Torringon gets second chance after delay, but loses to Holyoke

In a surreal game, the Torrington Twisters took advantage of a second chance after a 55-minute weather delay, only to watch their bullpen implode in a 10-4 loss to the Holyoke Blue Sox Wednesday night at Fuessenich Park.
Torrington entered the seventh inning trailing 3-0, but got Corey Huffine (Post University) on with a single and Jonathan Cluff (BYU)—pinch hitting for catcher Bryson Rahier (San Jose State)—worked the count to 2-0. The infield umpire saw lightning in the distance and the players were ordered off the field.
A Twister team that did not have much life in it before the delay seemed to be rejuvenated after it. Cluff worked a walk against reliever James White (UNC Greensboro). A Corey Shimada (Utah) single to center made it 3-1, and the throw from center hit the net behind home plate, allowing Cluff and Shimada to move up a base. A Joe De Pinto (USC) sacrifice fly made it 3-2 and designated hitter Jimmy Rivas (New Haven) tied the game on a groundout to first.
Just as quickly as Torrington drew even, the Holyoke blew the game open. After a groundout, reliever Miles Morton (Auburn) surrendered a single to Ken Gregory (St. Petersburg). Pinch runner Adam Dimino (Cortland State) stole second and third and pinch hitter Peter Fatse (UConn) walked. On the first pitch to Shevis Shima (Cal State Fullerton), the pitch went off the glove of new catcher Alejandro Crisostamo (St. Augustine College) for a passed ball to the back stop, allowing Dimino to score to give the Blue Sox a 4-3 lead. A triple by Shima made it 5-3, and Shima scored when James Wood (Trinity College) singled down the left field line to make it 6-3. Corey Jones (Cal State Fullerton) put a charge into a 2-0 pitch from Morton, slamming it off of the batting cage beyond the right field wall to make it 8-3.
The Twisters got one back in the eighth on a force out at second, but Holyoke answered with another two-run homer in the ninth from Fatse—again off of the batting cage in right field—to make it 10-4.
The Blue Sox took advantage of Torrington on the bases, stealing six (two each by Juan Perez, Shima and Dimino). Twister pitchers also issued 10 walks, seven by starter Andrew Triggs (USC), who lasted just two batters into the fourth.
Brian Baudinet (UMass-Amherst) continued his torrid hitting for Torrington with a 3-for-4 day. Shimada and Huffine added two hits of their own. The Twisters had two hits in both the second and third innings, but could not push a run across against Holyoke starter Michael Lachapelle (Pima Community College). Torrington also left two on in the eighth against reliever Brandon Aich (Kean University) as Crisostamo struck out and Shimada grounded out to third to end the inning.
Alex Valadja (James Madison) was unhittable in relief of Triggs. Valadja kept the Twisters in the game with four scoreless innings of relief as he struck out 11 of the 13 batters that he faced (one of the strikeouts was a passed ball that allowed a runner to reach first).
The loss dropped Torrington (11-20) a game behind Manchester (14-21), who was rained out Wednesday night. The Twisters host Southern Division rival Newport tonight at 7.
NOTES:
Torrington will honor the Waterbury Sandy Koufax League team at Saturday’s game against the Gulls. The Waterbury team won the state tournament and now has a chance to go to the World Series if it wins in the round-robin regional tournament. City native Cody Lemieux plays for the team.

Manchester strands 13 Torrington runners in win over Twisters

Torrington left 13 runners on base in a 6-3 loss to Manchester Sunday night.
The Silkworms trailed 3-1 early, but rallied for 2 in the 4th to tie the game.
Manchester broke through in the eighth against reliever Alex Valadja (James Madison University). Sean O’Hara (Harvard) walked to lead off the inning. First baseman Jeff Cammans (Rhode Island) picked on Valadja’s first pitch and ripped it off of the top of the left field fence to put runners on second and third with none out. After Michael Gallic (Marist) was walked intentionally, Michael Bourdon (Fairfield) walked to give Manchester the lead at 4-3. On an 0-1 pitch to J.P. Polchinski (Army), Valadja hit him in the foot with a curveball. Hunt argued that Polchinski did not make an attempt to get out of the way of the pitch, but the protest was to no avail. The next batter, A.J. Rusbarsky (Seton Hall), lifted a fly ball to center field. Josh Chasse (San Diego State) threw home, but his throw was well up the third base line and Gallic scored. A good throw may have gotten Gallic at the plate. Instead, the score was 6-3.
Torrington put up a major threat against reliever J.J. Potrikus (SUNY-Cortland) in the eighth. After a Brian Baudinet (UMass-Amherst) single, Corey Huffine (Post University) grounded to first base and was thrown out 3-1. The Twisters argued that Potrikus’s foot was off the base, but the call was not changed. Corey Shimada (Utah) singled to center to put runners on first and second, but Joe De Pinto (Southern California) popped out to short. Austin was hit by a pitch to load the bases, bringing the go ahead run to the plate. Potrikus got Jaren Mathews (Rutgers) to pop to Bourdon to end the inning.
De Pinto went 2-for-5 for the Twisters. Torrington (7-8) also got hits from Shimada, Chasse, Baudinet and Chase Austin (Elon). Bourdon went 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs for Manchester (7-9), which ended a five-game losing streak. The Silkworms also got 2 hits apiece from Matt Gross (Notre Dame) and Zach Hudson (Middle Tennessee State).