The Danbury Westerners split an afternoon doubleheader with the Mystic Schooners in a 7-4 win in Game 1 and a 14-0 loss in Game 2 at Fitch High School Field.
The Westerners (21-19) secured a .500 season for the first time since 2012 with the Game 1 victory. The second game was all Schooners (21-17) as they scored runs in five of seven innings while holding Westerners hitters to five hits.
Cam Masterman doubled home Danbury’s first run of the day in the bottom of the first in Game 1, where Danbury served as the host. Masterman doubled home Justin Jordan to right field. Andrew Jenkins matched Masterman by driving him in with an RBI double of his own to the right center field gap. Will Gersky later grounded a third Westerner RBI double down the third-base line to score Jenkins and bring Danbury out to a 3-0 lead.
Addison Kopack responded in the top of the second with a solo home run to right center for his fourth round-tripper of the season. Barry Walsh also had an RBI single that cut Danbury’s lead to one. Brendan Cumming later tied the game at three in the top of the third on a passed ball.
Mystic and Danbury then had two straight innings of back and forth scoring. Jack Payton helped regain the lead for Danbury with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. Cory DiLoreto later tied it up again at 4-4 for Mystic with an RBI triple in the top of the fourth while Cam Masterman hit a sac fly to score Justin Jordan in the bottom of the fourth.
Danbury added two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sebastian Murillo scored on a wild pitch while Cam Masterman drove in Banks Griffith with an RBI single. It was Masterman’s third RBI of the game.
Coleman Picard picked up the save, his third of the season, in a scoreless top of the seventh to clinch the Danbury victory.
Mystic struck first in Game 2 when Addison Kopack hit his second solo home run on the day to right center field in the bottom of the second.
Four more Mystic runs scored in the bottom of the third. Sam Loda and Addison Kopack each had RBI singles while Barry Walsh slugged a two run home run to center field to increase the lead to 6-0 Schooners.
Five more Schooner runs came in the bottom of the fourth. Brendan Cumming floated a two-RBI double down the third-base line. Addison Kopack walked in a run while Daniel Cressen had an RBI groundout. Barry Walsh later had a sac fly to center field before the inning’s end.
Mystic scored three more runs in the fifth on a two-RBI bloop single from Tucker Flint and a Corey DiLoreto 6-4-3 double play to make the score 14-0 Schooners, which would remain for the rest of Game 2 of the doubleheader.
The Danbury Westerners have a day off before traveling to Bristol to take on the Blues on August 1 at 5:30 PM at Muzzy Field. The game will be livestreamed on the NECBL Network.
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