NEWS

Photo Courtesy of Ryan DeSantis Photography

 

The Danbury Westerners outscored the Vermont Mountaineers 23-3 in their opening round series, capped by a dominant 15-1 victory in game two led by Daniel Labrador’s three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homer in the third inning.

 

The Westerners and Sanford Mainers are both into the Final Four after Sanford swept Mystic in their opening round series. There will be two Winner-Take-All games across the league tonight, as Newport won at Ocean State and Bristol held serve at home to tie those series at one.

 

#7 Danbury Westerners 15 - #2 Vermont Mountaineers 1

 

DANBURY, Conn. - The #7 seed Danbury Westerners (2-0) completed an Opening Round sweep of the #2 Vermont Mountaineers (0-2) with a dominant 15-1 victory at Rogers Park on Tuesday night.

 

Danbury struck first with a six-run third inning. Jakobi Davis (Cornell) walked and Jason Claiborn (Eastern CT State) advanced to first on an error to put the first two runners on with no outs. Both runners scored on an RBI double by Bobby Zmarzlak (Maryland College Park), who later scored following an RBI double by William Cook (Louisville).

 

A two-out RBI single by Billy Gerlott (Penn State) brought home Cook and gave the Westerners a commanding 4-0 lead. Danbury added two more runs with a Daniel Labrador (Stetson) two-run homer which scored Gerlott. 

 

Vermont’s lone run of the game was scored by Cameron Santerre (Rhode Island College) following an error by the left fielder in the fourth inning. 

 

Danbury added four more runs in the fifth inning, beginning with a Billy Gerlott walk. Gerlott advanced to third on a single by Hayden Miller (Charleston) and Jakobi Davis walked to load the bases with just one out. Gerlott and Miller both scored on a two-run double by Jason Claiborn, who later scored following an error by the first baseman. The Westerners took an 11-1 lead after an RBI groundout by Drew Wyers (Stetson) brought home Davis.

 

The Westerners went on to score four more runs in the seventh and eighth innings combined, highlighted by a Daniel Labrador solo home run and a William Cook two-run double.

 

Cook was one of four Westerners to record multi-hit performances, led by Daniel Labrador’s three hits, three RBIs and two runs scored. Danbury’s high-powered offense outscored Vermont 23-3 in the series as a whole.

 

Michael Szturma (Southern CT State) put together a solid start with just three hits and one unearned run allowed across four innings. Alexander Mach (UConn Avery Point), Nolan Lincoln (Eastern CT State), Anthony Leak (Dominican College) and Anthony Steele (Penn State) combined with four scoreless innings in relief to help the Westerners seal a 15-1 victory.

 

Danbury will advance to the Final Four Series to face either the Valley Blue Sox, Bristol Blues, Newport Gulls or Sanford Mainers beginning on Thursday night.

 

#6 Bristol Blues 5 - #3 Valley Blue Sox 0

 

BRISTOL, Conn. - The Bristol Blues (1-1) forced a deciding game three of the Opening Series with a 5-0 victory over the Valley Blue Sox (1-1) at Muzzy Field on Tuesday night.

 

Bristol’s all-star starter Jagger Duquette (Wagner) pitched a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out seven batters. 

 

Christopher Willis (Quinnipiac) was the only Blue Sox batter to record a hit on the night, finishing with two singles. 

 

Bristol’s first batter Jordan Peyton (Towson) reached base on a walk and advanced to third on a double by Connor Goodman (Maine) with no outs. Gavin Noriega (Bryant) brought home Peyton with an RBI fielder’s choice and Goodman scored on a Skye Selinsky (Columbia) RBI single to give Bristol an early 2-0 lead in the first inning.

 

The Blues added another run in the second inning when Tyler Fote (Central Connecticut St.) hit a leadoff double and later scored on a wild pitch.

 

In the seventh inning, Peyton walked and Goodman hit an infield single to put runners on first and second with just one out. Peyton stole third base and later scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Noriega. Selinsky’s two-out RBI triple brought home Noriega to give Bristol a 5-0 lead.

 

Bristol will travel back to Holyoke for game three against the Valley Blue Sox at 6:30 p.m. with the series tied 1-1. The winner will earn a spot in the Final Four Series beginning on Thursday night.

 

#5 Sanford Mainers 2 - #4 Mystic Schooners 1 

 

SANFORD, Maine - The Sanford Mainers (2-0) completed an Opening Round sweep after defeating the Mystic Schooners (0-2) 2-1 at Goodall Park on Tuesday night.

 

Anthony DeFabbia (Stetson) shut down the Mainers from the mound for the first six innings of the night.

 

After a quick first three innings, an RBI from Danny Melnick (Rutgers University New Brunswick) scored a run for the Schooners during the top of the fourth inning.

 

Logan Poteet (Vanderbilt) scored the first run for the Mainers late in the game, during the bottom of the seventh inning, due to an error by the first baseman, tying up the game.

 

Matthew Miceli (Stony Brook University) scored the winning run for the Mainers during the bottom of the eighth inning on the single by Poteet.

 

Seamus Barrett (Loyola Marymount University) pitched seven innings for the Mainers, with three quick 1-2-3 innings to start the game.

 

#1 Newport Gulls 11 - #8 Ocean State Waves 4

 

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. - The Newport Gulls defeated the Ocean State Waves in game two to tie the best-of-three series at one at Old Mountain Field Tuesday night. 

 

The runs kept coming throughout the first two innings with Newport scoring two in the top of the first, with Tyler Hare (Georgia Tech) smacking a two run home run to give the Gulls an early lead. 

 

Ocean State responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning with Alex Ramirez (Mercer) driving in David Mershon (Mississippi State) to cut Newport’s lead in half after one. 

 

Newport tacked on another run in the second, again with one swing of the bat, Kolby Branch’s (Baylor) solo shot increased the lead to 3-1. 

 

Ocean State came alive in the bottom half in the second, taking the lead with three in the bottom half of the second. Tyler McKenzie (Vanderbilt) got the rally started with an RBI single, knocking in Lewis Barnum (Bryant). McKenzie would later score in the inning on a Khyree Miller (Charleston) putout, but not before Jack Brooks (Oregon) scored off a Mershon RBI single to tie the game at 3. Ocean State led 4-3 after two. 

 

Newport fought right back to take the lead in the top half of the third, with Branch doubling to score Slate Alford (Mississippi State) and Luke Beckstein (Northeastern) for the eventual game-sealing runs. For some extra insurance, Kolton Freeman (Dartmouth) knocked in Matthew Schark (Southern Illinois University Carbondale) to put the Gulls up 6-4 after three innings. The Gulls added some more insurance runs along the way, with three in the sixth and two more in the eighth to seal the 11-4 win and send the series back to Cardines Field for the rubber match of the best-of-three series. 

 

The deciding game three is scheduled for Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m. at Cardines Field.