Baseball: Pitching gem fells Hudson against Taconic in D3 state semifinal

WESTFIELD -- Anton Lazits was nearly perfect on the mound, and the Taconic offense exploded in the third inning for four runs, as the Braves got past Hudson, 5-0, in the Division 3 state semifinals Wednesday afternoon at Westfield State University's Bud and Jim Hagan Field.

Lazits was brilliant all afternoon long, striking out 11, while allowing just one hit in the complete-game effort.

"I felt really good," Lazits said. "The weather was nice, that kept me loose. Fastball was lively, curveball was working, and I was locating well."

In a stretch from the fourth to the sixth innings, Lazits recorded six consecutive strikeouts.

"He was great today," Hudson coach Tim Reinhardt said. "He commanded all his pitches, kept us off balance. At this level, if you can throw all three of your pitches for a strike, a you're going to have a successful day, and he did that today."

Taconic will play in a state championship for the third consecutive season Saturday, it faces Medway at LeLacheur Park in Lowell. Hudson, who was making its first state semifinal appearance since 2011, finished 13-12.

Hudson's deep playoff run came after the Hawks found themselves 5-8 in mid-May, in the midst of a five-game losing streak. Reinhardt said his senior leaders helped turn things around.

"I'm proud of our senior group, especially our captains," Reinhardt said. "Tim Person, Noah Stuart, Chris Lenox and Matt Girard. They did a great job rallying everybody together, and when things didn't look so great at 5-8, they stuck to the system, and they bought in. I think it's a testament to them, the seniors, and they helped pull everybody else along. It was their buy-in that got us here."

Taconic broke through in the third inning, batting around to take a 4-0 lead. Lazits sparked the rally with a leadoff single, before Christian Womble walked. After a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, Lazits scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Leo Arace and Jake Risley delivered RBI singles to make it 3-0, and Braves scored another on a suicide squeeze to make it 4-0.

The Hawks had their best shot to score in the second inning. Tim Person led off the frame with double to the gap in deep left, and he moved to third base on a Chris Lenox sacrifice bunt. Lazits, however, struck out the next two Hawks to get out of the jam. As it turned out, Person was the only Hawk to reach second base in the game.

The Braves added insurance in the sixth inning when Brendan Stennard walked with the bases loaded to make it 5-0. Stuart didn't give in, though, recording a strikeout and a groundout to escape further damage.

--Contact Chris Kyne at sports@telegram.com.

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