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Printed From Acorn-Online.com Sports
Daylight gave out before the Joel Barlow High varsity baseball team did in its game against New Milford last week. With the score tied at 3-3 after seven innings the contest went into extra frames. Fourteen had been completed with neither side able to break the stalemate, forcing play to be suspended on account of darkness on Friday, April 25. It will continue later in the season. Coming into the week Barlow knew what it had to do to regain the early season success it enjoyed: stop making as many fielding errors. However, the Falcons were not able to do that as they lost 7-2 to Brookfield last Monday, April 21. Barlow sent junior Corey Stevens to the pitcher’s mound, and early on he kept the Brookfield hitters off balance and the Falcons jumped out to a 1-0 lead. But soon after that Barlow’s bats went to sleep and bad defense started to plague it. After a few errors, Brookfield put some hits together and took the lead. The Falcons did try to manage a comeback when with two outs in the sixth inning Dylan Stone hit a triple and was subsequently hit in by Jesse Frank, who had two hits on the afternoon. The rally stopped there and Brookfield went on to victory. “I didn’t feel like I had my best stuff on the mound,” said Stevens, who pitched five and two-thirds innings, giving up four earned runs. “But we battled hard and I think we could have won this game.” Two days later the Falcons took on the New Milford Green Wave behind Andrew Carlson, looking to get back on the winning track. The game got off to a ominous start as Carlson was uncharacteristically wild and yielded two first-inning runs, giving the Green Wave a 2-0 lead. After that Carlson would settle down. Down 3-0 in the mid innings, Barlow’s offense got going when Frank knocked in two runs with a double. He was subsequently hit in by junior Jake Brawley’s double. With the score knotted at 3-3 neither pitcher would budge and the game went into extra innings. For the Falcons, Carlson pitched eight innings, giving up only the three runs. He was relieved by junior Kevin Mallozzi, who pitched six scoreless innings, keeping the Falcons and the Green Wave tied. While both teams did have their chances in the extra innings, the game came down to the bottom of the 14th inning still tied at 3-3. As most of the large crowd at Joel Barlow still looked on with the setting sun, Frank, who was four for six on the game with three doubles, led off the inning with a single. A textbook bunt by Stevens moved Frank to scoring position with one out. Two batters later Greg Colby lined a ball up the middle that appeared to be the game winner. However, New Milford’s shortstop made a miraculous stop and spinning throw to gun down Frank at the plate as the catcher blocked the plate and prevented the winning run from scoring. As the field was in darkness, the umpires had to suspend play with the game still tied at 3-3. In the game, Barlow did play better defense, as the team limited its errors. “As a team we made some solid strides today,” said Frank. “We played much better defense and I think we can build from this game.” The Falcons host Notre Dame today (Thursday), are home against Bethel on Monday, go to Pomperaug on Tuesday, and host Weston on Wednesday. © Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers |
