Wednesday August 11
Final Scores:
Watertown 7, Brass City 7 (called for darkness after 7 complete innings)
**Game will be resumed (please check back soon for date and time)
Tri-Town 2, Bethlehem 2 (called for darkness after 9 complete innings)
**Game will be resumed Thursday August 12 – 6pm – Gallop Field in Bethlehem
Winsted 8, Waterbury 3 (Waterbury Wild eliminated)
Wolcott 7, Amenia 0 (Amenia Monarchs eliminated)
Naugatuck 1, Terryville 0 (Terryville Black Sox eliminated)
Bristol 12, Tribury 1 (Tribury Pavers eliminated)
Game recaps:
Naugy Dogs 1, Terryville Black Sox 0: Lance Stevens pitched a four-hitter with 14 strikeouts as Naugy eliminated Terryville from the Tri-State League playoffs. Bob Augelli homered in the second inning for Naugy for the game’s lone run. Tyler Wenz pitched a five-hitter for Terryville with 12 strikeouts.
Winsted Whalers 8, Waterbury Wild 3: Joel Castillo stroked a single, a double and a solo inside-the-park home run, while Chris Davidson and Charlie Putnam added two hits in support of Dan Connelly, who earned the victory for Winsted. Adam Piechowski nailed the door shut for the final two innings. Waterbury had two singles and a double from Fraz Kader and two hits from Kevin Romero.
Wolcott Scrappers 7, Amenia Monarchs 0: Justin Koutros threw a 1-hitter with 19 k’s to lead Wolcott over Amenia. Wolcott’s bats finally showed some life for the first time in 3 weeks pounding out 15 hits. Adam Lacapra led the charge with another 3 hit performance, Ryan Soucy had a single and a 2-run triple, Jason Miller and Zach Sehnal added 2 hits and an RBI each and Eric Soucy chipped in with a 2-run single. Joel Judson took the loss for the Monarchs.
Bristol Greeners 12, Tribury Pavers 1: Mike Hay picked up his second win of the playoffs on just three days rest after a complete game against Amenia on Saturday, pitching seven shutout innings against Tribury on Wednesday night at Muzzy Field. Hay allowed just four hits to Tribury, pitching to his defense that committed just one error in the game. The Greeners jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first, adding two in the second and third inning, and four more in the fourth. At the plate, the Greeners were led by Doug Beaudoin (2-4, 3 RBI), Dan Rosa (2-5, RBI), Matt Beaudoin (2-4, RBI) and Dave Casanova (2-3, 2 RBI). The Greeners also had hits from Mike Zammett, Ryan Dudzinski, Matt Godbout, Steve Ziogas, and Shawn Mirmina. Tribury had hits off the bats of Brian Cyr, Tyler Elmore, Nick Higley, and Russ Stotsky.
Watertown Blaze 7, Brass City Brew 7: Game recap coming soon…
Tri-Town Trojans 2, Bethlehem Plowboys 2: The downside to playing a nine-inning game on a weekday at a field without lights came to the forefront during a Tri-State Baseball League playoff game between top-seeded Bethlehem and No. 5 Tri-Town at Gallop Field Thursday evening.
The Plowboys fell behind 2-0 in the first inning to the Trojans, but cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Bethlehem (19-4, 1-0 playoffs) threatened several times to tie or even take the lead throughout the contest, but couldn’t do so until the bottom of the ninth. Eric O’Toole’s sharp single to left center off of Tri-Town reliever Miles Scribner tied the game at 2. Before another inning could be played, however, the game was called due to darkness. The teams will pick up the game sometime later in the week. “We got to continue it at a later date, whether it’s (today), Friday, or Saturday,” Plowboys manager/player Tony Geraci said.
When they do resume, the winner of the game will advance to the winner’s bracket final, which is scheduled for Saturday, according to the league website. The Trojans had escaped several jams before the ninth inning, thanks to clutch pitching and great defense. Second baseman Kyle Osolin made several great plays in the field. Bethlehem began threatening in the fourth inning, when it got a walk and hit batter with two out. Tri-Town starter Andrew Osolin escaped that jam by getting a pop out to himself from Kevin Pettit.
The Plowboys took a real shot at Osolin in the sixth inning. Aaron Granahan singled sharply to center to lead off. Geraci was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second with none out. Andrew Osolin struck out Matt Parlato swinging for the first out. Scribner came in to replace Osolin. With Jon Conlon at the plate, Granahan attempted to steal third, but was gunned down by catcher Landon Gardella. Scribner got the final out on a fly to left by Conlon.
In the seventh, Pettit was hit by a pitch with one out. Dan Goscinski bunted down the third base line, but Tri-Town third baseman Steve Price threw low to first and both runners were safe. Again, Scribner escaped trouble. Scribner struck out O’Toole looking, then got help from Kyle Osolin. Nick Chiovitti hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but Osolin slid to his right, stopped the ball, and threw to first to get Chiovitti.
In the eighth inning, Geraci was again hit by a pitch, this time with one out. Geraci reached second on an error when he attempted to steal the base, but he was thrown out trying to take third on the error. Both Geraci and his teammates thought he was safe.
While the Bethlehem bats could not break through, Plowboy pitcher Jason Krajeski kept Tri-Town at bay. The Trojans threatened several times after the two-run first inning, but Krajeski (9 innings, 2 runs, 5 hits, 10 strikeouts, 2 walks, 2 hit batters) escaped each time. Krajeski struck out eight batters in his last four innings of work. Tri-Town scored in the first inning on a two-run double from Joe Bunnell.
With dusk getting ready to settle in, Bethlehem finally broke through in the bottom of the ninth. After Conlon struck out leading off, Dave Green worked a walk. Rob Geraci pinch hit for Pettit, but Scribner got him looking at a curveball for strike three, much to Geraci’s displeasure. Dan Goscinski, however, worked a walk. O’Toole didn’t waste time cashing in on another opportunity for the Plowboys. On a 1-0 count, O’Toole ripped a single into left center to tie the game at 2. Scribner got Chiovitti to fly to right to end the inning, but the damage had been done.
When the teams pick the game up, Tri-Town will to make up for the chance it missed to close the game out Thursday. Bethlehem looks to play better in the field and take advantage of opportunities on offense. Both teams will get their chance soon.