TORRINGTON STRIKES QUICKLY, DOWNS SILKWORMS IN OPENER
In first game of playoffs,
Twisters score all six of their runs in second inning-by Bob
Molta
TORRINGTON, Conn. -- The
Manchester Silkworms have not had any luck this season at
Fuessenich Park, having lost all four of their games against
Torrington at the Twisters' home field.
That being said, the Silkworms are hoping that they will have an
opportunity to change their luck. But first, Manchester must
force a deciding game in the NECBL Southern Division semifinals
when the two teams meet Friday night at Northwest Park in the
second game of the best-of-three series.
Manchester's need to prolong the playoffs was made necessary
Thursday night when one disastrous inning sank the Silkworms by
a score of 6-5 against last year's Southern Division champions
in the opening game of the Southern Division playoffs.
The loss was the fourth this season for Manchester against
Torrington at Fuessenich Park, where the Twisters gained the
Southern Division's top seed Wednesday night by first defeating
defending NECBL champion Vermont, then beating Danbury to finish
in a virtual tie for first with idle Newport.
Playing their third game in two nights, the Twisters scored all
of their runs after their were two out and one runner on in the
bottom of the second inning Thursday night. The outburst erased
Manchester's early 4-0 and gives Torrington a 1-0 lead in the
series that leaves Torrington one win shy of advancing to the
divisional finals, which get underway Sunday.
Manchester righty Tim Stringer (Annandale, NJ/Montclair State)
lost his third decision against Torrington in as many starts
this year against the Twisters. After making quick work of
Torrington in the first inning, things unraveled in rapid
fashion in the second inning. Stringer, who never got out of the
third inning against Torrington in his first Manchester start
back on June 11 at Fuessenich, couldn't hold a 4-0 lead in the
second. In that inning, six straight Torrington batters reached
safely after there were two out and one runner on. A walk to Lee
Bujakowski on a 3-2 pitch got things going for Torrington, which
got RBI hits from four of its next five batters.
In actuality, things came apart so quickly in the second inning
that Stringer was forced to absorb the onslaught while the
Manchester bullpen frantically tried to heat up a reliever in
support of Stringer.
"Timmy has pitched in big games at Montclair State, and I take a
lot of stock in that," said Manchester manager Trevor Brown. "He
just got the ball up, he elevated a little bit and got into
trouble. When he got through the first inning, I said 'he's
good.'", noted Brown. "Every time he gets through the first
inning, he gives us 5-6 innings and gives us a great outing. But
things kind of snowballed in the second inning, and we just
couldn't stop it. We were just praying that he could get an out,
because we couldn't get anybody ready in time at that point."
Torrington managed only nine hits off four Manchester pitchers
in the game, but five of the hits came in the six-run second
inning. In that inning, Stringer also walked two batters and hit
another. His night ended after Chris Clepps was thrown out
trying to stretch a two- run double into a triple that ended the
inning and kept the deficit at two runs.
Manchester's relief corp of Eddie Bethke (Branford, CT/Southern
Conn.), Brandon Otto (Cicero, NY/Le Moyne, NY) and Kevin Cobb
(Acton, MA/Bryant) was nothing short of sensational. The trio
combined to strike out ten over the final six innings, allowing
only three hits without a walk. The left-handed Bethke struck
out five and gave up only two hits after taking over for
Stringer to start the third. In all, Manchester pitching fanned
13 Torrington batters, two Twisters going down on strikes three
times each.
For his part, Torrington's Keith Cantwell matched Manchester's
relievers for effectiveness. Summoned after surprise starter
Kurt Houck gave up a leadoff single to Stephen Crawford
(Webster, NY/Le Moyne) in the third, Cantrell limited the
Silkworms to just one run on five hits while fanning five
without a walk before handing the ball to closer Steve Strasburg
to start the ninth. Matt Smedberg (Rockaway, NJ/Seton Hall) gave
Manchester a final chance by stroking an opposite-field single
to left with two out in the ninth, but Strasburg nailed down his
ninth save by striking out No. 3 hitter Ryan Lavarnway on a 1-2
changeup to end the game.
"Our bullpen was good, but their guy (Cantwell) was just as
good," admitted Brown. "He stopped our big innings, and kept
them in the lead. We just couldn't get anything going until the
last inning, and Strasburg is pretty legit."
Trailing 6-4, Manchester cut the deficit to one run by scoring a
run in the seventh on a leadoff single by Matt Nandin (North
Syracuse, NY/Le Moyne), double by Lavarnway, and ground ball by
Crawford. Cantwell left the tying run in scoring position,
however, by fanning Manchester RBI leader Anthony Russell
(Waldorf, MD/East Tennessee State) on four pitches.
The Silkworms collected five of their 12 hits in their first two
at-bats against Houck, who learned of his start assignment about
a half- hour before the scheduled 7 p.m. first pitch. Houck was
thrust into an emergency start after scheduled starter Joe
Serafin was accidentally hit in the back of the head by a thrown
ball on his way to the bullpen to begin his warmup throws (the
left-handed Serafin checked out alright after being driven to a
local hospital as a precautionary measure and may be available
in a short relief role Friday).
A one-out walk to Smedberg, and singles by Crawford and Russell
gave Manchester a 1-0 lead in the first inning against
Torrington's stand-in starter. The Silkworms added three more in
the second on three hits and a Torrington throwing error to take
a 4-0 lead. Nandin's ground ball drove in one run in the inning,
and Lavarnway's sacrifice fly plated another.
After scoring four runs on five hits in the first two innings,
Manchester managed only seven hits over its final seven at-bats.
"We had guys on base, it wasn't like they shut us down," pointed
out Brown, "but we just couldn't string two hits in a row
together."
The top four batters in the Manchester lineup - Nandin,
Smedberg, Lavarnway and Crawford - combined for eight hits,
three RBI, and two hits. Crawford had three hits, Smedberg,
Nandin and Jay Schillaci (McKeesport, PA/Central Conn.) two
each. Schillaci returned to the lineup at designated hitter
after missing the last five games with a muscle pull.
Left-hander Giuseppe Granitto (Bronx, NY/Concordia) will get the
ball Friday night as the Silkworms look to avoid first-round
playoff elimination for the fourth straight year. Giuseppe (1-3,
3.59) will be opposed by Torrington righty Gary Novakowski (3-2,
1.81). If Manchester forces a deciding game with a win Friday,
righty Chandler Barnard (Lubbock, TX/Trinity, CT) will start on
Saturday against the Twisters in Torrington. The winning team
advances to the best-of-three divisional final.
"We're ready to go. We've battled all year, and I expect that we
will battle again (Friday night)," said Brown. "I expect us to
have a good ballgame and put us in a position to possibly win
the game. It was late in the game (Thursday), and they were up
on the top step of the dugout. They're fired up, they want to be
here, which is a great thing" added Brown. "
Torrington Twisters 6, Manchester Silkworms 5
Manchester 130 000 100 --
5 12 1
Torrington 060 000 00x -- 6 9 1
Tim Stringer, Eddie Bethke (3), Brandon Otto (6), Kevin Cobb (7)
and Ryan Lavarnway. Kurt Houck, Keith Cantwell (3), Steve
Strasburg (9) and Myckie Lugbauer. WP-Cantwell. LP- Stringer.
Save-Strasburg. 2B-Ryan Lavarnway, Stephen Crawford (M), Chris
Klepps. Greg Miller (T).
