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07/21/2014 12:00 AMThe Westbrook Blue Junior Legion squad had a good chunk of time off entering its last week of regular season play as Post 103 hadn’t played a game since July 6. Their July 14 matchup versus non-zone foe Branford was then rained out and Westbrook entered its weekend series against Wallingford needing to win two of three games to make it into the State Tournament. Post 103 did just that, grabbing the last spot in the tourney and finishing 12-11-1 in the regular season.
“Our initial goal of making the State Tournament was achieved this weekend after taking two of three games from a tough Wallingford team,” said Coach John Petroka, whose team finished fifth in Zone 3. “These three games all had a playoff-like atmosphere with both teams knowing it was us or them who would fill the last spot from our zone in the tourney.”
Westbrook opened the weekend with a Saturday morning doubleheader on July 19. Wallingford jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, scoring three runs on three singles and some sloppy defensive plays by the Blue squad.
“The team was a bit rusty having not played since July 6 while the Wallingford team was enthusiastic and sharp,” said Coach Petroka.
Blue settled down after the first inning and began to play their brand of baseball again, but was unable to overcome the three-run deficit and lost by the final score of 3-1. Patrick O’Leary, Sean Antonson, and Tyler Popp had the only hits for Westbrook.
Post 103 then took game two of the doubleheader in the afternoon with Arik Sypher on the mound. Sypher pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing only three base hits while striking out seven batters with only one walk. Sypher also had what turned out to be the game-winning RBI single in the second inning, scoring Antonson, who had just crushed a triple down the right field line. Sypher and Jimmy Henderson both went 2-for-2 and put down perfect sacrifice bunts during the game to move over runners into scoring position. O’Leary went 1-for-3 with a double and Eric Petroka went 1-for-3 to close out Westbrook’s seven-hit effort.
The rubber match of the weekend series on July 20 was a must-win for Westbrook and determined who would go to the playoffs and whose season ended. Luke Bauer pitched a complete game, spacing out five hits and striking out five batters. Bauer struggled in the second inning, walking three batters, but then regained his composure and pitched a solid game for Blue. Westbrook showed up with hot bats for this game and got out to a three-run lead early on in the first inning. Anthony Caramonica led off the game and was hit by a pitch. He stole second and was driven in by an Antonson double. Petroka then singled, driving Antonson in from second base. Petroka stole second and Sypher singled in Petroka. Clayton Moore went 2-for-3 and scored a run, Nick Sweet went 2-for-2 and put down two excellent bunts, one of which he beat out for a hit, and also made stellar defensive plays in right field, squashing any would-be rallies from the Wallingford squad. Matt Robida went 1-for-4 and played a sharp defense to help secure the victory for Blue, sending them to the State Tournament, which begins on Saturday, July 26.
“I feel strongly that our team has the skills and, particularly the pitching, to take us deep into the playoffs this year,” said Coach Petroka. “Our defense is solid. Our hitting can be explosive and we are making great improvements in the areas we need to work on. This week before the playoff begins we will be working on fine-tuning our team and, if the guys keep improving in these areas, we can be a dangerous team to come up against.”