WHLL Scores week ending May 31st 2014

AAA Pediatric Dermatology of NE 12 - Rosenberg Orthodontic Marlins 11

The Marlins got on the board early with 3 runs in the first. Abraham Dunn (1-2, 2 runs) and Lucas Chmela (1-1, 2 runs) both started off with walks and were knocked in with hits from Charlie Trunik (1-3, 1 run) and Yonah Goldberg (2-3, double, 1 run).

In the 2nd inning the Marlins added to their scoring with 6 runs to take a 9-0 lead. Chmela (1-1, 2 runs) and Calvin Feulner (1-3, 1 run) had RBI hits in the inning. The Phillies finally got on the board with 7 runs in the bottom of the 2nd to cut the lead to 9-7. Will Schoen (2-2, 2 runs) had the big 2 RBI base hit in the inning.

Each team got one run in the 3rd inning to make it Marlins 10 and Phillies 8. The Marlins were held scoreless in the 4th when Adam Piekarsky relayed a ball to Andrew Chang who turned to throw a runner out at the plate with a great tag by Ethan Soler. The Phillies came back with 3 runs in the 4th to take a 11-10 lead. Chang (2 runs) walked to start the inning and was knocked in by Schoen. Later in the inning James Renda (1-2, 2 runs) got a base hit and scored on a wild pitch.

The Marlins fought back to scratch out a run to tie it up 11-11 in the top of the 5th. Goldberg started the inning off with a hit and scored on a hit by Bryce Shielding (1-2, 1 run). To start the bottom of the 5th Kevin Brown ( 3 walks, 3 runs) walked and later scored on a wild pitch to end the game.

Ryan O'Connell, Griffin O'Connell and Soler also scored runs for the Phillies. Kieran Davis scored twice and Matthew Cyr also scored a run for the Marlins.

AAA: Anytime Fitness Twins 13, Watkinson School Orioles 10

In a back and forth game that saw the Orioles battle back after being down 7-2, the Twins ultimately were able to hold off the Orioles and come away with an exciting 13-10 victory.  Max Petropoulos starred for the Twins by reaching base three times and making two outstanding plays in the field, including a "highlight reel" running catch in left field.  Sam Frank was also excellent, hitting a triple that one-hopped that right field fence. Michael Neff, Willy Patchen, Evan Roy and James McPhee all pitched well for the Twins.  For the Orioles, Greg Olechna led the way with two hits and two runs scored, and Alex Mogel clubbed a double and scored two runs.  Stephen Mack and Ben Larkin each pitched well in their AAA debuts, combining for five strikeouts. 

AAA: Anytime Fitness Twins 2, We Care Computers Braves 1

In an exciting pitchers' dual that was played in only 1:25 minutes, the Twins were able to squeak past the Braves 2-1.  Aaron Rotter (4 innings, 7 Ks) and James McPhee (2 innings, 2 Ks) were dominant on the mound for the Twins, while Cayden Goldberg (4 innings, 3 hits, 8 Ks) and Joe Dooley (1 inning, 3 Ks) provided the Braves with equally stellar pitching.  Willy Patchen and Michael Neff each had a hit and run for the Twins, while Aaron Rotter and Evan Roy both made outstanding defensive plays in the infield during the final inning to help preserve the victory.  For the Braves, Cayden Goldberg reached base twice and drove in Rafael Fichandler for a run, while Sean Zeman was very strong defensively behind the plate. 

AAA: Fierce and Mighty Cardinals 4 - Mandel JCC Dodgers 3

In one of the grittier games of the year, the Fierce and Mighty Cardinals held off the Mandel JCC Dodgers 4-3 in a Memorial Day game at Schecter.  In a game of strong pitching and a lot of key defensive plays by both teams, the Dodgers were led by the strong pitching and hitting of Cole Kocienda (4 2/3 IP, 2R, 3H and 10K on the mound; 2-for-3 with 1R at the plate) and the bat of Ben Brockway who sparked the Cardinals offense with a HR to dead center field over the Schecter fences. It was a beautiful, towering shot that just kept carrying until it cleared the fence. The Cardinals also got great closer work from Lorenzo Garcia (1 1/2 IP, 2Ks) who also went 1-for-2 with 2 runs scored on very aggressive baserunning. Noah LaPlante also singled in the 6th inning.

The Dodgers were led by the pitching and hitting of Ethan Morren (4K's on the mound and 2-for-2 with a triple, RBI and run at the plate) and Dylan Jackson (10Ks on the mound and 1-for-2 at the plate), as well as runs from Aidan Roy and Ben Woerlen.  On the defensive side, Jacob Kessler had a nifty play at 2nd base while catcher Kyle Howe made a big throw to catch a Cardinal runner stealing.  Quinn LacRock and Ethan Morren also combined on a well-played play at home to stop a run.

AAA Watkinson School Orioles 16, College Planning of CT Angels 12

On a beautiful Memorial Day afternoon, Watkinson Orioles starter Connor Olechna took the mound and was dominate through 5 complete innings, scattering just 3 runs with 10k's.  The Orioles bats got right to work in the 1st plating 3 runs, and later exploded for 7 more in the 6th to take a commanding 16-3 lead.  The Birds balanced offensive attack was led by Alex Mogel (3-3, 2 RBi, 3RS), Connor Olechna (3-3, 2 RBi, 2RS), red-hot Greg Olechna (2-3, 2RBi, 2RS) and Thomas Robinson (1-1, 2W, RBi, 2RS).

If anyone thought the Angels would just give up, forget it.  In the bottom of the 6th they showed amazing patience at the plate, drawing several walks and smashing several key hits to score 9 quick runs.  Marley and Coby Noll put the pressure on with hits to drive in 2 runs each, and Sam Casey hit a key double to drive in 2 more.  Greg Olechna made a great diving catch in RF for the O's to get the first out.  With the Angels threatening with runners on 1st and 3rd, SS Anthony Heller saved the day for the Orioles by catching a popup and then doubling up a runner at 1B to end the game. 

AAA Watkinson Orioles 10, Rosenberg Orthodontics Marlins 9

In a see-saw rain shortened game, the Watkinson O's defeated the Rosenberg Ortho Marlins 10-9.  The Birds took a 5 -1 lead in the bottom of the 1st with aggressive base running and some timely hitting. The Marlins roared right back with 7 runs in the top of the 2nd, with key hits by Bryce Sheiding and Abe Dunn, and took a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the 3rd when Yonah Goldberg was HPB and later scored.  In the bottom of the 3rd and the rain imminent, the Orioles Greg Olechna smacked a booming double and scored on a hit by Jay McNamara. Anthony Heller dropped a great bunt for a hit and Owen McGrath stroked a hit to drive in a run. Trailing 9-8 with 2 out and 2 strikes, Carlos Ruiz smashed a hit to left to drive in Heller and McGrath with the winning run.  Jack Navin pitched great in relief, allowing only 1 run over 2 1/3 inning while fanning 4, including the final batter in a driving rain to secure the win.

AAA Key Hyundai Pirates 10 - TotalVision EyeCare A's 2

What a beautiful day for baseball on Memorial Day, 2014!  The Pirates were awesome on the
 hill and in the field.  Mikey Culligan went 4 IP, giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 10 K's.  Pat Schwab, 
in his pitching debut, closed out the victory for the streaking Pirates with a great putout to 1st.  
Sean Gregg, Matt Burnett, and Brady Dulitsky made outstanding plays in the field to keep the A's
at bay.  On offense for the Pirates, Mikey Culligan went 2-3 with a 3B and 3 RBIs, Brady Dulitsky 
reached base twice and scored 2 runs, and Patrick Hemingway hit the hardest ball of the day for a 
RBI single and later scored a run.
For the A's, Patrick S went 2-3 with a triple and 2 runs scored, and Eddie Salerno was 2-2, with a 
double and an RBI. Tommy Pomadea made a great 5-3 put out on a long throw from third base, and 
Arthur Smith pitched well on the mound, throwing two innings of 1 hit ball, and striking out 3.

AAA Key Hyundai Pirates 11 - College Planning of CT Angels 1

The rains held off as the Pirates and Angels played a fun contest at Solomon Schechter field Tuesday evening.  Pitching and defense has been the hallmark of these Pirates lately as Avi Goldstein went 5 IP giving up only 1 run on 3 hits registering 7 K's.  Avi also made a great sliding catch and snared a hot shot firing to 1st for another put out.  Brady Dulitsky threw out another would be stealer at 2nd to Chris Dowd applying the tag.  Will Jacobs flashed hot leather at 2nd before racing to the bag for the out and Pat Schwab ran down a deep fly in left field to end the game.  The bats were alive as well for these streaking Pirates, winners of 6 in a row.  Every Pirate reached base and 11 out of 12 Pirates scored a run.  Matt Burnett went 2-2, a BB, + 2 RBIs, Brady D. went 2-2, a BB, + 1 RBI, and Jason Bruzon, Patrick Hemingway and Mikey Culligan went 1-2 + 1 RBI.  

For the Angels at the dish, Ryan Lafferty had an RBI single, Jack Kuhnly had a hit and run scored, and Jason Vitelli had a hustle single.  As for their pitching and fielding, Coby Noll dealt the first 3 IP and made 2 great plays in the field, covering first on a grounder and tagging home on a slow roller.  Marley Noll also picked a runner off of first base.

AAA - Pediatric Dermatology of NE 11 - Fierce and Mighty Cardinals 9

The Phillies started off the game with 8 runs in the first inning and the Cardinals scratched out 1 run in the second to make it 8-1.  The Phillies got 3 more runs in the bottom of the 3rd when Ethan Vest (1-2, 3 runs) and James Renda (1-2, 3 runs) started off the inning with base hits.  Will Gaumer (2-3, 1 run) then hit a screamer to the fence and put on his jets to pick up an inside the park homerun. The Cardinals came right back with 3 runs of their own in the 4th on a shot to the fence from Cole Kocienda (1-2, triple and 2 runs) to cut the lead to 11-4.  In the top of the 6th, the Cardinals gave the Phillies a scare scoring 5 runs and ending the game with the bases loaded.  In that inning, Aidan Dorian (1-2, 2 runs) and Sam Kuzia (1-4) got the big hits for the Cardinals.  

For the Cardinals, Elijah Botnick scored three times and made a spectacular leaping grab of a line drive at shortstop to save a run in the 5th.  Chris Murray and Emma Keller also scored runs.  The Cardinals also got good relief pitching from Ryan Gibson and Ben Brockway and threw out a would be stealer at third from catcher Cole Kocienda to Gavin Wiggin who made a fantastic tag.

The Phillies got a strong pitching performance from Gaumer (7 Ks, no hits, 1 run in 3 innings) and Griffin O'Connell (2 innings, 3 Ks).  Adam Piekarsky, Kevin Brown, and Ryan and Griffin O'Connell all scored runs for the Phillies.

AAA: Total Vision EyeCare A's 9 – We Care Computer Braves 3

On a fantastic Thursday for baseball, the A’s leveraged timely hitting and solid pitching to outlast the Braves 9-3 at UConn.

The game featured several candidates for “Baseball Tonight’s Web Gems,” including the A’s Mason Arseneault who made a great heads up double play in the first inning, Next, “Presto” McCarthy ran down a deep fly to right by the Braves’ Joe Dooley, and made a great relay throw to  Patrick “PS5” Sullivan. Sullivan then threw a strike to catcher Tommy LaSpada who tagged Dooley at the plate to end the first inning.

The Braves had their own “Web Gem” candidates as Justin Leopold, who made his AAA debut, robbed the A’s Logan Arseneault of a potential homerun with a catch in deep left field. Also flashing some leather for the Braves was second baseman Patrick Kinney, who stabbed two hard hit ground balls and made consecutive 4-3 putouts to keep the A’s off the bases in the 3rd inning.

Eddie “Stretch” Salerno and Arthur Smith led the charge for the A’s offense. Salerno was 3-3 with a double and two runs scored and Smith was 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. Logan Arseneault, Dante Bergantino, and Yafet “Big Y” Mussie each also had big hits for the A’s.

For the Braves, Cayden Goldberg was 1-3, including a double and run scored, Joe Dooley was 2-3 (double and triple) and a run scored, and Michael Weiss was 1-2 with a run scored and 3 stolen bases.

Each team threw heat early and often. A’s starter Sullivan was solid from the mound, pitching three innings, allowing 1 hit, and striking out 3. Sullivan was relieved by “Big Y” Mussie, who also pitched three innings, allowing two hits, and striking out six. The Braves pitching staff would not be outdone, as Sean Zeman (1 IP, 3 K), Rafael Fichandler (1 IP, 2 K), and Michael Weiss (4 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K) kept the A’s bats in check.

Majors: Fast Switch Orioles 7 Corner Pug Phillies 3

     On Thursday night the Orioles rallied past the Phillies to win 7-3.  The Phillies were led offensively by Tommy Sullivan who was 2-2 with a double, triple and a run scored. Conlan Wilson was 1-3 with a single, and Owen Roberts tripled. Liam Wilson pitched 5 strong innings striking out 6 Oriole batters. AAA callup Ryan O'Connell had a nice unassisted double play at first base.

  The Orioles opened up the scoring in the first with Jack Krugman's solo shot to left. They pushed across 4 runs in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead.  Ryan Howe led off the fifth with a single followed by a Colin Horan single, then Dan Monyak laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases. Gavin Klett then drove in 2 runs with a double. Monyak scored on a wild pitch and Dave Cass knocked in Klett with an RBI single. In the sixth, Luis Vargas walked, Dilon Bent singled, and after 2 wild pitches, Vargas scored. Ryan Howe then knocked a ball down the third base line for his third hit of the game to drive in Bent with the seventh Oriole run.

On the mound the Orioles received strong outings from Krugman who pitched 2 innings striking out 3, Cass who pitched 2 innings, and Vargas who pitched 2 innings striking out 2.

Majors: Fast Switch Orioles 6 Sports Authority Twins 5

     On Thursday night the Orioles edged the Twins 6-5. The Twins scored 3 runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-4 lead but the Orioles came back with two runs of their own when Jack Krugman drove in a run with a long double to left and after advancing to third on a groundout scored on a wild pitch.

    The Twins were led offensively by Alex Almazan 1-2, triple, Misha Goldstein 1-2, single, BB, Jack Zapata 1-2, single, BB, Gil Rodriguez 1-3, single, Josh Lesham 1-3, single, and Jack Cote 1-2, double, BB. On the mound Cote pitched 5 solid innings striking out six Orioles batters.

     The Orioles were led at the plate by Jack Krugman 3-3 Double, RBI, Dilon Bent 2RBI, Colin Horan single,RBI, David Cass single, 2 runs, and Gavin Klett and Ryan Howe chipped in with singles. Dan Monyak perfectly executed a sacfrifice bunt which led to a run in the 5th inning.

     On the hill, Michael Greco started for the Orioles and pitched 2 and 2/3 effective innings striking out one Twin batter. David Cass pitched the final 3 and 1/3 innings striking out 6 batters. Greco also made a fine running catch in right field which prevented 2 runs in the fifth. 

MAJORS: SPORTS AUTHORITY TWINS 14 WORLD SERIES CLUB MARLINS 3

The Sports Authority Twins topped the World Series Club Marlins 14-3 on Memorial Day at the UCONN/WHLL facility.

For Marlins: Jack Brennan 2-2, 2 singles, BB, run scored; Zander Boehm 1-2, single; Carlos Kerrigan 1-2, single; Arsen Shtefan 1-2, single.

For Twins: Brock Pizzoferrato 2-2, double, single, BB; Jack Cote, 1-2, double, BB, HBP; Gil Rodriguez 1-1, single 2 BB; Jack Brockway 1-3, double, BB; Carter O'Keefe 1-3, single; Peter Sweeney 0-1, 2 BB, 2 runs scored; Alex Almazan 1-2, single, BB; Josh Lesham 1-3, single; Joey Lemieux 1-3, single. 

Majors: Primary Eye Care Center Cardinals 7 Fast Switch Orioles 4

Kennedy Field, West Hartford was the site for the 12:30 match up of the Primary Eye Care Center Cardinals and Fast Switch Orioles.  

The Orioles only playing with 9 players  came out strong in an effort to sweep the season series with the Cardinals who were riding an 8 game winning streak.  The well coached Orioles came out strong, as expected, jumping on the board right away.  Early walks to David Cass and Jackson Grady followed by a Dilon Bent single got the Orioles on the board with a run early.  The Orioles got two more in the top of the 2nd to go up 3-0.  The Cardinals, down 3-1 heading into the bottom of the third began to get their bats going and put up 5 to take the lead, which would prove to be enough for a victory.

The Orioles were strong on the mound with Michael Greco going 2 1/3 innings with one K and only allowing 3 hits.  Michael also fielded his position well.  Ryan Howe relieved Greco and pitched 2 and 2/3's innings with 1 K and only allowed 2 hits.  Defensively, Colin Horan made a  nice catch in center field.

The Cardinals got solid pitching from Korey Dinowitz who went 4 full innings and had 6 Ks and only allowed three runs.  Jack Newhouse came in for the 5th and had a strike out while only allowing one hit and one run.  Sam Wilder closed the game for the Cardinals with three straight outs, one of which was a strike out.  Defensively Max Rodman made a tremendous throw from center field to catcher, Spencer Martindale, to make a great and much needed out at home plate.

The Orioles got great hitting from Dilon Bent (3-3, two singles, double, RBI and run scored).  Gavin Klett and Michael Greco added singles for the Orioles.   

The Cardinals offense was powered by Sam Wilder (2-2 pair of singles, run scored), Sam Giangreco (2-3 pair of singles, RBI, two runs scored, stolen base), Dylan Mallinson (1-3, single, run scored), Sam Harrington (1-1, single, walk, run scored), and Max Harris (1-1, single, run scored).  Jack Newhouse, Spencer Martindale, Paul Verner and Korey Dinowitz added to the offense by delivering RBIs of their own.

Both teams showed great sportsmanship and played well to build on their confidence as we near the 2014 playoffs.

Majors: Primary Eye Care Center Cardinals 4 Valvoline Instant Oil Change White Sox 1

On a very chilly, mid-Spring evening, the Primary Eye Care Center Cardinals hosted the Valvoline Instant Oil Change White Sox in a re-match from game earlier this month.  Although the White Sox have struggled offensively to date, they hoped to get things turned around against a struggling Cardinals defense.  The White Sox struck first in the top of the first when Brian Puleo (pinch running for the injured on a HBP Spencer Wimpe) came around on two passed balls and a single from Ian Tyler.  The Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the second on a double from Max Rodman and a clutch single, RBI by Paul Verner.  The Cardinals added two more in the bottom of the third with walks to Dillon Lindberg and Ben Connole followed by a clutch RBI single by Spencer Martindale and sacrifice by Sam Wilder.  The Cardinals would add one more in the bottom of the 4th on double by Dylan Mallinson who would later come around to score to put the Cards up 4-1 where the score would remain earning the Cardinals their 10th straight victory.

This was a tight game, with good defense and solid pitching on both sides.  The White Sox were solid on the mound with Ian Tyler and Yusey Tanaka.  The two combined for five k's and only four earned runs over 5 innings.  Cardinals pitchers Dylan Mallinson and Sam Wilder were stellar.  Mallinson went four innings allowing only one run on one hit and ended with 6ks.  Sam Wilder closed the game for the Cardinals going two innings, allowing no runs, one hit and 4ks.

Great game start to finish with tremendous sportsmanship exhibited by both teams as we head towards the end of the regular season.