Valley Outlasts Danbury in Back-and-Forth Affair

 

Damaurys Rodriguez’s game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the eighth propelled the Blue Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Westerners.

Despite leaving thirteen runners on base, Valley (13-13) ended their four-game skid at Mackenzie Stadium with the win. Danbury (12-14) suffered their fifth one-run loss of the summer and are now 6-6 against West Division opponents.

Rodriguez went 2-3 with a run scored and two walks, and left fielder AJ Guerrero had a 3-4 night at the plate with a walk and three runs scored. Guerrero tripled into the left-center gap with two down in the eighth, and Rodriguez knocked him in by smacking a base hit past the diving second baseman and into center field.

Westerners’ third baseman Sam Mongelli went 2-3 with two singles and a walk, and catcher Alec Maag went 1-4 with a double and a run scored. Maag was also a stone wall behind the plate and saved his team from conceding many runs in the first few innings.

The fans at Mackenzie Stadium witnessed a back-and-forth ping-pong match between these West Division foes. Valley took an early lead after plating a run on a wild pitch, but Danbury jumped ahead in the top of the third. Alec Maag scorched a ground-rule double to start the frame, and Jackson Taylor followed by wearing an off-speed pitch off his foot. With two ducks on the pond and nobody out, Westerners’ left fielder Jett Lovett kept the train moving by lacing a single into left-center field. Maag raced around third to tie the game at one, and Taylor advanced to third, but Lovett got caught and tagged out in a rundown between first and second base.

Westerners’ shortstop Mike Becchetti followed Lovett’s base knock with a productive out that plated the second run of the inning. Becchetti smoked a ball right at the second baseman, and Taylor sprinted home to give his team a one-run lead.

Valley knotted the game up at two in the bottom half of the third, but Danbury reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth on a two-bagger from designated hitter Harrison Feinberg. Becchetti was granted a free pass with one away, and Feinberg rocketed a base hit down the left-field line with two down. The Blue Sox left fielder tried to play the ball cleanly as it caromed off the wall, but he bobbled it when Becchetti was advancing to third base. This blemish persuaded Bobby Rodriguez to wave Becchetti home, and the shortstop crossed home plate standing up to make it a 3-2 ballgame.

Valley matched Danbury with a run in the bottom half of the inning, and they took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh. However, Danbury battled back once again in the eighth thanks to a fortunate bounce. Valley’s pitching staff loaded the bases with one down by surrendering three walks to the opposing lineup, and lady luck helped the Westerners push across their fourth run of the game. Westerners’ right fielder Henry Strmecki hit a worm burner to third baseman Blaze Fadio, and it looked like Valley would turn a double play to escape the jam. Fadio stepped on third to record the first out, but as he threw the ball home, it clanked off Thomas’ helmet and dropped to the ground. The Ohio State product scored on the play, and both teams were now deadlocked at 4.

Although Damaurys Rodriguez came through with his eighth-inning RBI single, the Westerners almost erased their one-run deficit in the ninth. Jackson Taylor started the inning with a walk, and he advanced to third on two errors made by the first baseman. Jett Lovett hit a grounder right to first baseman Steve Luttazi, but he reached safely because Luttazi bobbled the ball, fell, and spiked the throw. The ball rolled past the first-base bag and allowed Taylor to move to third, so Danbury was in business. However, Blue Sox relief pitcher Jacob Terwilliger regrouped and retired the final three batters to put Valley in the win column.

Jacob Terwilliger (2-0) claimed his second win of the season, and Westerners’ relief pitcher Sam Majewski (0-1) suffered his first loss of the summer.

In every inning he pitched, Sean Hogan (0-1) dealt with traffic on the basepaths. However, the Westerners’ starter stayed resilient and limited the damage to keep his team in the ballgame. The right-hander’s final line was 3.1 innings, two runs, five hits, three walks, and five punchouts.

Blue Sox starter Damon Wesley (0-0) went 5.0 innings, surrendered three runs (two earned) on six hits, walked two, and struck out two.

With the loss, the Westerners dropped a game behind Valley for second place in the West Division, so they will look to get back on track when they face off against the North Shore Navigators on Friday night. The last time Danbury visited Fraser Field, they defeated the Navigators 8-4 and hoisted their first Fay Vincent Sr. Cup in the air. Kyle Roche (2-0, 0.81 ERA) will get the nod from his coaching staff, and the first pitch will be thrown at 6:35 PM ET