May 8, 2008
Little League: Lions shut down Marines, 8-2
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The following games were played recently by Ridgefield Little League teams:
Majors
Ancona’s Market 4,
Craig’s Jewelers 1
Ancona’s struck quickly as leadoff batter Stephen Cartwright singled and advanced to second on Jason Marra’s base hit. Both scored after a passed ball and infield outs. Craig’s answered with a firstinning run as Chris Scally singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored after two infield outs. After allowing Scally’s hit, Ancona pitcher Matt Johnson retired the next 13 batters in order. Ancona’s tacked on two more runs in the third inning as Cartwright led off with a hit, Johnson reached on an error, Dylan Maher singled to drive in a run and Dustin Rausa drove in the final run. Superb pitching by Scally and Colin O’Meara kept Craig’s within striking distance. For Ancona’s, Rausa and Marra came on in relief and threw blanks to nail down the victory. Great defense from Michael Schavlan and Matt Lacerrra limited Craig’s chances and helped Ancona’s prevail.
Lions 8,
Marines 2
Ryan Debany’s sacrifice fly scored Riley Johnson, giving the Marines a 2-0 lead after the first inning. After the Lions answered with six runs in the top of the second, Lions pitcher Chris Eckstrom retired 10 straight batters, highlighted by centerfielder Matt LaPorta’s diving catch to end the third inning. The Marines’ Kian Cook ended that streak with a booming double to the wall in center. Daniel Peckham gave the Marines three solid innings of relief, while Erik Eckstrom and Brendan Maguire each pitched scoreless innings for Lions. Noah Broder, Craig Burke and Thomas Szilagyi all had two hits for Lions.
Montanari Fuel Service 8,
Paris and Co. 8
For most of the game Paris and Co’s pitching led by Johnny Passman and Jack Weston held back the offense of the Montanari squad and controlled the flow of the game. Meanwhile, Paris’ batters, led by Passman with help from singles by Patrick Mullery, Dean Wertz, Ciaran Kager and Jacob Feldman, proceeded to work eight runs across the plate in six innings and build an 8-2 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning.
On the other side of the field, Montanari’s Christian Bellino, Robbie Fornasiero and Zach Fogg made solid defensive plays to keep the game within reach. Also, Matt Johnson performed extremely well in his pitching debut by throwing a scoreless inning.
The true spirit of this game came to light (literally as the sun broke through the clouds) in the bottom of the sixth inning when the bats of Montanari were warmed by the sun. The inning began with a lead-off single by Erin Whitton. Dan Benoit added a single and Matthew Berger unloaded one of the best hits of the game with a double in the gap. Then, with two outs and the game on the line, Paul Reid and Danny Webb added timely singles. With Montanari still chasing two runs, both Evan Bloch and Erin Whitton successfully worked their counts full and eventually tied the game with their efforts in the batterss box. But Jack Weston withstood the Montanari onslaught by masterfully striking out the final batter and ending this wellplayed game in a tie.
Ridgefield Capital 7,
RKW Land Surveying 1
Outstanding pitching and solid defense gave Ridgefield Capital the win. Adam Davidovich and Ryan Adams each pitched three innings, recording six and seven strikeouts, respectively. Ridgefield Capital had solid defense, too, with Jake Lantner catching a line drive at second and connecting with Liam O’Connor for the put-out at first. Second baseman Brendan Ruberry connected with Matthew Cross for another put-out at first, while Davidovich and O’Connor each caught a fly ball. Matthew Kendall did a good job behind the plate and James and Jack Kuveke were solid in the outfield. Offensively, Ridgefield Capital was quick on the bases. Adams, Davidovich, Sage Bornstein and Nick Bosavage all had a hit.
RKW also had strong pitching with Alex Buckanavage, Zach Marks, Jack Thuon and James Cox recording 14 strikeouts among them. At second base, Stephen Thaxter threw a put-out to Marks at first, and Cox caught a pop-up at third. Drew Faryniarz and Jackson Cherner each got an unassisted out at first. Offensively, Buckanavage got a double and Cox got a hit.
Ancona’s Market 14,
Village Oil 5
Leading the way for Ancona’s were leadoff batter Stephen Cartwright (four runs), Jason Marra (two hits, three RBIs, three runs), Matt Johnson (two hits, two RBIs, run), Matt Lacerra (two runs), and Michael Schavlan (two hits, two runs). Village Oil’s offense was led by Will Schupmann (hit, two runs) Andrew Franco (hit, run), Matt Kissel (double, RBI), and Fred Toubro (run scored). Solid defense from Kyle Robertson, Dylan Maher and JP O’Hara helped Ancona pitchers Schavlan, Lacerra, Chris Vandervoorn, Marra and Dusty Rausa shut down the Village Oil offense. Despite the lopsided score, Jack Boscia and Michael Latorre threw well for Village Oil.
Lions 2,
Ridgefield Hardware 2
Matt LaPorta singled home two runs in the top of the first for Lions. Ridgefield Hardware got both runs back in the bottom of the first. That was all the scoring as both teams received excellent pitching and defense for the next eight innings. Shane Donnelly and LaPorta (Lions) and Sam Gravitte and Adam Zandri (Hardware) pitched great. Defensive highlights included Lions second baseman Chris Jones tracking down a pop in short right field in the seventh and centerfielder Ben Peters chasing down a ball in deep center in the ninth. Lions had runners on base in both the eighth and ninth innings, but each time Hardware shortstop Gravitte turned a 6-6-3 double play. The game was called after nine innings due to darkness.
Lions 9,
Village Oil 0
Noah Broder’s basesloaded double led the Lions offense. John Schepis, and Matt LaPorta also had base hits.
Pitchers Chris Eckstrom, Eric Eckstrom and Thomas Szilagyi combined on the shutout.
Griffin Jones reached base three times for Village Oil, and shortstop John Boscia made several fine defensive plays.
Lions 2,
Squash’s 1
John Schepis’ third-inning single led to one run. In the fourth, Matt LaPorta singled and scored on Craig Burke’s single to left, giving Lions a 2-0 leaed. Philip DiGiacomo pitched five solid innings for Squash’s, backed by steady defense, including a 4-6-3 double play to end the second inning, and JP Misciagna’s catch in deep right field in the fourth. Lions pitcher Shane Donnelly had given up only a walk through the first five innings before Squash’s rallied in the top of the sixth. Joe Santoro beat out an infield single and scored on Nick Manderlink’s single to right. Lions second baseman Ben Peters had a great game in the field, handling all eight balls hit his way flawlessly.
Prudential Connecticut Realty 7,
Neumann Real Estate 4
Tim Walsh and Steven Favorite combined to pitch three scoreles innings for Prudential, while their team scored all of its runs in those first innings. Cody Evans-Boyajian, Favorite, Mark Galione and Alex Kresic all scored for Prudential in the first inning. Liam Baughman singled and scored in the second inning, and Favorite and Kresic scored again in the third.
Neumann fought back, starting in the top of the fourth. Ethan Broder scored the team’s first run. He also came in to pitch, holding Prudential scoreless while his team got back into the game. Gage Holzhauer, Andrew Houser and Broder all scored in the sixth inning, but pitcher Galione caught a pop-up for the last out for Prudential. Cody Dingee also pitched well for Prudential.
Prudential Connecticut Realty 9,
RKW Land Surveying 8
Stephen Thaxter pitched a near perfect top of the first inning for RKW. His team scored twice in the bottom of the inning to take an early lead, with Jackson Cherner and Dan Albano each crossing the plate in the inning. Miller Vaughan started things for Prudential in the bottom of the inning with a walk. After Jack Snopkowski singled, he and Vaughan scored on a single by Mark Galione. Alex Kresic, Galione, Steven Favorite and Cody Dingee also scored in the inning to put Prudential back on top in the seesaw game. Andrew Walter scored for RKW in the bottom of the inning.
Tim Walsh singled to lead off the third for Prudential, and later scored to give his team a 7-3 lead. But, in the bottom of the third, RKW scored five times to go back on top. Albano, James Cox, Ross Andrei, Walter and Thaxter all scored for Prudential. Andrei had a long bases-loaded triple in the inning. The defense and the pitching buckled down from there for both teams, and the score stayed at 8-7 until the last inning. Snopkowski and Matthew Bartolucci each made two good defensive plays for Prudential, while Henry Korpi and Jack Thuon made nice plays for RKW. David Mason started his team’s last atbat with a single, then scored the tying run on a double by Galione. Dingee then knocked home Galione for what would prove to be the winning run before Snopkowsi pitched a scoreless bottom of the sixth.
Triple A
Piccolo Pizza 16,
Landex 10
In a contest that featured some great pitching, timely hitting and outstanding defense by both teams, Piccolo Pizza pulled away from Performance Landex for the win.
For Landex, Michael Shofi led the offense by going 2-for-3 with an RBI, three runs scored and a terrific play at first base. Daniel Alindogen, Nick Palazzo and Dylan Cheldnik all went 2-for-3 as well. Alindogen had an RBI and pitched terrific in relief with three strikeouts. Palazzo scored two runs and had an RBI, and had two solid relief innings on the mound. Chelednik banged two big RBI hits to cap the Landex scoring.
For Piccolo, Spencer Cobleigh pitched two shutout innings with five strikeouts and went 2-for-2 with two walks and four RBIs on a single and a bases-loaded triple over the centerfielder’s head. He also scored four times. Jenner Hagele played superbly, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and pitched one shutout inning with two stellar defensive plays to help his cause on the mound. John Thrasher reached base four times with two singles and a bases-loaded line-drive triple that rolled all the way to the centerfield fence. Thrasher was also part of a double play at short when he started a 6-4-3 to Will Peters and CJ Varian at first base. Peters also went 2-for-3 and scored twice, while Varian flashed his stellar defense and scored four runs. Connor Munnely, Patrick Francis and Kyle Horsa all got base hits and scored. Alec Leonard pitched great as the closer.
Tuccio Development 14,
Deborah Ann’s 8
Tuccio Development had a well-balanced offensive attack as six players had multiple-hit games. Tuccio was led by Max Scanlon who was 2-for-2 with three RBIs on the day. Brian Grevers also added three hits and four runs scored. Ryan Johanson, Cal Meachem and Seth Hochberg each had two RBIs. Bret Kaser went 2-for-3 with a double and four runs scored, while Zach Esemplare and Matt Colville crossed the plate three times in the win. Grevers also sparkled on the mound, pitching two scoreless innings of one-hit ball, while teaming with Kaser in the field to make a nice double play.
Deborah Ann’s was led by Andrew Morrison and Luke Cropsey, who each knocked in two runs. Ben Grissmer, Lucas Vegara, Liam Birmingham and Anthony Di Fabio each added a hit and a RBI.
Tiger Sports 13,
Colby’s 6
Tiger Sports recorded its first win of the season behind three innings of shutdown pitching by starting pitcher Jessica Camarda.
Colby’s got some great fielding from Pat Donovan, a shutout inning pitched by Jimmy O’Neill, and a three-assist inning by John Jaycox.
Northeast Radiology 15,
Performance Landex 6
Northeast Radiology improved to 3-1 by defeating Performance Landex. The winners were led with hits by William Carpenter, Connor Looney, K.C. McSpedon and Nicholas Duda. Pitching was led by Grant Haring, Henrik Liapunov and Jack McGeary. Felipe Cuellar made two nice plays in the field. Performance Landex had a hit by Dylan Chelednik. Jack O’Connor, Nick Palazzo, Daniel Alindogen and Jake Bodner all scored runs. Richard Donovan and Jack Maguire pitched well for Performance Landex.
Double A
Brewers 18,
Phillies 5
The Brewers lineup showed its muscle in this game. Will Lombardi led the team with two doubles and six RBIs. Tony Macchia also had two doubles in a 5-for-5 day at the plate, while J.P. Gaccione was 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Brian Wheation, Michael Grevers, Zach James and Toby Dalton all collected three hits in the win. The Brewers also flashed the leather in this contest, with Aidan Meachem making three putouts, including a catch of a scorching line drive at third base.
The Phillies were led by Sam Holzhauer and Trevor Roughan, who were both a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and drove in a run. Brothers Derek and Craig Certo slugged three hits and had an RBI for the Phils. Alex Abbruzzese, Jack Thies, Ben Baker, Kevin Johnson and Robert Nielsen also had multiple hits.
Padres 14,
Phillies 7
The Padres defeated the Phillies on Saturday, with five runs coming after the game was decided. Liam Galloway led the Padres offense by going 5-for-5, while Ryan Malley had four hits and Anthony Borello three. The Padre’s defense was solid again, led by Robert Pesce, Jimmy Green and Kyle Getz. For the Phillies, every player had at least one hit with Kevin Johnson, Robert Nielsen, Reid Kagan and P.J. Harrington leading the way. Great defensive performances by Trevor Roughan, Alex Abbruzzese, Jack Thies, Ben Baker and Sam Holzhauer completed the day.
Padres 13,
Braves 8
The Padres defeated the Braves by scoring five runs in the top of the sixth in a game that featured timely hitting and slick fielding on both sides, with at least one double-play turned by each team. The Padres were led by Will Coghlin, who was 4-for-4, Brandon Grizzaffi with three hits and Robbie Jewell with three, including a shot down the third baseline for a stand-up double, with all three turning in multiple defensive gems. Matthew Cocchi, Jimmy Green and Kyle Getz also contributed timely hits. For the Braves, offensive stars were Joshua Carone with four hits, Ethan Hynes and Mathew Bornstein with three hits each, and Miles Russo and Dallas Nylen with key hits. The stellar Braves’ defense was led by Evan Brenner, Ben Martinez Jack MacMillan and Dante Langdon.
Brian’s Club 17,
Sunburst Plumbing Pirates 3
The game opened with Robert DeSantis ripping a sharp single. Corey Rispoli and Kenny Day followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases for Bud Boerhringer, whose hot shot allowed DeSantis to score. The Pirates were able to even the score with singles by Colin Braga, Andrew Chiodi and Chris Saccchi. The game seesawed with some outstanding defense by Luke Gaydos, William Gasparini and Oliver Savino for the Pirates and Connor Goff and Jack Susser for Brian’s Club. Brian’s Club was able to break the game open in the top of the fourth inning when Tommy MacMannis and Jeremy Blumich had rocket hits that allowed Brian’s Club to put five runs on the board. After the Pirates’ defense again stepped up with fine plays from Jon Schickler and Colin Vecchiarello, Kellen Brewer’s and James McCann’s bats came alive and Brian’s Club was able to put up eight more runs over the last two innings.
Brewers 6,
Diamondbacks 5
In an exciting game with many lead changes, the Brewers came from behind by scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, Toby Dalton led off with a single. With two outs, Aidan Meachem singled to drive in the tying run, followed by another single by John Thompson plating the winning run. The Brewers were flashing the leather on defense with outstanding plays by Brian Wheaton, who was busy in centerfield, catching two long fly balls, and making two unassisted put-outs at second base. Michael Grevers was also busy with the glove, catching a line drive at shortstop and teaming with Nick David for put-outs at second base and first base. Thompson made a beautiful play at third base to end the game. Will Lombardi had a strong day at bat with three hits and two RBIs while Zach James chipped in with a single. Defense was the key in this close game. The Diamondbacks executed their fist double play of the season when Luc Gomez caught a fly ball at short and threw to Michael Hamilton at second to nip the runner. Great glove work from Nick Kinkead, Ryan Reid, Nick Patterson and Evan Stockmoe held the Brewers to six runs. On offense, Will Hogan had several deep shots to center field that were snagged by the Brewers’ outstanding defense. Reid, Hamilton and Michael Knick all went a perfect3-for-3 at the plate. Trey Finegan, Eddie Marquez and Nick Patterson all had solid performances both in the field and atbat.
Frozen Ropes Tigers 16,
Diamondbacks 15
In a game that was tied every inning, the Tigers finally took the lead in the sixth and stopped the Diamondbacks’ rally. Both teams hit the ball well. For the Tigers, Riley Morrison led the attack with three doubles, while Kern Byrnes, Kelly Adams, Theo Magill and Jack Liguori contributed with four hits apiece. Luke Marczak and Connor Bryant each had three hits and Martin Herlihy and Jacob Hoffman had two. Among the Tigers’ defensive plays, Morrison made two plays at second, Hoffman caught a hard-hit line drive at third, Liguori made a great catch at shortstop, Magill tagged a runner, and leftfielder Byrnes connected with Hoffman at third for the last out in the bottom of the sixth.
Michael Hamilton led the Diamondbacks’ offense with four hard hit balls to the outfield — three for stand up doubles. Will Hogan scored three of the Diamondbacks’ runs. Nick Patterson, Trey Finagan, Evan Stockmoe, Luke Gomez and Ryan Reid had outstanding defensive performances. Michael Knick showed real power at the plate, blasting a ball to deep center field. Eddie Marquez showed heart late in the game with several key hits. Nick Kinkead made a great throw to home and was pulling the ball extremely well in his atbats.
Brian’s Club 16,
Joe Espinosa’s Baseball
Plus Yankees 15
Luke St. Pierre and Drew Warren led off with back-to-back singles as the Yankees went on top, 3-0. Brian’s Club was able to roar back, putting five runs on the board with a double by Jack Susser, (who went 4-for-4 in the game) and singles by Connor Goff, Tommy MacMannis, Kellen Brewer and Jack Peters. Not to be outdone, the Yankees put up five runs of their own. Noah Isaacson, Michael Turner and Michael Yodice all had key hits. James McCann had a productive day at the plate for Brian’s Club, collecting three hits and an RBI, and Kenny Day also hit well producing a bases-clearing double. Brian’s Club also showed great defense with web gems from Bud Boehringer and Goff. Corey Rispoli continued his hot hitting with a double and two singles, and Robert DeSantis also went 3-for-3. The Yankees kept things close all day with Patrick Ryan and TC Lefebvre pounding the ball. Max Gagnon also showed his hitting prowess going 4-for-4 on the day. Sean Seavy, Tyler Aronson and Josh Gardos were also key contributors, producing spectacular defensive plays.
Girls Softball
Dimitri’s Diner 10,
Darien 3
Ridgefield held Darien in the first inning and came on strong by scoring four runs in the first inning with hits by Jessica Petty and Emily Spicci. Darien fought back to score one run in the second inning and held Ridgefield scoreless for a 4-1 game after two innings. Key defensive plays by Erin Bamback, Marianne Staudt, Emily Smith, Jessica Petty and Niamh Carruthers helped keep Darien off the bases and only allowed two more runs the remainder of the game. But the combination of hard hits by Addison Sanislow, Adrian Sheridan, Jessica Petty, Emily Spicci and Marianne Staudt and aggressive base running by Dana Knudsen and Erin Bamback allowed Dimitri’s to score three runs in the third inning and three in the fifth inning to secure the win. Bamback and Spicci shared duties on the mound, and Sanislow and Sheridan both displayed strong skills behind the plate. Dana Knudsen, Erin Keefe and Katie Korres showed consistent support in the field, limiting Darien’s ability to run the bases.
Majors
Lock Install 7,
Wilton 6
Lock Install of Ridgefield defeated Wilton in a come-from-behind victory that ended with a dramatic defensive play. Wilton jumped out to a 4-1 lead with its big bats, but Lock roared back with great pitching, timely hitting and extraordinary defense. Lock was led by the strong pitching of Katie Berkelhamer, who had nine strikeouts and went 4-for-4 at the plate, including a deep double. The power hitting duo of Natalie Gaisser and Olivia Lindgren each slugged two big hits for Lock. Samantha Cucinell had two RBI hits for Lock and put on a defensive clinic at first base by making numerous outstanding defensive plays. Rachel Giorgio and Lea Vivian each had key hits for Lock. Kerry Sheehan-Delany played great defense at catcher and blasted a line drive to the outfield. Amelia McGrath scored a big run for Lock. The game ended dramatically as Wilton was trailing 7-6 with two outs in the last inning and a Wilton batter hit a blast deep to left center. Leftfielder Vivian used her great speed to get to the ball and made an excellent relay throw to shortstop Gaisser, who in turn made a perfect throw to third baseman Katherine Ehinger, who applied the tag on the batter as she was sliding into third base, and just before the runner on first crossed home plate, resulting in a sensational ending to the game.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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