WH U10 All-Stars 4 Newington 4 8 innings

The West Hartford U10's and Newington battled the heat and each other for a 4-4 tie, suspended after 8 innings due to darkness. Because the outcome would not affect either team's advancement, it will not be completed. Newington jumped out to a 2- 0 lead in the top of the 1st off WH starter Jeffrey LaRosa. Both runs scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason V. after the throw home got by catcher Patrick Baron. 2nd baseman Oliver Anderson made two nice plays in the inning to help the defense. LaRosa kept Newington scoreless over the next 3 innings with lots of help from his defense. In the 2nd inning, WH pulled off a 6-3-2 double play when SS Joe Morrissey looked the runner back at third, threw to first baseman Grady Brockway who then threw a strike to Patrick Baron nailing the Newinton runner at the plate. In the bottom of the 2nd, WH tied the score at 2. Sam Fiske drove in Brockway on a fielder's choice and Patrick O'Keefe hit a long sac fly to center scoring Fiske. The defense turned its second double play in the third when Brockway snagged a hard liner at first and doubled off the Newington runner at 1st. WH took the lead in the bottom of the 3rd when Patrick Baron (1-4, 1 run) singled and scored on a double by LaRosa (2-4, 1 run, 1 rbi). Brockway (1-2, 1 run, 1 rbi) drove in LaRosa with a single to make it 4-2. The WH defense held strong in the 4th on solid plays from Burke Martindale forcing a runner at 2nd on a nice throw from right, and Fiske getting a 5-4 force with 2B Jordan Scrimageour covering like a pro. LaRosa got the first two outs in the 5th, one when he did a split making a play on a shot up the middle and the other when Scrimageour backhanded a hard grounder up the middle and made a strong throw to 1st. However, the next batter walked and that was followed up by a double to left by Ben W. Ben scored on a wild pitch by reliever Michael Mack to tie the game at 4. Mack was spectacular in relief going 3 1/3 allowing 1 hit with 4 K's and 1 BB. The WH defense held strong led by LaRosa who made a nice play in center on a hard hit ball in the 7th with 2 men on. WH had its chances to score in each of the last 4 innings but couldn't push across the go ahead run. Bunt singles by Scrimageour (1-2) and Fiske (1-4, 1 run) and line drive singles by Martindale (1-2) and Morrisey (1-4) kept the pressure on the Newington defense in the last half of the game. Michael Lee and Joe Kitz played important roles in the game for WH. The WH team's next venture will be several scrimmages then a hard fought tournament at the UCONN complex beginning July 17th. Keep an eye on the schedule and come cheer us on.