A fifth-inning full of disciplined at-bats allowed the Westerners to cruise to a 6-3 victory.
Danbury improves to 2-0 on the young season, and Sanford falls to 0-2.
Westerners’ left fielder Harrison Feinberg went 2-4 at the plate, and Jackson Taylor had two hits of his own with an RBI in the fifth.
The Mainers got on the board first thanks to a two-run home run by third basemen Quinn McDaniel. In the top of the third, McDaniel attacked a first-pitch fastball and smoked it over the right-center field wall to give his ballclub the early 2-0 lead. He went 1-3 on the night with a walk and 2 RBI.
The Westerners were held off the scoreboard for the first four innings, but they capitalized on the Mainers’ erratic pitching in the fifth. Westerners’ centerfielder Dayvin Johnson started the party with a walk, and Aries Samek followed by getting hit by a pitch. After a series of wild pitches to second basemen Sam Mongelli, both Johnson and Samek scored to knot the game up at 2.
Shortly after, shortstop Jackson Taylor hit an RBI single up the middle to give Danbury a 3-2 advantage.
“We got it started later than we wanted, but the offense was great tonight,” Westerners’ manager Ian Ratchford said after the game. “We stayed disciplined and competed in every at-bat, which helped us capitalize in the later innings.”
After tacking on a fourth run in the sixth inning, Westerners’ third basemen Aries Samek extended the lead to 6-2 in the eighth after ripping a ball that hopped right over the shortstop’s head. The Clemson product finished the night going 1-3 with those 2 RBIs and a hit by pitch.
Julian Tonghini, the Westerners’ starter that earned Player of the Game, had excellent fastball command tonight, which helped him mow through the Mainers’ lineup. In 4.0 innings pitched, Tonghini surrendered two runs on three hits, and one of the runs was unearned. He also walked two and struck out a whopping nine batters, the most by any NECBL starter thus far.
“I felt like my fastball was great tonight,” Tonghini said after the game. “I commanded the strike zone and was able to get myself into great pitcher’s counts.”
Mainers’ starter Jacob Marshall (0-1) cruised through the first four innings, but he suffered the loss after failing to retire the only three batters he faced in the bottom of the fifth. Marshall’s final line was 4.0 innings, three earned runs, three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts.
The Westerners will look to ride this momentum into Thursday night as they travel to Muzzy Field for a showdown with the Bristol Blues. Sean Hogan will get the nod for Danbury, and the first pitch will be thrown at 6:40 pm ET.
photo by Janiece Kerr