Silkworms Outlast Danbury
DANBURY, Conn. - For
most of the season, the Manchester Silkworms and Danbury
Westerners have been scuffling to remain in playoff
contention in the Southern Division of the NECBL.
Tuesday night at Rogers Park, they showed why.
The franchises - neither of which has managed to win more
than three consecutive games this year -- combined to strand
16 runners, commit five errors, four passed balls and three
wild pitches, and walk ten batters.
Neither team managed more than a single hit in an inning,
but Manchester made use of four Danbury Westerners' errors,
three passed balls, two wild pitches and five walks to gain
an important 5-3 win that kept it from falling into a
virtual tie with Danbury for fourth place in the division.
By defeating Danbury (13-19) for the first time this year
after four losses, Manchester (16-18) moves two games ahead
of Danbury in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot
in the division. Manchester has eight regular-season games
remaining, Danbury ten.
While the Silkworms have won as many as three straight only
once this year, Manchester is in the midst of its most
consistent stretch of the season. As the two franchises head
down the home stretch, the Silkies have put themselves on
firmer footing by winning eight of their last 11. The loss
Tuesday prevented Danbury from earning its first three-game
winning streak of the year and sent the Westerners to their
eighth loss in their last 12 games.
Ryan Lavarnway (Woodland Hills, CA/Yale) hit his third home
run of the year - a solo shot with one out in the fifth to
give Manchester a 3- 0 lead -- and also tied the Manchester
season record for walks. Lavarnway walked three times for
the second straight game to give him 29 this year, equaling
the record set by Jay Maule in 2003. He has been issued two
or more walks five times in the last eight games.
Baldwin Vargas (New York, NY/New Jersey City U.) avenged two
earlier losses at the hands of Danbury by allowing only
three hits and one run over the first five innings to win
his second game against four losses. Rob Hallberg (River
Edge, NJ/Brown) fanned two in the ninth to extend his
franchise season and career save records to 11. Hallberg has
saved seven of the team's last eight wins. Will Musson
(Wethersfield, CT/Connecticut) allowed manager Trevor Brown
to save Hallberg until the ninth by pitching two scoreless
innings after relieving Vargas. Musson, the team's standout
set-up man, got a first-pitch ground ball double play after
taking over for Vargas in the sixth that diffused a
potential rally, and didn't allow a hit and only one
baserunners in two innings.
Matt Nandin North Syracuse, NY/Le Moyne) scored Manchester's
first two runs after doubling in the second and walking in
the fourth in helping the Silkworms pull two within two
games of .500 for the first time in nearly a month.
The decision was the second for losing pitcher Nick Jones
(1-1) against Manchester. Three weeks ago, Jones didn't
allow an earned run and only four hits over eight innings
against the Silkworms in his first NECBL start. Tuesday,
Jones was lifted with one out and two runners aboard and on
the short end of a 4-1 score. He gave up five hits, walked
five, and threw two wild pitches. His second wild pitch
plated Nandin with the first run in the second, and his
third walk, to Nandin, preceded Jay Schillaci's (McKeesport,
PA/Central Conn.) run- scorig double in the fourth that made
it 2-0, Manchester.
The Silkworms host the Torrington Twisters Thursday night at
7 p.m. before visiting the Newport Gulls for a 3 p.m.
doubleheader Friday. Defending Southern Division playoff
champion Torrington entered Tuesday night leading Newport by
a half-game.
