Thursday, June 24

Winsted 3, Bristol 1: “When you hustle, good things happen,” said Winsted co-coach Ricky Langer after his Tri-State Baseball League Whalers turned a disastrous Bristol Greeners fourth inning into a 3-1 win for Winsted. “Errors killed us,” said Greeners coach Shawn Mirmina. “Our pitching was good; the defense was sloppy.” “We’ve been struggling. They made the errors, we took advantage,” said Langer. The Whalers, 6-6, needed the break after going 10 innings Wednesday evening with the league-leading Watertown Blaze (10-2), only to lose 4-1. “We had every reason to come down here and lose tonight,” said Whaler co-coach D.J. Reese. “Instead, everybody on the field played hard.”
The Greeners lead the league’s Central Division at 6-4. Their starter at Walker Field Thursday evening, Nick Cole (4 innings, 0 earned runs, 4 strikeouts, 2 walks, 1 hit batter), gave up his first hit in the third inning, to Langer. He left the game in the bottom of the fifth, with just three Winsted hits. Nevertheless, he was behind 3-1 before he gave up a double to Winsted’s fifth-inning lead-off batter, Zac Tuozzo. On the other side, Winsted’s Zairis Ferenandez (4 innings, 0 runs, 0 strikeouts, 1 walk) got his first start as a reward for talent and hard work. He, too, left after four innings. He, too, gave up three hits. Ferenandez was the winning pitcher because he threw strikes and his defense made the necessary plays, several of them wow-worthy.
The play that came closest to saving the shutout for Ferenandez came in the top of the fourth. With Greeners on first and third, thanks to a walk and a Winsted error, Bristol’s Matt Beaudoin rapped a hot grounder down the third base line. Tuozzo dove, came up with it and caught Bristol’s runner in a run-down. Call it inspiration. In the bottom of the inning, things came together for the Whalers on just one hit, a lead-off single by Joel Castillo. Don Crossman followed with a wicked bounder right at Bristol’s third baseman. He ducked. A sacrifice bunt by Chance Reuger moved Castillo and Crossman to second and third. A pop-out dimmed Winsted hopes with the second out.
Then Justin Lovetere, eighth in the Whaler batting order, hit a chopper that bounded slowely away from the plate, then sprinted for first. He and the throw reached base simultaneously. Lovetere hit the base; the throw missed for the inning’s second error. Two runs scored. Lovetere stood on second. Jeff Langil was hit by a pitch, then danced off base, hoping to last long enough in a rundown for Lovetere to score before the third out. Langil did even better, slipping past the final rundown throw to second. Lovetere was in for the 3-0 lead. Bristol’s Steve Ziogas, Cole and Mike Zimmett (2-for-4) greeted reliever Nate Lapoint with three straight singles with one out in the top of the fifth. With the bases full, Ryan Dudzinski flied out to deep center field, scoring Ziogas from third; the other two runners stayed put, respecting center fielder Crossman’s arm. Winsted threatened again in the fifth and sixth.
The Greener’s got Zac Tuozzo (double) at the plate in the fifth, Kaiden Pieszak (single) at the plate after a failed squeeze bunt attempt in the sixth. After the fifth, Lapoint (3 innings, 1 earned run, 3 hits, 1 strikeout, 2 hit batters) and his defense breezed. The Whalers hustled; a good thing happened for them.
Amenia Monarchs 3, Tri-Town Trojans 1: Joel Judson took the complete win for the Monarchs after the teams dodged rainstorms storms in Amenia. Tom Downey (2 hits) and Chris Matteo (2 hits) helped make persistence pay off, leading the Monarchs to single runs in the second, third and sixth. Nick Lahoud (2 hits, triple) was the big hitter for the Trojans, who scored their run in the fourth. Tri-Town is 4-8; Amenia is 7-4.
Wolcott Scrappers 4, Burlington Hunters 0: Wolcott’s complete-game winner, Omar Taveras, extended a 29-inning streak without giving up an earned run in a four-hitter at the BAW Complex Thursday evening. Taveras, 4-0, had 14 strikeouts as Burlington’s Jimmy Spirito (double) was the only Hunter to make a dent. Meanwhile, Adam LaCapra and Jason Miller punched runs across for the Scrappers, who broke through for their first one in the fourth inning, two in the fifth and one more in the sixth. The Hunters are 3-7; Wolcott is 9-4.
To my knowledge – all other games rained out.