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07/13/2013 12:00 AMFor a team that was not expected to take many triumphs in Zone 3, the Madison Junior American Legion baseball squad has turned some heads and continues to do so in the season’s stretch run.
After it defeated a 12-win Westbrook team two days prior, Madison scored its seventh victory of the campaign in a tight 2-1 game versus East Haddam at home on July 13. While both squads stood scoreless following 3 ½ frames, Madison third baseman Jack Kallinich broke the deadlock with an RBI single before Nick Ursini grabbed a clutch pinch-hit during the fifth to score what would be the deciding tally after Post 156 earned a run in the sixth.
“It felt so good to get a win like this today,” said pitcher Brian Herlihy, who threw for five and two-third innings of work. “My curveball was on and everything was working. I was just trying to get first pitch strikes out there and locate both my fastball and my curve. I had trouble in the sixth, but I was saved in that sixth inning.”
The relief Herlihy spoke of came in the form of Evan Lohn, who nailed down the final four outs of the contest on four batters after Herlihy finished with two walks and an earned run for his pitching line, as Post 79 notched another victory in what has been a pleasantly surprising summer.
“We have had an amazing year so far,” said Head Coach Jon Golicz, whose squad finished only 4-17 a year ago. “Some people told me, ‘good luck with this team’ at our first practice, but this team has come together. Yet before the season began I set a goal of eight wins for this team; it may not get us in the state tournament but people were expecting us to only win maybe three games. Today, though, we showed up ready to play. Our defense was solid and made the right decisions, and our pitching was great; they knew what they had to do which was throwing first pitch strikes and keeping the ball on the ground.”
Herlihy, who also allowed only six base knocks in his outing, made quick work of East Haddam (8-8) in the first before Madison (7-12) had two on with one down, yet Post 79 was out on the next pair of batters for its first frame. The home team would pose an identical threat in the third when leftfielder Derek Dunn drew a free pass and centerfielder Kevin Schofield (2-for-3) singled, but again the following duo of batsmen would end the inning for Madison.
The fourth would see the game’s first tally go to Madison, as second baseman Magnus Grigor led off with a stand-up double prior to catcher Sam Herwig laying down a sacrifice bunt to move Grigor to third, leading to Kallinich (1-for-2) breaking the tie with his run-scoring single.
With Post 79 holding runners at the corners and two out the following frame, it would see Ursini grab an infield hit to score the second Madison run. The same play would see Post 156 earn the third out of the inning, yet the runner touched home prior to the out being recorded after pinch hitter Tom D’ Annolfo was caught in a lengthy rundown.
“Tom was great at that play at third,” praised Golicz. “He knew the situation and saw what he had to do to help get the run across.”
Down two, East Haddam would hit into a double play before rebounding with a monumental triple, and then an RBI single to narrow its gap to one. After surrendering its initial run, Madison would turn to Lohn, who got his first plate opponent to ground out.
Lohn would then return to the bump to seal the deal—getting the first two batsmen to fly and groundout before he notched a strikeout to end the contest.
“In the sixth, I knew I needed to stop them with the tying run on second, so I just kept throwing strikes and kept the ball on the ground,” said Lohn. “For that last batter, I was down 3-0 in the count and just didn’t want to put anyone on base to give them a chance to get back into it.”
The one-run victory is just another positive in a summer that didn’t seem so bright for Post 79 given its preseason projections by others. Golicz recalls things really began to take shape in an early season loss at Meriden, where he was ejected from the contest, but the club and its community rallied behind him to symbolize true team unity.
“It all started in that Meriden game when I got tossed after the umpire wasn’t calling balks I thought,” recalled Golicz. “Yet the parents and the entire dugout clapped for me, and that was the moment when it hit me that we had become a team. Since then we have been on track; it’s great to see them working their tails off and working hard in practice.”
While Madison is likely to miss the postseason, its squad has still overachieved all year long—including a pair of victories over Zone 1 heavyweight RCP and Zone 3 power Middletown in a preseason tournament.
“We have struggled with our defense this season, but it was great today,” said Golicz, whose team has notched 11 overall wins including the preseason tournament. “They stayed in front of the ball today. Defense and pitching won us this game today, which is what I have been preaching all year. They have been learning everything I have been teaching them and I can’t say enough about them.”