The Wait Was Worth It for West Hartford Junior Legion

The West Hartford Junior American Legion team had to be patient, very patient.

The state tournament game at East Hartford started Monday at the middle school but rain intervened before the third inning could be completed. It resumed on Tuesday and the heavens opened in the fifth.

On to McKenna Field Wednesday, and the local lads persevered.

John Dinucci’s bases-loaded walk pushed across the game-winning run and RBI singles by Drew Leach, Brendan Fox and Brendon Rossmeisl provided ample insurance in the 6-1 victory over Zone 8 champion East Hartford.

West Hartford (16-6), which finished second in Zone 7, moves into the quarterfinals in the single-elimination event. Stamford, the Zone 4 runner-up, provides the competition Thursday at Veterans Field in Windsor Locks. The first pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.

“That might be the longest seven-inning game in history,” West Hartford coach Dennis Hannigan said.

East Hartford (19-6) scored in the home first on Monday and had a 1-0 lead when the rains came after 2 2/3 frames.

“The first rain delay helped us because it gave us a chance to catch our breath and settle down,” Hannigan said. “They jumped on us in the first inning and we were lucky to hold them to one run.”

West Hartford tallied the equalizer in the fourth. Dinucci, who came on in relief of starter Charlie Fisher on Tuesday, drew a walk and stole second. The next two hitters struck out, but Dan Nunes, who entered the game in the double switch that brought Dinucci to the hill, laced a triple.

“That gave us the momentum and it carried through,” Hannigan said. “We were finally getting to their pitcher.”

In the decisive fifth inning, West Hartford loaded the bases on two errors and a walk. Dinucci stepped up and the skies exploded again.

Twenty-four hours later, Dinucci drew the walk that gave West Hartford a 2-1 lead. Leach lined a single between shortstop and third base for another run. Fox smacked an RBI single up the middle and Rossmeisl followed suit.

“A four-run lead in this kind of a game is a big lead,” Hannigan said. “Dinucci was throwing well so felt we were in good shape.”

West Hartford added another run in the seventh in dramatic fashion.

Fox drew a leadoff walk and Nunes singled him to second. After Rossmeisl’s fielder’s choice grounder, Zach Dobbins laid down a suicide squeeze bunt.

“It was a momentum thing,” Hannigan said. “Scoring a run was still important at that stage. Those small-ball kinds of things are very important in the playoffs.”

So is pitching, and Dinucci did the job. He hurled five scoreless innings, walked two and fanned six to earn the win.

West Hartford has now advanced to the tournament’s elite eight for the second time in three years. Hannigan will start Max Vogel-Freedman against Stamford. The semifinals are slated for Friday at Windsor Locks and the final for Sunday at Muzzy Field in Bristol.

West Hartford 6, East Hartford 1

American Legion Junior State Tournament

(At East Hartford)

West Hartford                         East Hartford

                           ab  r  h  bi                                ab  r  h  bi

Coursey 2b        2  1  1  0       Rivera rf             4  0  1  0

Robinson rf        2  1  0  0       Bayron lf            2  1  1  0

Dinucci cf-p       2  2  0  1       Butler ph            1  0  0  0

Leach 1b             4  0  1  1       Bafumo 3b         2  0  0  0

Fox ss                 3  1  1  1       Coppinger c       2  0  1  1

Cook dh             1  0  0  0       Burns 1b            3  0  1  0

Nunes cf             3  0  2  1       McDrmott 2b-p 3  0  0  0

Rossmeisl c        4  0  1  1       Brown dh           1  0  0  0

Dobbins 3b        3  0  0  1       Cruz 2b              1  0  0  0

Laffin lf              4  1  1  0       Foran ss             1  0  0  0

                                                Hghtaling ss       1  0  0  0

                                                Vasquez ph        1  0  0  0

                                                Raymond cf       1  0  0  0

                                                Agnelli cf            1  0  0  0

                                                Lang ph              1  0  0  0

Totals                 28  6  7  6     Totals              25  1  4  1

West Hartford    000 140 1 – 6  7  0

East Hartford     100 000 0 – 1  4  3

LOB – West Hartford 6, East Hartford 7. 2B – Coppinger. 3B – Nunes. S – Robinson, Coursey, Dobbins, Raymond. SB – Rivera, Bayron, Coppinger, Dinucci, Laffin.

West Hartford

                                 ip    h    r  er  bb  so

Fisher                       2     2   1   1   2    1

Dinucci W                5     2   0   0   2    6

East Hartford

Schiff L                    4.1  2   4   1   3    4

Brown                      0     2   1   1   1    0

McDermott              2.2  3   1   1   2    2

Records – West Hartford 16-6; East Hartford 19-6.