Torrington hurts playoffs chances with doubleheader loss

In another bizarre twist to the regular season, the Torrington Twisters were a game behind the Manchester Silkworms entering a doubleheader Tuesday.
Shaky defense, one swing from Matt Adams (Slippery Rock) and solid pitching from Kyle Vazquez (Franklin Pierce) helped put Torrington’s playoff hopes behind the eight-ball as the Twisters dropped a pair of games, 3-2 and 7-0, to the Pittsfield Dukes at Fuessenich Park. Adams’ solo shot off of hard-luck complete game loser Josh Smith (Lipscomb) gave Pittsfield a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth. The Dukes were the home team in the first game as the teams finished making up a July 18 doubleheader that had been postponed.
"Even if we got a split today, we’ve got life," Torrington coach Gregg Hunt said. "We got to help ourselves and we need a lot of help."
Manchester split its own doubleheader with Danbury Tuesday, meaning the Silkworms gained a game on Torrington. Manchester now has a two-game lead on the Twisters with opportunities to gain ground fading fast. Torrington’s doubleheader loss means that this year’s team (13-25) will have the worst record in the team’s history (the previous worst record was 19-23, done twice).
The Twisters scored two runs in the first inning and got out to an early lead, something that had not happened in the two previous doubleheaders, where Torrington lost three of four games. Corey Shimada (Utah) led off with a walk, but Joe De Pinto (USC) grounded into a double play. Catcher Jimmy Rivas (New Haven) started up a new rally when he was hit by a pitch. Right fielder Jaren Mathews (Rutgers) scalded a grounder to first that ricocheted off of Adams for a double, putting runners on second and third. Pittsfield starter Jake Sabol (Central Michigan) appeared to be out of the inning when Chase Austin (Elon) lifted a fly ball to left, but Jason Krizan (Dallas Baptiste) lost it in the sun and dropped the ball, allowing Rivas and Mathews to score.
Smith made that margin hold up through the first four innings, striking out five while yielding three hits.
The problem was, Smith was snake bitten in the fifth inning. After Smith struck out the first batter, Jason Martin (San Jose State) lifted a fly ball to left. De Pinto went out after the ball on a play normally made by a left fielder and dropped the ball and Martin hustled into second. Leadoff batter Craig Hertler (San Jose State) grounded the next pitch he saw through the right side for single. Martin scored easily, but Mathews threw home from right. His throw got away from Rivas, allowing Hertler to take second. Hertler advanced to third on a fly out to center by Jayson Langfels (Eastern Kentucky) and scored the tying run when Chris Edmondson (Le Moyne) singled on a 2-2 pitch from Smith.
In the fifth, Austin Christiansen (Chandler Gilbert) led off with an infield single for Torrington, but Shimada fouled off two bunts before striking out. Making matters worse, Christiansen was picked off of first with De Pinto at the plate and one down in the inning.
In the sixth, Adams, one of the league’s most dangerous batters, got a 2-1 pitch he liked and hammered it over the right field wall to give the Dukes a 3-2 lead.
The Twisters had a chance in the top of the seventh against Pittsfield closer Zack Anderson (Buffalo). After a strikeout for the first out, Alejandro Crisostomo (St. Augustine College) reached on an infield single. Josh Chasse (San Diego State) came in to run for Crisostomo, but the Dukes called a pitch out on a 1-1 count to Christiansen, leaving Chasse dead to rights at second base for the second out. Christiansen, however, worked a walk and Shimada reached first when Hertler’s throw from second pulled Adams off the base. Anderson killed the rally, getting De Pinto to fly out to right to end the game.
The second game was anticlimatic for Torrington. The Twisters managed just three hits off of Vazquez (6 innings, 0 runs, 8 strikeouts, 2 walks). Even three straight walks from reliever Jack Bender (Georgetown) with two outs in the seventh could not get Torrington going as Bryson Rahier (San Jose State) struck out to end the game.
The Dukes moved back into a tie for first with Newport, who also won Tuesday. Pittsfield was a half-game out entering Tuesday’s action.
On defense, the Twisters made five errors, leading to three unearned runs for the Dukes. Starter Andrew Triggs (USC) gave up four runs in five innings to take the loss while reliever Josh Zeid (Tulane) gave up three runs—one earned—as his defense made three errors behind him in the final two innings.
Torrington has three scheduled games left while the Silkworms have one scheduled game left. If the Twisters are a game behind Manchester after those games have been played, Torrington and Manchester would make up Sunday’s rainout on Friday’s league-wide makeup date.