Twisters take early 7-0 lead, but fall to Newport

The Torrington Twisters would cross the plate seven times in the first two innings, just to see their seven-run lead slip away to the Newport Gulls, who prevailed 9-7 on Monday night in New England Collegiate Baseball League play at Cardines Field.
The Twisters (10-19) plated two runs in the first inning and five more in the second, chasing Gulls starter Kevin Moran. Newport (19-15) would peck away at the seven-run deficit the rest of the game, scoring a run in the third, three in the fifth, one in the sixth and four in the seventh when the Gulls went ahead for good. Torrington starting pitcher Josh Smith (Lipscomb) lasted four innings, allowing four runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and five walks. Reliever Danny Beck (USC) didn't fare much better, going 2 2-3 innings. He surrendered five runs on eight hits, while fanning three and walking one, to take the loss. Chase Austin (Elon) had a big day at the plate for the Twisters, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Jaren Mathews (Rutgers) had two hits and an RBI and Jimmy Rivas (New Haven) drove in two runs.
Torrington is eight games back of the first-place Pittsfield Dukes (19-12) in the Southern Division. Torrington is 11/2 games behind the fourth-place Manchester Silkworms (14-20). The top four teams in each division make the NECBL playoffs.
The Twisters host North Adams tonight at 7.

Torrington still in it

Despite an abysmal stretch in which they have dropped nine of the last 10 games, the Torrington Twisters (10-18) are still in the hunt for the NECBL playoffs.
Eight teams make it, and Torrington is in fifth behind Manchester (13-20), who is just a half game ahead. To make the playoffs, the Twisters will need to take care of business over a busy two week stretch that includes two scheduled doubleheaders.
Torrington travels to Newport tonight to play the second-place Gulls (18-15), who are 5.5 games ahead of the Twisters in the Southern Division. Tonight's game is the first of three this week between the Southern Division foes.
Tuesday brings a home game against North Adams (15-18), who are 2.5 games ahead of Torrington. On Wednesday, the Twisters host Holyoke (15-15). Thursday will bring Newport into town. Torrington is scheduled to play a doubleheader against Danbury (10-23) Friday. The Westerners are in last in the Southern Division. The week ends Saturday with another game against the Gulls at home.

Matthews wins it for Torrington in 11th

Jaren Mathews (Rutgers) got the Twisters back to .500 with one swing, blasting an 11th-inning solo homer to lead Torrington to a 3-2 victory over the SteepleCats in North Adams, Mass.
Mathews added a double and two runs scored to his strong day while Josh Chasse (San Diego State) went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in for the Twisters (9-9). Danny Beck (Southern California) got the win (2-0) with one inning of scoreless relief. Robert Chimpky (Utah) picked up his fourth save. North Adams is 8-14.

Torrington rained out again

The Torrington Twisters were rained out for the seventh time this season Tuesday night in Manchester against the Silkworms.
Torrington was rained out 6 times in June, including the same game (opening night at North Adams) twice. The Twisters are scheduled to have a day off Wednesday. After Wednesday, Torrington is not scheduled to have another day off until July 14. That stretch includes a doubleheader on Saturday against Danbury and next Tuesday's exhibition game against the Dominican National Team.
The Twisters are scheduled to return to the field on Thursday in Pittsfield against the Dukes.

Torrington wins pitcher's duel

The Torrington Twisters got eight strong innings from Eric Jokisch (Northwestern) and a timely hit from Corey Shimada (Utah) to defeat the North Adams SteepleCats 2-1 Sunday night at Fuessenich Park.
Jokisch pitched 8 innings, giving up one unearned run on 3 hits, striking out 6 while walking one. Robert Chimpky (Utah) pitched the ninth, giving up one walk, for the save.
Shimada's eighth inning single to center scored Josh Chasse (San Diego State) with the winning run. The Twisters made 3 errors and left 11 runners on base, but were able to pull out the win. Brian Baudinet (UMass-Amherst) came up big in the field again, throwing out TJ Greig (Malloy College) at the plate to end the third inning.
Shimada, Chasse and Chase Austin (Elon) each had 2 hits for Torrington, now back at .500 at 7-7. North Adams is 6-10. The Twisters face Manchester Sunday at 6 at Fuessenich.

Torrington v. North Adams - June 28

The Twisters host the SteepleCats of North Adams tonight at 7 at Fuessenich.
Scheduled to start for Torrington (6-7) is Eric Jokisch (Northwestern). Jokisch is 0-1 in 2 games (one start) with a 8.53 ERA, according to the NECBL's Web site. In 6.1 innings, Jokisch has given up 6 runs on 9 hits, striking out 7 while walking 4. Opponents are batting .333 against Jokisch this season.
North Adams (6-9) is projected to start Matt Sommo (University of New Haven). Sommo, who is a native of Clinton, Conn., is 0-2 in 4 appearances (3 starts) with a 5.06 ERA. In 16 innings this season, Sommo has given up 10 runs (9 earned) on 15 hits, striking out 10 while walking 6. Opponents are hitting .254 against Sommo this season.

Torrington loses to Pittsfield

Torrington fell back below .500 Friday night with an 8-2 loss to Pittsfield.
The Dukes hit Josh Zeid (Tulane) early, scoring three runs in both the second and third innings on their way to the win over the Twisters in Pittsfield.
Jake Rosenbeck (Buffalo) cleared the bases with a double in the second to give Pittsfield (7-8) a 3-0 lead. Matt Adams (Slippery Rock) laced a two-run double down the left field line in the third to give the Dukes a 5-0 lead. Rosenbeck brought in Adams with a single in the third to make the score 6-0.
Zeid gave up seven runs on 13 hits in seven innings, striking out three while walking two. USC's Joe De Pinto had a run-scoring ground out in the sixth to get Torrington (6-7) on the board at 6-1. A run-scoring single by Bryson Rahier (San Jose State) in the seventh brought in the second Twister run to make the score 6-2.
Pittsfield got one back in the seventh on a fielder’s choice. The Dukes tacked on one more in the eighth on a run-scoring triple by Chris Edmondson (Le Moyne) off of reliever Alex Valadja (James Madison) to make the score 8-2.
Rosenbeck tormented Torrington, going 3-for-4 with four runs batted in. Adams went 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Jason Krizan (Dallas Baptiste) went 2-for-4 with three runs scored while Edmondson went 2-for-5 with a run batted in. Brigham Young's JT Musso (2-for-4, run scored), Eastern Kentucky's Jayson Langfels (1-for-4, run scored) and Perry Silverman of Canisius (1-for-3, RBI, run scored) also played well for the Dukes.
The Twisters were led by Rahier, who went 2-for-3. Brian Baudinet (UMass-Amherst) went 1-for-3 with a double and run scored while BYU's Jonathan Cluff (1-for-3, double, run scored) and SDSU's Josh Chasse (1-for-4) each added a hit.
Torrington hosts North Adams tonight at 7 at Fuessenich Park. Eric Jokisch (Northwestern) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Twisters.

Update on rescheduled games

The Torrington Twisters have rescheduled 2 games that were rained out earlier this season. The season opener on the road at North Adams, which has been postponed twice, has been rescheduled for Monday, July 7 at 7 p.m., according to the NECBL's Web site. The Torrington home game against Newport -- which was supposed to be the team's home opener on June 8 -- has been rescheduled for Thursday, July 24 at 7 p.m.

Torrington plays last home game before three-game road trip

The Twisters will play their final home game Sunday before embarking on a three-game road trip this week.
Torrington, now 3-5, hosts the North Shore Navigators (8-4) at 6. The Twisters travel to Lynn, Mass., Monday to play North Shore. On Tuesday, Torrington will travel further to the north to play the Keene Swamp Bats. On Wednesday, the Twisters play the Holyoke Blue Sox.
Torrington returns home Thursday to play the Vermont Mountaineers. On Saturday, the Twisters host North Adams.

Torrington v. North Shore - June 22

The Twisters are scheduled to host the North Shore Navigators at 6 p.m. Sunday night.
North Shore is projected to start right-hander Wayde Kitchens of Chapman University. Kitchens is 0-1 in two starts this season with a 0.77 ERA, according to the NECBL Web site. Kitchens has pitched 11.2 innings this year, giving up four runs (one earned) on 11 hits, striking out eight while walking four. Opponents are hitting .256 against Kitchens this season.
Since dropping two of their first three games, the Navigators have won 7 of 9, including Saturday's 3-2 victory at North Adams. North Shore is 8-4 on the season. Torrington is 3-5 on the season.
Chapman University is in Orange, Calif.

Torrington continues to struggle

The Twisters dropped their second straight NECBL game, a 14-0 loss to the Lowell All-Americans Friday night.
Torrington lost Thursday to North Adams 7-0. When the exhibition game against Team USA (15-0) is included, the Twisters have been outscored 36-0 in their last three games. Torrington has 11 hits in those three games and has not scored a run in the last 29 innings.
The Twisters have a league-worst .173 team batting average in their first eight games in league play, according to the NECBL Web site. Torrington's 4.35 team ERA is the second worst in the league. Twister pitchers have hit 13 batters, which leads the league.
On the flip side, opponents are only hitting .222 against Torrington pitching, the fifth lowest mark in the league. Twister pitchers have struck out the fifth most batters in the league with 84, and they are third in called strikeouts with 29. The Twisters are also second in least hits allowed with 61.
On offense, Torrington is third in the league in homers with 5. Twister baserunners have stolen 12 bases and been caught only 3 times this season.
Even with the rough patch it has hit, Torrington (3-5) is still only 2.5 games behind Southern Division-leading Newport, who is 6-3. The Twisters are one of five teams in the 12-team NECBL that have 5 losses.
Torrington hosts Team China in an exhibition game tonight at 7 at Fuessenich Park.

Twisters nearly no-hit by North Adams

The Torrington Twisters almost made the wrong kind of history Thursday night as they came within two outs of being no-hit by North Adams in a 7-0 loss.
Tim Boyce, normally a closer when he pitches for the University of Rhode Island, made his third start of the season for the SteepleCats. Boyce was on his game, surrendering only a hit batsmen in seven innings while striking out nine. Reliever Derek Shaw (Florida Gulf Coast) walked two in the eighth but go out of it without giving up a run or hit.
Chase Austin (Elon) broke up the no-no in the ninth with one out when he singled past a diving T.J. Greig at third. Dayton Marze (University of Louisiana-Lafayette) had come in to pitch the ninth for North Adams.
Brett Miller (San Diego State) took the loss for Torrington.
The Twisters host Lowell tonight at 7.

Torrington v. North Adams - June 19

Tonight, the Torrington Twisters host North Adams at 7.
This game is the first of two regular season NECBL games that Torrington will play before another exhibition game Saturday, this time against Team China. The SteepleCats are 3-4 on the season, but have won their last two games, both against the Pittsfield Dukes.

Rainouts plague Twisters

Mother Nature has been an issue for the Torrington Twisters this season.
So far, Torrington has had five games rained out, including last night's tilt with the Danbury Westerners in Danbury. The rainouts began on opening night (June 6), when the Twisters were scheduled to play in North Adams against the SteepleCats. That game was postponed. On June 8, Torrington was supposed to open its home schedule against Newport, complete with a parade. That got rained out.
The Twisters have yet to make up the opening night game against North Adams. Torrington and North Adams were scheduled to make up that game Monday night, but it was again rained out. All told, the Twisters have played seven (one exhibition game included) out of a possible 12 games.

Torrington wins second in a row

The Twisters captured their second win in a row and moved to .500 (3-3) with a 4-0 win over Manchester Sunday.
Josh Zeid (Tulane) was brilliant, carrying a perfect game into the seventh, where a lead off single ended it. Zeid ended up going seven innings, giving up one hit and walking a batter while striking out nine.
Chase Austin (Elon) hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot in the sixth inning that gave Torrington a 3-0 lead. Josh Chasse (San Diego State) had an RBI groundout. The other 2 Twister runs scored because of Silkworm errors.
Torrington travels to North Adams Monday to play a makeup game against the SteepleCats, then comes home Tuesday for an exhibition game against Team USA at Fuessenich Park at 7.

Let the home games begin

On Sunday, the time will arrive for the Torrington Twisters to begin its 2008 home schedule. Torrington will host the Newport Gulls at 6 p.m. after a parade to Fuessenich Park.
The parade begins at 4:30 p.m. and will feature around 500 people, including 350 little leaguers from Thomaston. The Twisters were scheduled to open the season in North Adams, but the game was postponed until Monday, June 16.