Minor League Playoffs:
Sunday, June 16th
Beachland Tavern Wins Minor League Championship
It was a Father’s Day to remember as the Beachland Tavern Bandits beat the Knights of Joey’s Pizza Pie 11-3 in the 2013 WHYBL Minor League Championship Game.
The top-seeded Bandits lead with their ace, Alex (A-Jak) Jakubowski, who walked Finn McHugh to start the game. First-baseman Owen McGoldrick snagged a pop-fly for the first out to bring up Joey’s three-hitter Bobby Lachance. On a 3-2 pitch, Jakubowski fired for a called strike three as catcher Scott LaBranch instantly threw to McGoldrick who swiped McHugh to complete the double-play.
McGoldrick, Ryan Murphy and Garrett Brown lead off the bottom of the first with consecutive hits for the Bandits, while an RBI from LaBranch kicked Beachland off to an early 3-0 lead. Declan McCann singled and scored in the second inning while James Robinson scored off a single from Murphy. Playing right field, Robinson also snagged a mile-high pop-up from Joey’s pitcher Mitchell Baboff in the second.
Jakubowski pitched three scoreless innings for the Bandits, earning the win on the mound. He struck out five batters, bringing his season-total to a career-high 61. Baboff, who took the loss for Joey’s, struck-out six Bandits over three innings.
McGoldrick took over for Beachland in the fourth and walked McHugh, who advanced on a hard-hit double from Seth Ehrlich. McHugh took home on a wild-pitch to put Joey’s on the board. In the top of the fifth, Joey’s Sam Waterman singled-in two additional runs before being thrown-out at third base. With bases loaded and two outs, Ehrlich ripped a shot at McCann. The rookie second-baseman knocked the ball down and fired to first for what would be the third out of the inning and the pivotal out in the game.
The Bandits’ storied offense came to play in the bottom of the fifth. Jakubowski was hit by a pitch and scored on a passed-ball, while Jacob Caron singled and was driven in by LaBranch. Braden Flowers ripped a triple to the outfield wall, followed by a John Murphy RBI single and a McGoldrick hit that drove in two.
Leading 11-3 in the top of the sixth, the Bandits turned to the veteran Caron to close things out. Caron got Lachance to pop-out to Jakubowski at shortstop before striking out Joey’s clean-up hitter Jed Sink on four pitches. Baboff singled and stole second, but Caron remained undeterred. Colum Flaherty knocked a 2-1 pitch to second, where McCann threw the ball to McGoldrick as a celebration ensued.
Both Beachland and Joey’s remained on the field after the game to receive their trophies, with both teams thanking the league and their fans for an amazing season.
The members of the 2013 Champion Bandits are Aidan Bradley, Garrett Brown, Jacob Caron, Braden Flowers, Camden Hebert, Alex Jakubowski, Scott LaBranch, Declan McCann, Owen McGoldrick, John Murphy, Ryan Murphy, Andrew Reicher and James Robinson. The Bandits are managed by Patrick Bradley and coached by Jason Jakubowski, Jack LaBranch and Sean McCann.
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Dick’s Sporting Goods 6 Goldberg’s Bagels 3
In the consolation game, Dick's Sporting Goods Beat Goldberg's Bagels 6-3
Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Saturday, June 15th
Beachland Tavern 8 Dicks Sporting Goods 7
Sixth-inning heroics from Garrett Brown lead the Bandits of Beachland Tavern to an 8-7 walk-off victory against the two-time defending champion Hooks of Dick's Sporting Goods Saturday morning at Wolcott Park.
The Hooks took a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Brown ripped a two-out, two-strike triple to score Alex Jakubowski and Braden Flowers for the tie. On the very next pitch, Brown himself barreled home on a passed-ball to send the Bandits to the League Championship.
The Hooks jumped out to an early lead, scoring two in the first before John Murphy snagged a high fly in right field to stymy a rally. The Bandits answered back in the bottom of the first with a single by Owen McGoldrick, followed by an RBI triple from all-star Aidan Bradley. But Dick's Dylan Romano had a stellar game behind the plate, gunning out Bradley and two other Bandits on the base-paths.
Jacob Caron drove in Scott LaBranch in the second inning and Brown scored Flowers before coming home on a passed-ball to put the Bandits up 4-2. In the top of the third, with the Bandits ahead 4-3, Bradley put his all into an inning-ending grounder at first that resulted in a collision. Bradley left the game with a serious thumb injury and is listed as day-to-day.
The Hooks scored three in the top of the fifth off a hard-hit double from Arick Googe-Rochester. Romano hit a line-drive that would have easily scored another run, except it was snagged in expert fashion by Caron on the pitcher's mound. Rookie Declan McCann caught a high pop-up in the top of the sixth before turning a ground-ball that cemented the Hooks at seven runs.
Jakubowski, McGoldrick and Caron shared pitching duties and struck out seven for the Bandits, while Jack Brown, Ethan Raisner and Drew Seidman combined for eight strikeouts for the Hooks.
Joey’s Pizza Pie 6 Goldberg’s Bagels 5
In an extra inning affair, Joey's Pizza Pie Knights bested Goldberg's Bagels Grasshoppers 6-5.
The scoring started early in this game. The first three Knights batters reached base and came around to score. Finn McHugh and Seth Ehrlich both walked. Bobby Lachance singled to score McHugh. Mitchell Baboff tripled to plate the other two runs. The Grasshoppers came right back in their half of the first, plating two runs of their own. Matthew Ganey singled and was driven in by a double off the bat of Thomas Redden. Redden was then hit in by a double from Jake Samela. The inning ended with the score 3-2 Knights.
After a quiet second inning, the Grasshoppers' bats came alive in the bottom of the third. Thomas Cancian singled and Drew LaCasse walked. Cody Brew singled to score Cancian. Nicholas Kane singled to plate LaCasse and Brew. The inning ended with the Grasshoppers ahead 5-3.
The Knights came right back in the top of the fourth. Baboff led off the inning with a walk. Colum Flaherty followed with a single. Both Baboff and Flaherty scored on a single from Elliott Greenblatt. The inning ended with the score knotted 5-5.
The game stayed that way through the end of six innings. In the seventh frame, Adam Morhardt walked. After a walk to Jonny Robinson, Morhardt scored from second base on a single off of the bat of Sam Waterman. The top of the inning ended with the Knights up 6-5.
In a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, the Knights sealed the victory. Flaherty fielded a grounder at short and threw out Samela for the first out. Waterman, pitching, fielded a grounder and got Kane at first for the second out. Ehrlich caught a ball off of the bat of Connor Smith for the final out.
Knights Pitching: Baboff (2 IP, 4K); Lachance (2 IP, 2K); Ehrlich (2 IP, 4K); Waterman (1 IP, W)
Grasshoppers Pitching: Kane (3 IP, 9K)
Wednesday, June 12th
Beachland Tavern 7, Damon's Tavern 4
It was the "Battle of the Taverns: Round 3" on Wednesday night as the top-seeded Bandits of Beachland bested the 10th-seeded Bulls of Damon's 7-4 in a quarterfinal game at Eisenhower Field. Beachland handily won their first two meetings with Damon's this season; but Damon's, fresh off an upset win over Jake's Wayback Burgers on Sunday, came to play.
Beachland starter Alex (A-Jak) Jakubowski pitched three perfect innings, retiring all nine batters he faced. He recorded six strikeouts on the day.Damon's Griffin Paulus countered in the first inning, retiring the first three Bandits in order for the only time this season. In the second inning, though, Jakubowski walked, stole second and scored on a passed ball, while catcher Scott LaBranch stole home on a gutsy heads-up play to put the Bandits on the board.
Damon's pitchers Paulus, Sam Heller and Keegan Bankoff held the normally bat-heavy Bandits to only two hits on the day. In the fourth inning, Jacob Caron singled and was driven in by Braden Flowers' double. Garrett Brown knocked Flowers in, while Damon's Austin Crossley made an amazing catch in right-center to rob John Murphy of an extra-base hit. Landon Lagana had the lone hit of the day for Damon's.
Beachland was lead in the field by Andrew Reicher who saved at least two runs with a heroic catch in the top of the fourth inning. Brown and Flowers also made key catches for the Bandits, while Aidan Bradley had a solid game at first base.
Damon's Pitching: Griffin Paulus (2), Sam Heller (2), Keegan Bankoff (1)
Beachland Pitching: Alex Jakubowski (3), Aidan Bradley (2), Owen McGoldrick (1)
Goldberg’s Bagels 10 Rizzutos 1
Sunday, June 9th
Damon’s Tavern 12 Jake’s Wayback Burgers 6
In the first round of the playoffs, #7 seed Jake’s Wayback took on #10 seed Damon’s Tavern at Eisenhower Park. Damon’s jumped out with 4 runs in the top of the first and never trailed winning 12-6. It was the least amount of runs allowed all season by Damon’s with some fine defense and stellar pitching. In each of their two innings of work on the mound, Griffin Paulus allowed 3 runs and had 5 strikeouts, Sam Heller gave up 2 runs and struck out 3 and Keegan Bankoff only allowed 1 run while striking out 5.
Three Damon’s players knocked in 2 runs, Keegan Bankoff, Harrison Sweeney and Drew Lewis. Bankoff was also 3-3 with 3 runs scored. Other players who scored 2 runs were Sam Heller and Landon Lagana. Damon’s kept the pressure on Jake’s Wayback with plenty of base runners. The leaders getting on base in addition to Bankoff were Lewis 3-3, Lagana 3-3 and Beau Bacon 2-2.
Jake’s Wayback was led offensively by Landon Traverse who was 2-3 with 2 runs scored. Jake Ludgin also scored 2 runs. Jake’s caught a runner stealing home in the top of the 3rd when catcher Eric Labrie scrambled to the backstop and flipped the ball to pitcher Dylan Jackson for the tag. But the defensive gem of the game took place in the top of the 4th when Austin Crossley hit a screaming line drive down the 3rd base line that was nabbed by Avery Theriault who then tagged 3rd base for a bang-bang double play.
Damon’s Pitchers: Griffin Paulus – 2 innings and 47 pitches, Sam Heller – 2 innings and 39 pitches, Keegan Bankoff – 2 innings and 34 pitches
Joey’s Pizza Pie 1 Harry’s Pizza 0
The rubber match between the two pizzerias, Joey's Pizza Pie and Harry's, was a pitcher duel. Joey's Pizza Pie won 1-0.
In the top of the first inning, Joey's loaded the bases on a single by Finn McHugh, double by Seth Ehrlich and a walk. But Jack Kennedy, the Harry's hurler, dug deep and struck out the next three Knights to get out of the inning. For the Knights, Mitchell Baboff was impressive on the mound, striking out eight Thunder batters over the first three innings.
The only scoring came in the top of the second inning. Elliott Greenblatt led off the inning with a single. He advanced to third by stealing two bases, while Kennedy proceeded to strike out the next two batters. Sam Waterman singled Greenblatt in with a hard hit ball. Kennedy shut down the Knights for the rest of his outing, pitching a strong three innings, with seven strikeouts.
The final three innings were highlighted by two dominating pitching performances. For the Thunder, Eli Salomons faced only one more batter than the minimum over three innings, striking out nine. Ehrlich was equally as impressive, striking out seven over the final three innings and twice stranding Thunder base runners at third base.
Knights Pitching: Baboff (3 IP, 8 K, W); Ehrlich (3 IP, 7 K)
Thunder Pitching: Kennedy (3 IP, 7 K); Salomons (3 IP, 9K)
Hitting
Knights - Greenblatt (1B, R); Waterman (1B, RBI); McHugh (1B); Ehrlich (1B, 2B)
Thunder - Kennedy (1B)
Dick’s Sporting Goods 5 Sliders Grill 4
Rizzutos 8 Effie’s Place 7
