By Evan Triantafilidis
Sentinel Correspondent
A seven-run fifth inning led North Haven over Greenwich by a score of 9-7 in the second round of the Babe Ruth 16- to 18-Year-Old State Tournament on Sunday.
After receiving the lone bye of the seven-team tournament, Greenwich will move to the loser’s bracket and will play the winner of Stamford and Trumbull on Monday.
Through four innings, Greenwich led North Haven 4-1 behind steady pitching from Brandon Kistler, but the fifth inning allowed North Haven to take the lead and never look back.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the inning, Kistler allowed two doubles and two singles to the following four batters, combining for six runs before the inning ended. He also walked and struck out three batters each on the day.
“It was really that fifth inning when they made a couple big plays and capitalized on some of our mistakes,” said Steve DeRosa, coach of the Greenwich Senior Babe Ruth team. “Apart from that inning, Kistler was pitching great for us. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make a couple of plays and that’s kind of where the game lied.”
Offensively, DeRosa says it has been their small-ball style of play that has worked for them this season and it showed on the base paths on Sunday, as his team was 6-for-7 in stolen base attempts, with their lone pick-off coming as the final out of the game.
“Whenever we can, we’ll take what the pitcher is giving us,” DeRosa said. “If he’s going to give us walks and we got somebody who can run on first, we’re going to try to run to get runners in scoring position. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, we try to be aggressive on the base paths.”
Jesse Hupal reached base three times, driving in a run and John Mikalopis singled twice, bringing in a run and scoring a run for Greenwich. Both players added a stolen base.
Kaelin Gillick came in as a relief pitcher for Greenwich and gave up three walks and one run in two innings of work.
North Haven’s bats were powered by Joe Ireland and Trevor MacDonnell who both were part of the fifth inning explosion, driving in multiple runs in the turning point of the game.
Greenwich rebuttled with a two-run fifth inning of their own, but a line drive hit right back to the pitcher allowed North Haven to take advantage of Greenwich’s aggressive base running and tag out a stranded base runner to cease a late rally.
Another loss will end Greenwich’s tournament run, as North Haven will play the winner of host Newtown and Housatonic in the next round of the double-elimination tournament.
“Everybody here has played in All-Star tournaments before and we know it’s going to be a tough road,” DeRosa said. “But we’re certainly not out of it. Last year, Southeastern Connecticut lost their first game and ran through the loser’s bracket and we’re aiming to do the same thing.”
