Thursday May 25

Tri-Town Trojans 1     Amenia Monarchs 0

Game recap coming…

Burlington Hunters 5   Brass City Vipers  1

The Hunters notch their first win of the season defeating the Brass City Vipers 5-1. Taylor Donofrio went the distance for the Hunters on the mound earning his first win of the season, striking out 9 and scattering 3 hits.  Donofrio was perfect through 4 until he decided to leave a cookie over the middle to Collin Hajjar of the Vipers who hit a laser into the left-center gap for a triple.  The Hunters were led offensively by Jheremi Rosado and Andrew Bunger, who both had multi hit games.  George Zaruba, Josh Lopez, and Joe Cardaropoli all drove in one run a piece.  Fun facts of the game include: The Hunters actually went a whole game without committing one error, Veteran Chris Rossi, who decided at 35 years young that he is actually a better hitter from the left side than the right, notched his first hit of the campaign with his new stance, and Josh Lopez was shocked and dejected to discover that in this league he has to run the bases and cannot get a pinch runner.

Valley Ducks 6   Winsted Whalers 2

The Valley Ducks take down the Winsted Whalers in Thursday night’s action. Zach Royka went the distance for the Ducks, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits while striking out 10. Johnny Lippincott hit an absolute mammoth of a 2 run home run in the first for Winsted. Chet Warner also contributed a single and a run. The Ducks had 9 hits, including 2 each from Donny Ek, Kyle Dadonna, and Chris Oliwa.

Bethlehem Plowboys 7   CT Gamecocks 0

The Plowboys met up with Gamecocks on Thursday night in Waterbury CT and came out on top winning 7-0. George Bielizna took the hill tossing 5 scoreless innings striking out 6 and allowing just 5 hits while working at an MLB pitch clock pace. Jon Wilson was the big bopper of the night going 2-4 with a 2 rbi double in the 2nd inning and Ryan Reynolds also added a 2 rbi single in the 4th to lead the plow attack offensively. Matt Mancini, Chase Belisle, and Matt Warren all reached base twice as well. Kyle Banche came on and closed out the last 2 innings, striking out 4. Gold glove center fielder Rich Revere made a very athletic catch in center field in the 7th as well. Pat Raymond and Matt Dobratz each reached base twice for the Gamecocks. The Plow now moves on to World Series rematch 1/4 in the regular season vs Tri Town at Community Field next Thursday for what is sure to be a well played competitive matchup!

Canton Crushers 10   Naugatuck Nightmare 8

Copyright Gerry DeSimas Jr Collinsville Press May 25,2023

Crushers overcome record eight-run deficit to beat Naugatuck

The early returns weren’t good for the Canton Crushers baseball team in Thursday’s Tri-State League home opener against the Naugatuck Nightmare at Bowdoin Field.

When the Crushers came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, they trailed by eight runs, had given up eight hits and committed four errors. But Canton rapped out six hits in the next three innings and scored eight runs in the sixth inning to beat the Nightmare, 10-8 with the biggest comeback win in team history. Ben Sullivan had a two-run double in the sixth inning with Jack Rose ripping a two-run single in the sixth. Heath Cotton also had an RBI single for the Crushers, who sent 11 men to the plate in the sixth and turned an 8-2 deficit into a 10-8 lead.

Reliever Tom Spirito gave up a single and a walk but retired the Nightmare in the seventh to preserve the win and earn a save. “You can just never give up,” said Sullivan, the starting shortstop for the Crushers. “You just don’t know what will happen. Some bats got hot and we turned it on in the field.” Canton (1-1) got two solid innings of relief pitching from newcomer Ethan Puhala, who didn’t give up a hit and struck out three to set the table for Spirito.

Naugatuck cruised through the first four innings of the game. The Nightmare had a 3-0 lead after two innings thanks to three Crusher errors and some timely hitting. Christian Cuevas had a two-run double in the first inning. Naugatuck scored five times in the fourth inning with four hits, including doubles from Lewis Maysonet and Sam Beadle and a two-run single from Richie Aviles. On the mound, the 6-foot-4 Beadle, a former Canton High pitcher, did well. In five innings of work, Beadle allowed just two hits and struck out six. He left the game with an 8-2 lead.

Trailing 8-0, Canton got on the scoreboard in the fourth when Jake Bryant walked and scored after moving to second on a wild pitch and two Naugatuck errors. In the fifth, Michael Sullivan had a deep, two-out double to center field and moved to third on a balk on Beadle. He scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 8-2.

The Crushers scored eight times in the sixth to take the lead, 10-8. Bryant hit the left field fence for a long single when the ball didn’t bounce over the fence but instead, it bounced back into play. Jack Rose had a two-run single to cut the Naugatuck lead to 8-4 followed by Cotton with a RBI single to trim the lead to three runs.

Naugatuck reliever Angel Valentin got two outs but a walk to Nick Michanczyk loaded the bases and a walk to Michael Sullivan drove in another run, cutting the lead to two, 8-6. Ben Sullivan ripped a deep double to centerfield that drove in two runs with a third run scoring on an overthrow to put Canton in front for the first time, 9-8. Sullivan moved to third on the overthrow and scored on a wild pitch to give the Crushers a 10-8 advantage. “It was good to get some magic (going),” said veteran Crusher outfielder/pitcher Jim Spirito said. “Got some camaraderie going. Get some magic to happen and carry it into the next game.” Ben Sullivan finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI while Jack Rose had a single and two RBI for the Crushers.

Prior to this game, the biggest deficit the Crushers had overcome in a single game was five runs in a 21-13 win over this same Naugatuck team last July and in a 15-9 win over the Torrington Twisters in June 2021.