Russell
Breaks 3-3 Tie RBI Double
Kerski and Bullpen Strong in
7-4 Win Over Torrington-by Paul Ofria
MANCHESTER- The Silkworms
have been riding the bullpen all season, but have benefited
lately from strong starting pitching and the timely hitting they
lacked earlier in the season.
Anthony Russell drove home Ryan Lavarnway with the go ahead run
in the seventh Manchester beat Torrington 7-4 before 765 at
Northwest Park on Thursday night.
Ken Kerski struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings, but the game was
tied at 3-3 when he turned it over to the Silkworms' very
capable bullpen. Kevin Cobb and Will Musson combined for five
strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief, and the
Silkworm bats came back to life in the seventh when they
produced four runs.
The Silkworms (17-18) now hold a 3.5 game advantage over Danbury
for the fourth and final playoff spot in the NECBL South. The
Westerners lost to North Adams 4-2 on Thursday, leaving
Manchester's magic number for clinching a playoff spot at five.
"I was really unhappy with myself," Russell said recalling the
sequence with two on and nobody out in the seventh. "I had two
chances for a sac bunt - all three of the pitches in that at-bat
were curve balls actually - and the two I missed got underneath
the bat. The third one was a hanging curveball that kind of
stayed up and I saw it all the way."
Manchester took advantage of Torrington's shallow outfield play
when it took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Steve
Crawford led off the inning with a line single to left and with
two outs, Jay Schillaci drove a 1-1 pitch to deep center that
Aaron Newman couldn't get to, scoring Kyle Higgins from first
base.
Manchester went up 3-0 in the fourth when four consecutive hits
led to a pair of runs. Higgins led off the inning with a triple
over left fielder Eric Deragisch's head and once again, it was
Schillaci who drove him in with a bloop single to right. Matt
Kelaher drove in the third Silkworm run with a line single off
third baseman Steve Parker's glove through a drawn in infield.
But Torrington (20-14) scored on a groundout in the fifth and
added two more in the sixth on a pair of rbi singles off a
tiring Kerski. Kerski gave up seven hits and all three Twister
runs while throwing 99 pitches (73 strikes) in his eighth start
of the summer.
"He was great through the first five, then he kind of hit a
wall," Manchester Manager Trevor Brown said of Kerski. "I don't
know if he was tired, but they've seen him something like four
times." Kerski was actually making his third start against
Torrington and though the Silkworms have won two of those games,
the lefty from CCSU has a 0-1 record against the Southern
Division rivals.
Kerski, who struck out the side in the second, was quick to
point out the work of the Silkworm bullpen trio. "Obviously they
(Musson and Hallberg) are two weapons in the bullpen and Cobb
(2-2) did a great job coming in with the bases loaded and one
out and got a couple of strikeouts," Kerski said.
Brown is watching over a team that has won nine of its last 12
and is enjoying a 10-6 July after a 7-12 June. And though the
bullpen has been the team's strength from the beginning, he
credits the starting pitchers for the team's turnaround. "I
think we found out how to handle the pitching staff a little
bit. We've got roles for some guys," Brown said. "Everything is
falling in place right now."
The Silkworms have also started to hit in the clutch and hit
three balls over outfielder's heads against the Twisters -
including Russell's tiebreaker. The Silkworm first baseman leads
the team with 29 rbi. "They like to play shallow and we finally
got some balls we could drive and put them in the gaps. We had
some good at-bats, we could have put it away early, but we
didn't get the big hit in the beginning," Brown added.
Manchester's defense turned three double plays and Russell,
despite making his fourth error of the season, picked a pair of
balls out of the dirt while making eight putouts. "Our defense
is clutch," Russell said. "It started with Kenny (Kerski). He is
real good at inducing ground balls. Our defense is going to be
what carries us through the playoffs I think." On Tuesday in
Danbury, Russell broke Jesse Nelson's records for chances and
putouts in a season set in 2001. Russell has 333 putouts and 363
chances with seven games to go.
Pitching in a non-save situation, Rob Hallberg allowed his first
run since July 3, a harmless two-out rbi double by Newman before
striking out Mike Fabiaschi looking to end the game. Over a span
of 8 1/3 scoreless innings, the right-hander from Brown
University has allowed just four runs on nine hits in 24 2/3
innings with 37 strikeouts and seven walks. The fourth Twister
run bumped Hallberg's ERA to 1.094.
"We are really hot right now and think we may be the team to
look out for in the playoffs," Russell said.
"We are going to ride this out as long as we can and see what
happens," Brown concluded. Manchester hopes to extend its three
game winning streak when it travels to first place Newport on
Friday for a pair of seven-inning games against the Gulls at
Cardines Field starting at 3pm. Manchester has also won two
straight on the road. Tim Stringer (1-2, 6.66) is scheduled to
pitch the first game while Jacob Wiley (1-0, 9.98) is expected
to start game two.
Notes:
- Lavarnway hit by pitches in the fifth and sixth innings.
- Torrington has lost five of its last seven games.
- -Schillaci is hitting .438 (14 for 32) against lefties.
- Manchester has just one home date left on the reglular season
on Tuesday July 31, which will feature a pair of seven inning
games vs. Pittsfield beginning at 4 pm.
- A strong crowd of 765 attended Manchester's 19th home game of
the season, bringing the average up to 548. Manchester is 10-9
at Northwest Park
- The Silkworms record vs. left-handed starters improved to 9-1.
- Manchester won the final two meeting with Torrington after
losing the first four to end the season series with the Twisters
at 2-4.
-Faces in the Crowd
Windsor Locks baseball coach and two-time state champion Dave
Farr.
The parents of former Silkworm pitcher Bobby Blevins, who were
fixtures at Northwest Park in 2005, were spotted at Rogers Park
in Danbury on Tuesday night cheering for the Silkworms. Bobby
Blevins (Briarcliff, NY/LeMoyne) is with the Ogden Raptors, the
Dodgers' entry in the Pioneer (rookie) League. The right-hander
is 2-0 with 24 strikeouts and six walks over 23 innings in his
first year as a pro.
Former Silkworm host parents Rich and Becky Reggero brought the
eight week old son to his first baseball game, Rich is also a
member of the Silkworms Sports Information staff and Manchester
Little League coach.
