bunch.
"That solid one through five gets people on, gets people moving around," Bird said, not wanting to overlook North Adams’ leadoff hitter Chase Preite. "It really sets the tone in the start of the game and tries to get everyone in."
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