Bellows Falls, Springfield meet in preseason scrimmage

Bellows Falls hosted Springfield Thursday afternoon at Hadley Field for a preseason scrimmage, each team’s first live action of the season. It was a day to shake off the rust and play a team not in the same uniform as your own.

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2016-04-01 / Sports Bellows Falls, Springfield meet in preseason scrimmage By CHRIS DOHERTY cdoherty@eagletimes.com Bellows Falls’ Brady Illingworth tests his pitching arm during Thursday’s scrimmage. — CHRIS DOHERTY Bellows Falls’ Brady Illingworth tests his pitching arm during Thursday’s scrimmage. — CHRIS DOHERTY WESTMINSTER — Bellows Falls hosted Springfield Thursday afternoon at Hadley Field for a preseason scrimmage, each team’s first live action of the season. It was a day to shake off the rust and play a team not in the same uniform as your own. The two teams played eight innings, one more than a regulation game, just to get a chance to use multiple pitchers and play players at different positions. The Terriers ended up winning the game, 9-1, using four different pitchers and none throwing more than two innings or 30 pitches. “That means they were throwing strikes. I like that,” Bellows Falls head coach Bob Lockerby said. Both coaches agreed the score of the game mattered less than just getting out on the field and seeing live pitching. “We got a pretty good look at our guys,” Springfield head coach Rich Saypack said. “Our core is good, we’re just trying to fill some of the other spots.” In the team's first time out, the Terriers went all eight innings without committing an error and eight of the 12 players got a hit. “For day one out, that’s not too bad,” said Lockerby. The Terriers graduated six seniors off of last year’s state runner-up finish, but Lockerby likes what he’s seen from the new kids and looks forward to the season ahead. Ethan Illingworth caught for four years with Liam Hackett backing him up the previous two. Hackett now has his chance as the everyday catcher. After day one, Lockerby wasSpringfield’s Kyle Weeks pitches during Thursday’s scrimmage. — CHRIS DOHERTY Springfield’s Kyle Weeks pitches during Thursday’s scrimmage. — CHRIS DOHERTY happy with the performance. “He’s paid his dues for sure,” said Lockerby. “I was pretty happy with him. He called a pretty good game with the pitchers and he might have as good an arm as anyone we face all year.” Springfield finished last season as the No. 9 seed in the standings and Saypack feels as though his team is in better position this year. “I feel we’re miles ahead of where we were last year, but there’s still work to be done,” he said. BF hosts a jamboree on Saturday and Lockerby expects to get more situational as the start of the season approaches. He said he didn’t use any signs in the game, wanting to see what the instincts were like for his team. “We’ll do more and more game situations as we get closer to the season,” said Lockerby. Springfield also plays Saturday at Woodstock for a double-header. “We’ll need to improve our defense, and we will,” said Saypack. He also noted only scoring one run is less bothersome due to it being the first time the team has faced live pitching and thinks that will improve with more repetitions.