On paper, a pitching matchup between Jagger Duquette and Braden Quinn would be worthy of a Sunday night baseball-type atmosphere, which fans of both Nutmeg State teams provided with a near-capacity crowd. While each second-year hurler lived up to expectations with 11 combined strikeouts and 174 pitches thrown in a 126-minute duel between the Bristol Blues and the Danbury Westerners, only one received ample run support. Both pitchers tossed a quality start, but the Blues used a four-run seventh and Ryan Daniels’ four RBIs to down the Westerners 6-2 at Muzzy Field.
Danbury falls to 11-16 with the loss, their third in a row and 11th away from the Roadhouse at Rogers Park this season. Bristol improves to 13-13-1 with the victory, evening the battle for the Mayor’s Cup at two apiece and tying the Valley Blue Sox for first in the West Division with a .500 winning percentage.
Javon Hernandez and Sam Mongelli started the game with back-to-back singles, but after Luke Boynton flew out to centerfield, Duquette escaped the frame unscathed when Roman DiGiacomo grounded into a double play. Quinn also ran into trouble as Jordan Peyton walked to lead off the bottom half, and one of the UConn southpaw’s collegiate teammates provided the opening blow for the Blues’ bats.
Fouling off two pitches with a two-strike count, Daniels ripped the payoff pitch barely over the right field wall for a two-run shot and his first home run of the summer. Losing the battle to his Hook C comrade, Quinn sent three straight batters down following a hit-by-pitch, limiting the damage to two runs. The Westerners immediately spliced the deficit in the second when Bobby Zmarzlak belted a first-pitch line drive 387 feet to left field for his seventh home run of the summer but could not muster anything further because of three straight flyouts.
Quinn struck out the side in the bottom half, and even though Mongelli swiped second following his single in the third, Boynton grounded right to Duquette to strand Danbury’s tying run in scoring position. Bristol got their own runner in scoring position in the bottom half when Peyton stole second, and he nearly scored when Cal Parrillo clobbered a pitch to right field. Jason Claiborn prevented the Blues from doubling their lead, however, with a diving catch that he held on to for the third out.
Skye Selinsky singled with one away in the fifth for Bristol’s second hit of the game, but that base knock did not result in an RBI as the Connecticut lefty needed just four pitches to record the inning’s final two outs. Boynton singled with two down in the Westerners sixth, accounting for the third out two pitches later after DiGiacomo grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Dixon Black started the bottom half in style, zipping a 2-0 count that stayed on the right side of the third base foul line before bouncing off the bag for an infield single. Taking the Wofford third baseman’s place on first following a fielder’s choice, Parrillo stole second on Gavin Noriega’s strikeout and got some company on the basepaths after Chaz Myers got hit by a pitch. Neither runner could extend the Blues’ narrow lead, however, after Billy Sullivan grounded into a fielder’s choice that got the Rhode Island College first baseman out at third.
The Hook C second baseman moved to third on Black’s single, and even though Will Cook kept him there on an unassisted groundout, Noriega busted the game open with a two-run single for a five-run advantage in a four-run frame. Peter Phillips relieved Duquette in the eighth, starting off his outing better than Mach did by getting the first two Danbury hitters out in relatively short order. The Southern Connecticut State righty almost worked a 1-2-3 inning when Hernandez grounded to third, but the ball flew out of Black’s glove and trickled into the outfield for a two-base error.
Mongelli made the Blues pay for their fielding mistake, mashing an opposite-field single that drove in Hernandez before Boynton singled on the very next pitch to put two aboard. DiGiacomo also saw one pitch on his RBI opportunity but grounded into a fielder’s choice, his second in as many plate appearances, as the Westerners stranded two runners on the basepaths.
Zmarzlak beat out Black’s wily throw for an infield single and his third hit of the afternoon to begin the ninth. Instead of that base knock igniting a last-chance rally against Jaden Wywoda, Cook grounded into a double play on the next pitch and Drew Wyers grounded out to third as the Blues won their first home game in eight days.
Duquette, who recently transferred to Southern Connecticut State University, earned his second win of the summer with seven innings of one-run ball and five punchouts on 79 pitches. Quinn lost for the fourth time in as many starts, surrendering three runs on four hits while striking out six on 95 pitches.
Danbury has a regularly scheduled off day on July 10, but the intensity ramps right back up as they play seven games in five days, starting with a match at home against the North Adams SteepleCats on July 11. The Westerners last played North Adams in a doubleheader on July 1, twice coming back in seven innings to sweep the twin bill. Jordan Falco gets the hill looking to improve from his previous two outings, where he surrendered a combined eight runs, with first pitch slated for 6:30 p.m.
The rest of the Danbury Westerners’ 2023 schedule can be found on their website.