Norwood Dominates Needham in Zone 6A American Legion Baseball Playoffs-July 26, 1978

The sun was shining brightly on the baseball field as the Norwood team took to the field against their arch-nemesis, Needham. The stage was set for an epic battle between two of the top teams in Zone 6A American Legion Baseball playoffs. However, it became clear early on that Norwood had a distinct advantage over their opponents.

Norwood’s impressive 13-5 record going into the game made them a force to be reckoned with. Their ace pitcher, John Balerna, was known for his exceptional skills on the mound. Needham, on the other hand, struggled to keep up with Norwood’s powerful offense. The first meeting between these two teams ended in a 6-0 shutout victory for Norwood, with Balerna pitching a flawless game.

The second encounter saw Norwood emerge victorious once again, this time by a score of 13-0. Needham’s inability to keep up with Norwood’s potent offense was evident throughout the season. The final nail in the coffin came last night when Norwood handed Needham their third consecutive loss, this time by a margin of 12-1.

“We’ve got the hitters all down the lineup,” said Norwood coach Minty Kuporatz proudly. “And they came through again tonight.” His statement was an understatement, as his team’s performance was nothing short of spectacular last night, shellacking Needham starter John Noonan for six runs. John Salvatore began the hitting barrage tripling to deep right and scored easilly on Paul Yelapi’s line single into right.

Balerna knocked him in with a base hit, and back-to-back walks loaded the bases Tom Kates stepped up and drilled Noonan’s first pitch deep over the right field fence and into the night for a grand slam. In the second, Salvatore led off with a line homer to left, and Norwood was at it again Balerna reached on an error with one out and Chris Collins’ line single to left moved him over to third.

Flank Auditore then walloped a triple way out into right-center, to rack up a couple of RBI. The awesome display of hitting by Norwood possibly overshadowed the fine pitching job turned in by Danny Kennedy. Kennedy threw a complete game, fanned eight, yielded just four hits and didn’t walk a batter.

“I was mixing them up well,”said Kennedy. “I haven’t thrown as hard the last couple of games as I did tonight It was cool and I guess I like this kind of weather better.” “He had a good fastball and curve,” said Kuporatz “And having a pitcher like him on the staff takes a lot of pressure off Balerna (6-1) and (Ron) Marshelsea (6-1)

A Yelapi RBI single and a wild pitch accounted for two more runs, and Kennedy got into the act himself with a run-producing sacrifice fly to round out the scoring. The best thing to happen to Needham in the game came in the sixth John Noonan got ahold of one of Kennedy’s fastballs. and clocked it over the right field fence.

“I got the fastball up and he nailed it,” said the right-hander of his only mistake of the night. Norwood, at 15-5 and holding on to first place, will travel out to 8 Walpole for a game tomorrow night.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger