Weds, July 2, 2007

O’HARA, AFFINITO SPARK GRAND WORM WIN

ByDon Leypoldt, Silkworms Sports Information Department

Danbury, CT- This past spring, catcher Chris Affinito (East Brunswick, NJ/SetonHall) led Seton Hall by belting 10 homers and slugging .532.  Five of the dingers came in Big East conference play, so there were no games against Cupcake Stateto pad his stats.  If he could put upthose numbers, he could homer in the NECBL. He did.   

On March 22nd, freshman third baseman Sean O’Hara (Gloucester, MA/Harvard)homered off of San Diego’sBrian Matsuz.  As in first team all-American Brian Matsuz.  As in fourth pick of the 2008 Major League Draft Brian Matsuz.  If O’Hara can homer off of him, he can homeroff of anyone.  He did.  Both O’Hara and Affinito drilled circuit clouts to spark Manchester’s11-2 rout of the Danbury Westerners.

When Affinito blasted a fifth inning offering from Danbury Westerner starter Brian Craig over the right-centerwall of bandbox Rogers Park, the Silkworms had their first home run of the year.  The shot scored right fielder Zach Hudson (Nashville,TN/Middle Tennessee State) who preceded Affinito with an infield single.  O’Hara gave the Silkworms tater number two with a grand slam that highlighted a sixth inning which sent 12 Silkworms to the plate and put the game out of reach.

Affinito’s homer released some pent up offensive angst- both tonight’s and this year’s.  The Silkies had at least two base runners in each of their first six innings; but except for Hudson singling in center fielder Mike Gallic (Tolland, CT/Marist) in the first, one run was all they could muster through four.    

They need not have worried.  After plating two in the fifth,shortstop A.J. Rusbarsky (Freehold,NJ/Seton Hall) greeted new pitcher Riley Shuckerow in the sixth with a leadoff double and scored on a Gallic single. Left fielder Matt Grosso (Marlborough, CT/NotreDame) singled, Affinito walked and the stage was set for O’Hara to clear them with his homer.  Batting yet again,Rusbarsky singled in first baseman JeffCammans (Jamestown, RI/Rhode Island); second sacker Ryan Piacentini (Portland, ME/Trinity) soon added run number ten.    

Grosso also singled in DH Mike Bourdon (Simsbury,CT/Fairfield)for an eighth inning insurance tally.  It capped a night in which Manchester hitters did not suffer a single 1-2-3 inning.

Starter Brian Pendergast (Unionville, CT/Manhattan) openedthe game by simulating his June 26th gem against North Shorewhere he allowed just four baserunners in seven innings.  He faced just one batter over the minimum through four.  Danbury got two runs back in the fifth, witha Bobby DiNardo homer and a hit batsman with the bases loaded but Pendergast forced a routine ground out to end the inning and leave the bags full ofWesterners.  The 6’4” righty responded to the bevy of run support by tossing a 1-2-3 sixth and leaving for lefty Jordan Wolfe (Huber Heights, OH/Wright State)who turned in three solid shutout innings and recorded four strikeouts..    

Pendergast may be used to starting slow and finishing strong.  OnMarch 23rd, his ERA for Manhattan stood at an unsightly 11.81.  But over his next 40 innings, Pendergast posted an excellent 3.32 ERA.  Likewise, the Farmington High graduate allowed six earned runs in his first seven Silkworm innings, but has an ERA of just 2.08 in his last thirteen frames. 

Tonight’s game gives Manchester a 1-0 lead in the Pizzeria Uno Challenge Cup, which will be awardedby the Chicago-style pizzeria to the winner of the six game “I-84” seriesbetween the Silkworms and Danbury.

The Silkworms’ next game is tomorrow night, Thursday July 3rd, at home in Northwest Parkwhen they host their Southern Division rival North Adams SteepleCats.  First pitch is 7:00 p.m.  Northwest Park is located off of Tolland Turnpike.

Coming into Tonight: Danbury’steam ERA of 5.92 was nearly 2.5 runs higher than the NECBL average.  That ranked last in the league by nearly two runs; tonight’s performance won’t help that cause--- Zach Hudson is hitting .333 with two steals over his last five games--- Joe Cotter and Matt Grosso each have four hits in their last four games---Mike Gallic is hitting .300 over his last four games---Mike Bourdon is 3 for his last 8--- Opposing batters are hitting just .198 off ofTyler Hyde—Opposing hitters are only hitting .220 off of Ryan McGrath--- In their last 10 games, Silkworm starters have an ERA of 1.71--- In their last seven games, Silkworm relievers have walked 28 in 27.1 innings, but the hitters have drawn 13 in the last two games after collecting just 11 free passes in the previous nine contests.