West Hartford Youth Baseball Wrap-Ups for Week Ending May 22

MAJOR LEAGUE: Interleague Sunday

The WHYBL began a new tradition on Sunday, May 21st with a full slate of Major League interdivisional games. The matchups were based on the standings through the first half of the regular season from each of the two divisions: National League and American League.

NL #4/AL #4: Exchange 19, Rotary 7

Exchange's offense came alive with 19 hits to beat a solid Rotary club 19-7 in interleague play. Exchange jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 1st with Nick LeConche (4 for 5, 4 RBI's) and Brendan Kearney (4 for 4, 4 RBI's) leading the way. Rotary answered in the bottom of the 1st with 5 of its own before Exchange took control of the contest. The big innings were the 3rd and 4th where Exchange exploded for 6 runs in each frame, to put this one out of reach. The 3rd started with Sean O’Meara (3 for 4, 2 RBI), Brendan O’Meara and Michael Farley all reaching base safely, before the big bats of Brendan Begley (2 for 4), Matt Beazoglou (3 for 4), LeConche and Kearney paved the way to a big inning. Christian Lund also had a solid day at the plate (2 for 4, 3 RBI) as well as Aidan Shea who had a couple of solid at bats with two walks. The pitching was handled by Begley, Kearney, Sean O’Meara, and LeConche. Rotary had great efforts from Connor Swanton (2 for 3) and Jordan McGeee (2 for 4). Patrick Baron was also a respectable (2 for 3). The defensive play of the day was by Rotary’s Alex Lim who robbed Exchange’s LeConche of extra bases by grabbing a screaming line drive in the 5th.

AL #6/NL #6: Cornelius Insurance 5, Police Union 4

Cornelius Insurance finished a weekend sweep of one run games with a hard fought 5-4 victory over a tough Police Union team on an overcast Sunday morning. The two starting pitchers, Danny Roth for Police and RJ Michaels for Cornelius were both throwing smoke in the early going, and the teams were scoreless through two. The Police did threaten in the first, but with two on and nobody out, Danny Roth lined a shot that Cornelius shortstop Jack Moore was able to corral and then double the runner off second, with Will Moustakakis smartly covering the base. In the top of the third, Police struck for three runs. Ryan Cova started the two out rally with a double to right center. After Kyle McGoldrick drew a walk, Roth stepped back to the plate, this time making sure he would not be robbed of a hit by driving a bomb over the center field fence. In the bottom of the inning, however, Cornelius was able to manufacture four runs with only one hit, a single by Jack Hutensky. Luke Carroll, Pete Wilson, Will Moustakakis, Jimmy Shepherd and Will Hutensky were all able to battle for walks, and then Jack Moore reached on the rarely seen catcher interference, scoring the fourth run for Cornelius. After RJ Michaels set the Police down in order in the fourth, Cornelius pushed across another run in the bottom half of the inning. Will Moustakakis had the game winning RBI, singling home RJ Michaels, who had walked. Crafty Matt Langevin kept Cornelius guessing in the fourth and the fifth, and only gave up the one run. In the top of the fifth, The Cornelius defense once again made a clutch double play that kept them in the lead. After Kyle McGoldrick sharply singled to start the inning, and moved to second on a stolen base, the dangerous Danny Roth again was robbed by Jack Moore. Roth hit a high pop into the outfield that Moore sprinted out to catch, and then tumbled over the left fielder, who was charging hard also. Moore got up from one knee and nailed the runner who was trying for third, with Will Moustakakis there to apply the tag. The play loomed even larger when the next batter, Krishna Arabolu, laced a line shot home run right down the left field line. Michaels would finish his five innings by ending the rally with a big strike out. For the second day in a row, Luke Carroll came in to close out the win and get the save, finishing with a strike out after Michael Woods had singled.

AL #8/NL #8: Connors Insurance 8, Modern Tire 2

Aidan Wilkinson pitched 5 2/3 innings for the win. John Kirklin came in got the last out to secure the victory. Alexander Farrah lead the offense for Connors with 2 hits and 2 runs scored. Max Main had 2 RBI's. Excellent defensive plays were made by Dominic Niman, Colby Jones and Caelan Booth. Andrew Ferrucci was solid at catcher for Connors. Gus Murchie piitch a solid 5 innings for Modern Tire. Carlos Moore and Patrick Skwiot also had a good game for Modern Tire.

AL #2/NL #2: Lions Club 10, Venora Electric 7

The West Hartford Lions Club rallied from a 5-0 deficit to defeat a powerful Venora Electric team 10-7 in an interleague clash at Wolcott Park. The Lions offense was led by Ben and Tanner Kriedel who had 5 hits and 5 RBI between them. Torrie Green sparked the docile Lions with some heads up baserunning as he stole home with the Lion’s first run in the third inning. The Lions ended up scoring three times that inning. Matt Meigs also contributed two hits for the Lions. Trevor Ratchford started a 5 run fourth inning rally with a sharp single to center and Brendan Connors slammed a line shot to left to give the Lions an 8-7 lead. Scott Riley reached base 4 times and closed out the Lions scoring with a towering 5th inning homerun that went over the trees and landed in the middle of Wolcott pond. The Lions pitching was handled by Green, Riley and Ben Kriedel, who pitched two innings of 1 hit ball with 5 strikeouts to lock down the win.

Green and Ben Kriedel made outstanding defensive plays and Connors was solid behind the plate for the Lions to help preserve the victory.

The Venora offense consisted of two run homeruns by Antonio Masse (3 for 3) and Stephen Laffin (2 hits) and a clutch RBI single by Josh Wolmer. Evan Weinstock also had a nice hit.  Venora’s pitchers, Anthony Giannone, Daniel Fitzsimmons, and Sean Langan did a great job against the Lions. Masse made a nice play in centerfield and Langan was a rock behind the plate.

NL #1/AL #1: Knights of Columbus 7, Hall's Market 1

K of C scored 5 runs in the top half of the 1st inning then held on to beat a well coached Hall's Market team in the first ever regular season interleague action Sunday at Wolcott Park. Paul Wilson (3 for 4, RBI) and Drew Hungerford (2 for 4, HR, RBI) started things with singles, and Nick Becker (1 for 2) then followed with a drive off the fence in left to plate 2 runs. Chase Jeter (1 for 2, RBI) singled home a run, and Caleb Ritter doubled to plate 2 more runs to make it 5-0. Hall's got a run back in the 1st on a lead off hit by Aidan Maloney and single by Nick Gaglioti (1 for 2). K of C scratched out runs in the 2nd and the 6th. Wilson singled and scored in the 2nd, and Hungerford hit a home run to left in the 6th to close out the scoring at 7-1. Both teams pitchers were at their best today. Mike Verrengia (2 IP, 3 H, 2 K's), Drew Hungerford (2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 4 K's) and Chase Jeter (2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 5 K's) kept the Hall's bats off balance, while Aidan Maloney (2 IP), Charlie Murray (2 IP, 0 R) and David Clewes (2 IP, 1 R) limited the Knights to just 2 runs after the 1st. Henry Fisher and Graham Struthers were great on defense for Halls, with Struthers throwing out a runner at home on a relay throw from short LF. Paul Wilson dazzled at 2nd base for K of C, and Andrew Mitchell played well in RF.

MINOR LEAGUE:

Sunday, May 8th

Gent Financial Indians 13, Harry’s Pizza Red Sox 1. The Indians offense was led by Jack McGovern (2 for 2, BB), Patrick Mahon (2 for 3) and Max Leyland (double, 2 runs). Derek O’Conner, Cole Johnson, Jack Parker and Sebastian Suarez each scored twice. Mike Erickson made the defensive play of the game when he fielded a ground ball at third and threw out a runner at home in the 5th. The Red Sox were led by Alexander Boehm (1 for 3) and Joshua Kennedy (1 for 3). The Sox played hard from start to finish and made a number of fine plays in the field.

CT Self-Stor Rangers 7, Taylor Modeen Yankees 1. After a scoreless 1st inning, the Rangers bats were ignited by an inside the park home run by Andrew Wendorff in the 3rd inning. Rangers led 6-0 after 3. The Yankees were able to put 1 on the board, but the Rangers pitching was solid down the stretch. Rangers offense was led by Andrew Wendorff (2-3), Mateo Maturana (1-1 with 2 walks) and Nathaniel Gonzalez (1-2 with 2 RBI's). The Yankees had good pitching from Joe Morganthaler and Peter Simplicio. Yankees defense was led by Luke Hache at first base and Brian Namnoum at catcher.

Dick’s Sporting Goods White Sox 11, WH Health & Rehab Rockies 1. The White Sox battled a tough Rockies squad before breaking open the game in the 3rd inning with 4 runs to take a 6-0 lead. The White Sox went on to an 11-1 victory led offensively by Henry Glucksman (4 singles), Brandon Wolmer (2 singles, 1 walk), Stuart Carlisle (2 singles, 1 walk), Tariq Allah (3 singles), and Jason Aviles (single). The White Sox pitching was led by Carl Nicklas, Henry Glucksman, and Sam Kursman. The Rockies were led by Andrew Lagoy, Bryan Albee, and Noah Pryzbek.

Cricket Press Brewers 21, WH Fence Company A’s 8. Jack Livingstone struck out 7 of 9 batters faced en route to a Mother's Day victory at Fern Park. Thomas Costello had 2 triples, and Carter Fradette, Nathan White, Nathan Yousman, Shane Carr, Roger Lin, Mack Phillips, Ryan Farley, and Livingstone all had hits. Farley made a heads up play on the bases to score on a fly ball to centerfield. Mario Volpe had 2 hits (2-3, 1 run) for the Athletics and Shibe Couchman had 2 walks (1 run). Matthew DeLutrie played well in the field and Jason Bruzon made a spectacular catch in right center field. The Athletics turned a double play.

Knights of Columbus Dodgers 15, VFW Post Giants 1. The Giants threatened throughout the game, loading the bases a couple of innings. Highlights for the Giants included singles by Cullen McCaffrey and Andrew Skwiot in the 1st inning and later in the game Karstian Lang made a great catch in centerfield. The Dodgers were sparked by leadoff hitter Will Layden who got on base each at bat, including a double in the 4th. Gabe Salomons had two hits. The Dodgers had hitting throughout its line up, including key RBI singles from Joseph Shuey and Jake Morris. The Giants' Andrew Skwiot pitched three solid innings for the Giants.

Wednesday, May 11th

CT Self-Stor Rangers 13, Harry’s Pizza Red Sox 0. The Red Sox came out swinging in the 1st inning but the Rangers defense stepped up as Sam Borg’s diving stop and throw to 1st base ended the 1st inning. Rangers pitching remained strong as they were able to record 10 K's. The Rangers offense was led by Andrew Wendorff (3-3 with a double), Noah Matalon (2-3 with 2 doubles), Nathaniel Gonzalez (2-2 with 2 RBIs) and Chase Rancourt (1-2 with 2 RBIs). Notable performer for the Red Sox was Zander Boehm as he had a couple good plate appearances and gave great effort on the mound.

Saturday, May 14th

WH Health & Rehab Rockies 11, Steben Motors Braves 8. After the Braves had taken a 6-1 lead in the top of the 3rd inning on some timely hitting from Tim Cotter (2 RBI, 1 Run), John Taylor (1-2, 1 Run) and Thomas Cullen (1-2, 1 Run) the Rockies bats woke up with a 5 run flurry in the bottom of the inning. The inning included hits by Timmy Andrews (1-2, 3 RBI, 2 Runs), Noah Pryzbek (1-2, 2 RBI) and Anthony Mancini (2-3, 3 RBI). The next inning saw no scoring as both Bryan Albee (Rockies) and Jason Hoopes (Braves) dueled each other in a grand display from the mound which saw both pitchers facing only seven batters combined while serving up six K's. The bottom of the 5th had the Rockies striking again for another 5 runs as more of the team stepped up and delivered in key situations including Michael Mancini (2 Walks, 1 Run, 1 RBI), Devin Mahoney (2 Walks, 2 Stolen Bases, 2 Runs) and Tom Grady (2 Walks, 2 Runs). The Braves scored their final two runs in the top of the 6th before being retired by Andrew Lagoy who had a fine pitching performance (4 K's, 2 BB, 2 Runs) in notching the win.

Cricket Press Brewers 13, VFW Post Giants 6. Giants jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the 1st inning on hits from Thomas Miller, Matthew Azia, Ryan Arnold, Andrew Skwiot, Matthew Marino and Cullen McCaffrey. The Brewers got on the board in the 2nd inning on a Roger Lin hit to score Christian Paredes and make it a 5-1 game. Shane Carr got a hit and scored Paredes in the 4th inning to cut the lead to 5-2 but the Giants answered on a triple to the fence by Skwiot scoring Ryan Arnold to extend the lead to 6-2. EJ Echevarria started off the 5th inning with a walk and with hits from Jack Livingstone, Nathan White, Mack Phillips and Paredes to cap off a 5 run inning and take a 7-6 lead.   The Brewers added 6 more in the 6th inning to take a 13-6 lead and were able to hold the Giants in the bottom of the inning for the win. Hitting stars for the Brewers included Christian Paredes and Roger Lin with 2 hits each. Hitting stars for the Giants were Andrew Skwiot with a triple and double, and Ryan Arnold with 2 hits. Thomas Costello, Ryan Farley and Jack Livingstone combined to strike out 12 batters for the Brewers. Ryan Arnold, Matthew Azia and Liam Langan combined to strike out 9 for the Giants.

Dick’s Sporting Goods White Sox 5, Knights of Columbus Dodgers 0.  Carl Nicklas, Henry Glucksman, and Chase Maxwell pitched a shutout for the White Sox, while Will Fox, Gabe Salomons, Will Layden, and Andrew Gingold pitched very strong for the Dodgers. Offensively, the White Sox were led by Brandon Wolmer and Tariq Allah with 2 singles each. The Dodgers were led by Will Layden and Will Fox.

CT Self-Stor Rangers 11, WH Fence Company A’s 6. In the top of the first with 2 runs in and the Rangers still threatening, George Andrews for the A's was able to snag a hard hit ball off the bat of Sam Borg to end the inning. Rangers put 3 more runs on the board in the 3rd inning before the Athletics bats came alive scoring 2 runs on 3 straight hits. Rangers bats remained hot as they were able to record 6 more runs going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Athletics started a rally scoring 3 runs before Andrew Wendorff recorded 2 K's and Noah Matalon's diving catch at first base to close out the Athletics. Rangers pitching efforts were led by Chase Rancourt recording 9 K's in 3 innings. Rangers offense was led by Noah Matalon (3-4 with 3 RBIs), Brian Rodriguez (2-2 with an RBI), Chase Rancourt (2-2 with 3 RBIs) and Facundo Garcia (1-3 with an RBI). Athletics offense was led by Joey DeMeo (2-2 with 2 RBI's), Mario Volpe (1-3 with 1 RBI) and Michael Belvilacqua (1-3 with 2 RBI's).

INSTRUCTIONAL LEAGUE:

Saturday, May 14th

WH Fire Union Cubs 17, CT Eye Center Diamondbacks 8. The Cubs offense was strong once again as the Cubs defeated a strong Diamondback team. The Cubs offense was once again led by Matthew Glassman and CJ Baldini who each had 4 hits a piece on the day. Cooper Silver and Seth Ehrlich each collected 2 hits on the day as well. All Cubs players had at least 1 hit on the day. Cubs pitching was strong as well. Alex Mogul, Brad Blanchard and Cooper Silver were stong on the mound. The Diamondbacks were led offensively by Dylan Jackson who reached base 4 times including a shot to left that went for a double. Owen McGoldrick collected 2 hits and was strong on the mound. Dylan Jackson and Luke Struthers pitched scoreless innings.

Consulting Ophthalmologist Cardinals 12, Damon’s Tavern Phillies 10. The Phillies jumped ahead early and led 6-5 after three innings on RBI singles by sluggers Aiden Shaffer and John Murphy. Cardinals pitcher Carson Tanner threw a scoreless 4th inning striking out three batters. In the bottom of the 4th inning, with the bases loaded, Cardinals slugger Jude Sargent smashed a three-run double into center field, capping a 5-run inning and putting the Cardinals ahead 10-6. The Phillies made a valiant comeback scoring four runs in top of the fifth inning, which was highlighted by Garrett Brown’s three-run double.   In the bottom of the 5th inning, with the game tied at 10-10, Cardinals sluggers Austin Crossley and Jacob Scheinblum connected on run scoring singles, putting the Cardinals ahead by the final margin of 12-10.