Thursday July 7
Amenia Monarchs 1 Bethlehem Plowboys 0
The Monarchs and the Plowboys squared off Thursday night at the always lovely Gallup field. The last meetup between the two old school rivals resulted in a pitchers duel, 2-1 Plowboys win. Thursday nights game would play out almost exactly the same. For Bethlehem George Bielizna would take the mound, again, and control the Monarchs offense, again, throughout the game. Bielizna would go the distance scattering 5 hits and just 1 run with 3 K’s. The lone run of the game would come with 1 out in the top of the 7th when the newlywed Will Perotti would connect for a home run over the right field fence. Congrats Big Guy!! Maybe the new ring helped his swing a little? On the other side Amenia would get 5.2 outstanding innings out of young Robby Caener. Caener came out with 2 outs in the 6th finishing the day giving up 0 runs on 6 hits with 8 K’s. Jacob Shpur, not Schpur or Shpeurx or anything crazy like that just S-H-P-U-R, would have a day for himself! Jacob would go 3-3 with 2 doubles and somehow pickup the win pitching throwing only 4 pitches. He graciously dedicated the win to Caener after the game. For Bethlehem Greg Campbell would end the night 3-4 with a double himself. Game 2 outcome 1-0 Monarchs win.
PS: Taking donations to get Rich Revere a jersey
Blasius Chevrolet 5 Wolcott Scrappers 4
As the season winds down and the playoff race heats up, games hardly need any extra juice. The Thursday night clash between Wolcott and Blasius received an extra jolt of excitement as Blasius Centerfielder Conor Goggin turned 21. Wolcott came ready to spoil the party by scoring two runs in the top of the first off Blasius starter Sal Trichilo (1-0). Blasius would respond by scoring three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. The teams would trade the lead over the next five innings. Leading to a dramatic bottom of the 6th. Fran Phelan would work his way on with an infield single before being moved over to second. Where he would remain until there were two outs and the birthday boy coming to the plate. The Scrappers would make the questionable decision to gift not only Goggins but Blasisus an intentional walk as a birthday gift. This decision would quickly come back to haunt the Scrappers as Blasius veteran Steve Carosella would drive a 0-1 pitch to center field scoring Phelan from second. Trichilo took the mound in the seventh for the complete game win, and Blasius would gift Goggins a 5-4 win as a birthday gift to remember.
Burlington Hunters 13 Valley Ducks 6
The Burlington Hunters defeated the Valley Ducks 13-6 on Thursday night at Wolcott High School. The Hunters were inspired when they saw veteran Alex Cobb-Hansen strut his way towards the field, his first of the season. Cobb-Hansen would pick up the win in relief tossing 4 innings surrendering just one earned run. The Hunters were led offensively by George Zaruba (3/5, HR, 3 RBI) and Justin Campbell (4/5, 2B, 3B, 3RBI) who was a homer short of the cycle. Steve Caruso (3/5, 2B, 2RBI) also had a strong day at the plate in what would be his last Tri-State game for the near future as he starts a new job down in Virginia next week. Caruso has been a core member of the Hunters for 8 years and finishes his season hitting over 400. His bat, glove, and parking lot abilities will be missed, but the team wishes him nothing but luck as he takes on this next step with his fiance Emily, and their dog Henry.
The Ducks were led offensively by Zach Royka (3/4, RBI), Ronnie St. Dennis (2/4, 2B, 3B), and Alex Hinkle (2/3). Other game highlights include: Tyler Doyle showed up with the wrong jersey and wrong pants, but kept an amazing book, Alex Cobb-Hansen was booed by his own wife when he walked a batter, Jheremi Rosado still cannot get a bunt down, and Ty Pelletier dazzled everyone in attendance with his amazing knuckleball as his pitched in relief for the Ducks.
Naugatuck Nightmare 4 Canton Crushers 3
On a beautiful Thursday for baseball, Canton (led by pitcher Jimmy Spirito) and Naugatuck (led by Mattew “ice” Venable) took the field. Naugatuck jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to an rbi double off the bat of Joshua Bologh, and an rbi single off the bat of Jose Mena. Canton would climb back into the game and it would be deadlocked at 2-1 until the top of the 5th when Christian Cuevas came up clutch with a 2 out 2 run double to center to put the Nightmares up 4-1. Canton would show alotta fight and battled back to a 4-3 game.Bottom of the 7th runners on first and second no outs, a groundball to 2nd baseman Carlos Masonet who fielded it with a diving stop and flip over to Brandon Spadolino for a quick turn and huge double play. With the tying run on 3rd, Jordan Carreira would slam the door by fielding a comebacker off his glove and firing to 1st for the Final Out. Nightmare win 4-3 Final Mathew Venable 4 IP, Jordan Carreira 3 IP- Jimmy Spirito 5 IP, Blaze 2 IP.
Torrington Twisters 6 Southington Gamecocks 5 (8 innings)
Tri-Town Trojans 12 Winsted Whalers 2