Westerners’ starter Cody Carwile (2-1) tossed seven shutout innings for his ballclub, and clutch hits off the bat of Korey Morton helped Danbury defeat Bristol 7-2.
Bristol (26-10) only lost their third home game of the summer on Wednesday night, and Danbury (16-20) defeated their West Division foe for the first time during their 2022 campaign.
Carwile worked quickly and efficiently from the outset, allowing him to mow through the Blues’ lineup. The southpaw from Georgia Tech threw seven shutout innings, conceded three hits, walked three, and fanned eight batters.
“I was just trying to take it inning by inning and pitch by pitch,” Carwile said after the win. “It was great that we finally beat them, and it’ll hopefully keep us going in the right direction.”
Coach Ian Ratchford moved Korey Morton to the leadoff spot for tonight’s contest, and it’s safe to say he pushed the right button with that decision. The UConn product went 3-4 with a home run, a sacrifice fly and 5 RBIs He became the first player to launch a ball over the left-field wall at Muzzy Field this season. Morton’s three-run shot was his second of the summer, and he capped off his stellar night by scorching an RBI double into left-center field in the top of the ninth.
“I only needed good batting practice to have this success,” Morton said after the win. “I made some adjustments before the game, and it was pretty cool to get into one tonight.”
Westerners’ right fielder Billy Gerlott also finished his night with an RBI double and two runs scored, and Sam Mongelli now has a twelve-game hitting streak after going 1-4 with a double and a walk.
The Blues’ lineup only mustered five hits, and three of them came from left fielder Zach Stephenson. Ryan Wilson and Ben Huber recorded 1-3 nights, but the rest of the lineup went hitless against the Westerners’ pitching staff.
Runs and hits were at a premium through the first four innings of this contest, but the bottom of Danbury’s lineup broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth. Mike Becchetti led off the frame with a walk, and Billy Gerlott knocked him in by driving a double off the left field wall. After Danniel Rivera worked an eight-pitch walk, Morton crushed a three-run bomb over the left-field wall to give his team a four-run advantage.
In the top of the seventh, the Westerners added to this lead on three defensive blunders. Two errors from the infield put runners on second and third with nobody down, and Morton displayed excellent situational hitting by driving a deep fly ball into center field. Gerlott tagged up and scored to make it 5-0, and Rivera touched home on what was scored as an RBI double from Alex Stone. Stone lofted a ball into center field, but both the left fielder and center fielder lost it in the lights. The ball eventually dropped behind the center fielder, allowing Rivera to score easily and give Danbury their sixth run of the ballgame.
Danbury added another run in the ninth on the RBI double from Morton, but the Blues did not go down quietly. Ben Huber doubled to kick things off, and he scored from second on a drop-third strike. The ball went past the catcher and all the way to backstop, and Huber scampered home because the throw to first was offline. The next hitter reached first on a free pass, but Lints sent the Blues packing by getting three outs on the next two plays. The Bucknell product fanned Luke Broadhurst for the first out of the inning, and Stephenson bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to seal the deal.
Colin McVeigh (3-1) suffered his first loss on Wednesday night, and it was the first time he allowed more than an earned run in any outing this summer. McVeigh’s final line was 4.1 innings, three runs, two hits, three walks, and four strikeouts.
The Westerners still sit 2.5 games back of the Ocean State Waves for the final playoff spot, but they will look to build off this impressive victory when they travel back to the Hat City and battle the North Adams Steeplecats. These West Division rivals will play two-seven inning contests, so it will be the last time the Steeplecats play at Rogers Park this summer. Zach Grace will get the nod in Game 1, and Coach Ratchford will announce his Game 2 starter before the first pitch of Game 1. The doubleheader will commence at 4:30 PM ET, so tune into the NECBL Network and hear Kyle DeSantis on the call.