As we prepare to enter the beginning of the month of may, the Berkshire League baseball has played out as many had expected it to, with Northwestern sitting atop.

The current standings as of April 27:

1. Northwestern 10-0 (9-0) in BL

2. Thomaston 8-3 (8-1) in BL

3. Lewis Mills 6-3 (6-3) in BL

4. Terryville 6-4 (5-3) in BL

5. Wamogo 5-5 (4-5) in BL

6. Housatonic 4-6 (4-5) in BL

7. Nonnewaug 4-6 (4-5) in BL

8. Shepaug Valley 3-7 (3-6) in BL

9. Litchfield 1-8 (1-8) in BL

10. Gilbert 1-9 (1-8) in BL

Let’s start with the bottom teams first shall we.

There is no surprise seeing Gilbert and Litchfield at the bottom. I personally haven’t see Gilbert play, but from what I have been told and I have seen from box scores, I wonder to myself how they beat Shepaug.

Litchfield who has beaten Gilbert this season, I have seen a lot and I have seen them grow. They have a lot of younger players, just like Gilbert, but from what I have seen, Litchfield loses the game in one inning.  They take what could be a 3-1 lose and with one bad inning they lose 11-1. Today I saw them go toe to toe with Thomaston, with Alex O’Bernier on the mound, whenever he is on the mound Litchfield has the ability to steal a game from any team. The kid is a ball player, he’s a team player, and I have seen him play five different positions, well, in one game.

Shepaug and Nonnewaug are a little disappointing. Both have talent and a roster full of ballplayers.

Heck Nonnewaug was picked by numerous coaches around the league to compete for the Berkshire League Championship.

At five and six stand Housatonic and Wamogo. 

Housatonic will go far as Willy Yahn will take them. That is not a knock on the rest of the players on the Housatonic roster; Yahn is one of the best three players in the Berkshire League. He has struck out 15 batters and 14 batters in separate games. He also hit for the cycle in a game while he threw a complete game.  He’s one of the best.

I am surprised to see Wamogo here in fifth place after the mid-way point. 

Sam Shurberg is their best pitcher and he has pitched all their big games, but they have never impressed me, even in their win against Litchfield, they scored eight of their 11 runs on eight errors by Litchfield.

The Berkshire is a four-team race according to the standings, between, Terryville, Lewis Mills, Thomaston and Northwestern.

Terryville started out hot winning their first five games. They then lost at Thomaston, at Shepaug, and home against Lewis Mills and Northwestern.

Personally I believe this is a three-team race, with Lewis Mills, Thomaston or Northwestern coming out on top.

I have seen Mills twice, when they lost to Thomaston on a walk-off homerun by Connor Berg and when they lost 8-6 to Northwestern. Those are two tough losses, but the 7-4 loss to Wamogo is bad.

Thomaston, who coaches said would be competitive, never thought they would be a game out of first place at the halfway point. If the Golden Bears had won the game against the Highlanders, they were a head slide at first base, away from sitting in first place of the Berkshire League.

Now for Northwestern, they are 10-0, with a win against Norwalk, who is in Class LL. They beat Lewis Mills, 8-6 and held off a feisty Thomaston team 3-0 in eight innings. They have the best player in the Berkshire League, and one of the best in the state in Zach Risedorf and one of the best staffs in the league with Zach August and Jimi Phillips. Baseball is a crazy game, they will probably lose a game because it’s baseball, but it will depend who that loss is against. They have everything, 10-12 guys who contribute in the batting order and a great pitching staff.

Midseason Awards:

Best Pitcher: Willy Yahn, Housatonic.

He dominates whomever he faces. He might not on the best team, but they are the best team when he is on the mound.

Best Hitter: Zach Risedorf, Northwestern.

You pitch to him; he hits the ball 100 mph right back at you. You pitch him outside, he goes to right field, you pitch him inside he goes with it to left field, you dare to challenge him, and he hits it over the fence.

Does the most for his team: Alex O’Bernier, Litchfield.

He’s a ball player, tries so hard for his team. He once played five positions in one game for his team. The best part, he never complains, he goes out there and works hard not only for himself, but cares about the younger kids learning for the future.

Most clutch: Mike Jeffko, Northwestern.

Any time there is a runner in scoring position and Jeffko is at the plate. You can almost guarantee that the runner is going to score. Jeffko has ice in his veins.

Best uniforms: Litchfield whether it is the white uniforms at home, or the blue jerseys on the road, they look good.

Best hats: Wamogo, they go with the Washington Senators ‘W’ and it looks awesome.

Best socks: Thomaston, you can’t go wrong with real stirrups. They aren’t the fake stirrups either; they’re the real ones.

It should be a good race to the finish line of the season. Good luck to all the seniors for the rest of the season.

Appreciate these last games you will remember them forever.