Sunday, July 6, 2007

By Don Leypoldt, Silkworms Sports Information Department

Danbury, CT- It may be two days after Independence Day.  But Danbury and Manchester ensured that there would be belated fireworks in tonight’s 12-11 Silkworm win over the Westerners, in which the Silkies erased deficits of six and four runs.

In their last four games,starting with their 11-2 road drubbing of Danbury on July 2nd- Silkworm hitters owned a .280 batting average.  In their last three games, Silkworm pitchers had a not too impressive 6.84 ERA- which is only half a run worse than Danbury’s NECBL worst (by over two runs) 6.37 staff ERA.  The teams were clashing in Rogers Park; to say that Rogers Park is a hitters’ park is akin to saying that Frank Sinatra could kind of carry a tune.  Given this confluence of circumstances, it did not take Nostradamus-like powers of prophesy to foretell a slugfest.       

A three run homer by firstbaseman Kyle Mahoney and a solo dinger by DH T.J. Thomas- both with two outs-gave Danbury a 4-0 lead before the first inning was over.  But in Rogers Park, where deep center is 360feet, no lead is safe.  Right fielder Zach Hudson (Nashville, TN/ MiddleTennessee St) hit a solo home run in the second and first baseman J.D. Broderick (Carmel, NY/ West VirginiaState) maintained his hot bat by belting a two run double to tie it in the third.  Broderick collected three hits tonight in his second consecutive contest. 

Mahoney’s RBI double in the bottom of the third highlighted a Westerner half frame in which they plated two runs and gave Danburya 6-4 lead.  Left fielder Matt Grosso’s (Marlborough, CT/NotreDame) two-run double, his seventh two-bagger of the year, tied it at 6 inthe top of the fourth.  No lead was safe.  Thomas’ RBI single in the bottom of the fourth gave Danbury its third and final lead of the game. Shortstop Mike Olt’s crushed lead off homer in the fifth provided some insurance and made it an 8-6 contest. Keeping the pedal to the gas, Thomas hit an RBI double in the sixth thatwas part of a three run Danbury frame.  A five run advantage, 11-6 in the sixth, ought to be safe.  It wasn’t. 

Starter Tyler Hyde (St. Louis, MO/Middle Tennessee State)gutted out five innings, in which he struck out six.  The tiny dimensions of Rogers proved to be less than optimal for thetall fly ball pitcher.  Meanwhile,Silkworm hitters had trouble figuring out Chris Camastro, a Danbury reliever who debuted for theWesterners tonight.  Camastro was assisted by two odd double plays, but nonetheless faced the minimum in hisfirst 3.2 innings. 

Camastro’s wheels fell off inthe top of the eighth, when he plunked second baseman Ryan Piacentini (Portland, ME/Trinity) with no outs and the bags full of Worms.  Piacentini had nearly gotten hit during thefirst pitch of the at bat.  The closeness of Camastro’s pitches, in the light of his hitting catcher Mike Bourdon (Simsbury, CT/Fairfield)one batter before, led to words and then the ejection of Silkie manager Al Leyva.  This seemed to ignite a spark inLeyva’s Silk City troops.  Highlighted by center fielder Joe Cotter’s (Bryn Mawr, PA/Villanova)two run single, the Silkworms used two hit batsmen, two errors, two singles and a wild pitch to bat around in the eighth and tack on six runs.    

Did we mention that no leadis safe?  Lefty Jordan Wolfe (Huber Heights, OH/Wright State) and newcomer Andrew Janiga (Ellington, CT/Trinity)contributed two much needed shutout innings of relief in the seventh and eighth,even though Danbury managed five base runners in the two frames.  Wolfe, who saved the July 2nd win against Danbury,picked up the win.  J.J. Potrikus (North Syracuse, NY/Cortland)saved tonight’s contest by throwing a perfect ninth.  Not to take anything away from Potrikus’commendable performance but perhaps- after a combined 3 hours and 40 minutes,23 runs, 23 hits, four errors, nine walks and five hits batsmen, the offenses had mimicked the Continental European armies in the Thirty Years War and merely burned themselves out.    

Tonight’s game, a makeup of a June 23rd rainout, gives Manchestera 2-0 lead in the Pizzeria Uno Challenge Cup. The Cup will be awarded by the Chicago-style pizzeria to the winner ofthe six game “I-84” series between the Silkworms and Danbury.

The Silkworms’ next game is tomorrow night, Monday July 7th, in Rhode Island versus the first place Newport Gulls.  Their next home game is Tuesday July 8th when they turn around and host those same Gulls.  First pitch is 7:00 p.m.  Northwest Park is located off of Tolland Turnpike.

Coming into Tonight: Danbury has surrendered 8 runs or more in 11 of their 19 games--- Fellow Seton HallPirates A.J. Rusbarsky and Chris Affinito each have had six RBI in their lastsix games.  Rusbarsky has 1 RBI in sixgames in a row.  Affinito is also 5 forhis last 12 (.417)--- J.P. Polchinski has an on base percentage of .417 overhis last four games--- In his last eight games, Mike Gallic is 9 for 28 (.321)and Mike Bourdon is 10 for 30 (.333).  Bourdon has upped his average by 100 points; Gallic has upped his average by 45--- Like Gallic, Matt Grosso is also 9 for his last 28--- Zach Hudson is hitting .314 inhis last eight games.  Tune in tomorrow night when we highlight Silkworm pitchers.