Five times, the Danbury Westerners played a ballgame away from the Roadhouse at Rogers Park, and on each occasion, they did not return home victorious. Making their third trip to Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 10 days and still reeling from an infuriating loss to the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks, that all changed. Erupting for nine runs and 14 hits in their second-straight Sunday matinee, the Westerners downed the Valley Blue Sox 9-5 at Mackenzie Stadium for their first victory away from the Hat City this season.
“We did a complete job,” manager Conor Farrell said about the team’s performance. “We are doing what we are supposed to do.”
Danbury has won two out of their last three after a five-game skid, improving to 6-9 while ending their streak of one-run decisions at five. Valley falls to .500 at 8-8 and has dropped four straight, but remains in first place by a half-game over the Bristol Blues in the West Division.
Instead of coming alive in the first inning, the Westerners’ offense warmed up in the second. Harrison Feinberg broke a stretch of three straight strikeouts from Blue Sox starter Terry Murray, and with runners on the corners, scored the game’s first run when Billy Gerlott beat out a double play ball.
Zach Ketterman provided Valley with a spark as he doubled to begin the bottom half, but when the Western Carolina designated hitter tried to stretch it into a triple, Javon Hernandez cut off Gerlott’s throw and tossed a dart over to Drew Wyers for the out. William Gale walked on five pitches, but that early spark had no effect as Danbury starter Ryan Delorbe got the next two batters out.
Bobby Zmarzlak’s strikeout left Joey Rubin stranded in the third, but the Hat City’s bats brought more heat in the fourth inning. Murray threw 10 pitches to both Luke Boynton and Feinberg to start the frame, and somewhat exhausted from two lengthy at-bats, Roman DiGiacomo singled before Gerlott had a blast at the dish.
At first glance, the Penn State right fielder’s hit looked like a routine flyball that would have ended the inning, but it continued to carry until landing in the Blue Sox bullpen for his first homer of the summer. The feel-good moment did not last long, however, as Valley repeated what the Sharks had done against Danbury in the fifth when Gale walked and scored on Michael Zarrillo's RBI double. The Lafayette third baseman almost got stranded as Delorbe struck out the bottom two in the Blue Sox batting order, but a wild pitch brought him home and made it a one-run game.
Boynton led off the Westerner sixth with a swing to deep right field, and after the ball bounced off the top of the fence and into another ballpark, the Georgia State senior had his first round-tripper of the season. Feinberg followed suit with another single, but DiGiacomo took him off the basepaths immediately with a two-run jack that went beyond the outfield fence.
“It is a bit of relief,” DiGiacomo, who finished a triple shy of the cycle, said about his home run. “It felt good to get my first multi-hit game.”
Timothy Cianciolo worked two perfect innings on just 16 pitches but ran into some trouble in the eighth as Efrain Correa Jr. and Garcia singled to put two runners on. Even though AJ Guerrero flew out, Cianciolo did not survive the frame as EJ Kreutzmann ripped a two-run double down the right-field line. That brought in Anthony Steele for his first appearance in three days, and he halted the Blue Sox’s late-inning effort as Matthew Bergevin struck out.
Getting Davis out when he tried to take third on an absurd infield single, Valley made one last effort to complete the comeback in the bottom of the ninth. Gale and Zarrillo singled on consecutive pitches to put runners on the corners, but even with one of those runs scoring on a wild pitch, Correa Jr. grounded out as the Westerners improved to 1-2 against the Blue Sox.
Delorbe earned the win in his NECBL debut after tossing five innings of two-run ball, becoming the second Danbury starter this summer to receive the victory. Murray suffered the loss with three runs surrendered in four innings. Cianciolo went 2.2 innings with two runs allowed on 33 pitches, while Steele needed only 19 to close the door in a non-save situation.
“I thought we were really efficient,” DiGiacomo said about the Westerners' pitching. “We did not have a ton of strikeouts, but we got a bunch of weak contact.”
Danbury continues their four-game trek away from home with another “home-and-home” doubleheader at Maxfield Sports Complex against the Upper Valley Nighthawks (9-3). The two teams were originally scheduled to meet in a nine-inning tilt at Rogers Park on June 24, but heavy rain washed that game away.
“What we have to do is play Westerner baseball,” Farrell said about what needs to happen in order to win a second road contest. “We have got to play a complete game every single time.”
Jordan Falco gets the nod for game one, while the starter for game two has not yet been announced. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
The rest of the Danbury Westerners’ 2023 schedule can be found on their website.