After splitting two games by losing at Old Saybrook and upsetting Portland at home, the Westbrook baseball team played its third game of the week on April 24—this time hosting Shoreline Conference foe East Hampton.

The Knights went up early with two runs in the bottom of the second inning and one in the third for a three-run lead over the Bellringers. Unfortunately, Westbrook went through a scoring drought for the last four innings and allowed two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, and the go-ahead score in the sixth to lose to East Hampton 4-3.

“They pitched well with a good breaker and good change of pace and we hit the ball hard—we just hit right at people,” said Westbrook Head Coach Derek Hanssen, whose team dropped to 2-6. “Last inning we had three good swings, one real deep ball, and it got caught, as well as the last out with [sophomore second baseman] Zach Jacobs. He hit the ball hard to center field and it was tough breaks today.”

Westbrook got out to a great start by getting three straight strikeouts from senior pitcher Fletcher Comment in the top of the first inning. The Knights then went down 1-2-3 with deep balls caught by East Hampton’s outfielders.

After Comment worked around two hits for a scoreless second, the Knights broke out the lumber in the bottom half with an RBI single by Jacobs that scored shortstop Sean Antonson for the first run of the game. Senior center fielder Bruce Hayes added an RBI single to plate senior third baseman Dylan Engels for a 2-0 lead. The Knights could have scored more runs as they had the bases loaded, but senior Ronnie Oldham was caught looking to end the treat.

In the third, Comment allowed two more hits, although he induced a pop-out and notched another strikeout to record another scoreless frame. Antonson followed by driving in Westbrook’s final run on an RBI single that sent junior catcher Arno Utegg home for a 3-0 lead after the third.

East Hampton countered with a pair of runs, including one that was the result of two errors by Westbrook. With runners on first and second, Comment errantly threw the ball behind first baseman Oldham, who then tried to get the lead runner at home, but was off target, and the Bellringers cut it to 3-1. After walking a batter, Comment gave up an RBI single and the lead was trimmed to 3-2 midway through the fourth.

“One of the things that we talked about was that we can’t compound mistakes with more mistakes,” said Hanssen. “One of the plays we had in the game where we gave off some runs was we had a missed pickoff at first base and we ended up not backing up when the throw came home and that gave up the run. We would of held them to just a guy on third base, but we missed the pickoff and we made another mistake. And we talked about you can’t compound mistakes with more mistakes. You have to always be in your position and cut down on your errors. Hustle should never be something that is the last thing. If you need to back up and hustle, then you need to back up and hustle.”

From the fourth through the seventh, Westbrook was retired in order each inning. The Knights had a chance to score in the bottom of the fifth when Oldham’s deep line drive was caught on an amazing diving play.

“That diving play in the fifth, that probably saved a triple, if not an inside-the-park home run,” said Hanssen. “Those are some of the breaks from baseball.”

With two outs in the top of the fifth inning, Comment allowed the tying run off an RBI single. East Hampton then used a two-out base hit to take the lead for good at 4-3.

Westbrook’s offense continued to make contact, but Comment had a deep pop-up caught and both senior designated hitter Parker Eastman and Antonson grounded out to close out the sixth.

Sophomore Matt Gallagher relieved Comment and tossed an unblemished seventh, but the Knights couldn’t tie it up in the bottom of the inning. With two down, Jacobs had the final chance to extend the game, but he flew out to center to end it.

Comment finished with four strikeouts in six innings and Gallagher pitched around a hit and a walk in the seventh.

“[Fletcher] pitched well, he changed pace very well. He seemed of tired towards the end and when he gave up those runs that end up giving up the lead, but he got ahead of batters, changed pace very well, really mixed his pitches in, and kept them off-balance for most of the game,” said Hanssen. “They never really hit the ball hard off of him. Everything they kind of hit was a blooper or a duck snort here and there. They never really got solid contact.”

Holding onto a lead is something Coach Hanssen has seen his club struggle with in a few of its contests this year. Additionally, the chilly weather, which provided a feeling of fall, affected how Westbrook hit the ball, leading Hanssen to feel that more runs could have been scored.

“We talked about trying to put a whole game together, offensively and defensively, hitting and pitching, all the way through the game from beginning to end. We jumped out to the lead and we want to make sure we can hold on to it,” he said. “Any time it’s cold like this, there’s going to be some impact. The other day when it was 65 almost 70 degrees, some of these balls we hit, maybe they’re off the fence. [Against East Hampton] We had a strong wind blowing in from left field, which was holding the ball up in the air. The weather affects everybody. It affects the guys on offense, it affects the pitchers, guys on defense get cold, but everyone plays in the same weather, so you got to make the plays on both sides.”

In the first game of the week on April 21, Westbrook lost to Old Saybrook 4-0. Eastman and Hayes had the only two hits for the Knights, who gave up two runs in both the second and sixth innings.

The Knights were then able to snap their four-game skid in its first win against a conference opponent, 8-2, against Portland on April 22. Westbrook scored three runs in the third inning and five in the fourth before giving up two runs to the Highlanders in the sixth. Comment had a three-run RBI double; Oldham had two RBI and scored a run; Jacobs had a RBI, two hits and two runs scored; Utegg scored a run; Hayes had an RBI and a run scored; Antonson had two hits and a run scored; and junior right-fielder Jason Ferrucci scored in the game. Engles pitched a complete game, allowing five hits and two runs, along with striking out four.

After wrapping up the week at 1-2 and a win in conference play, Coach Hanssen continues to look for his club to keep improving.

“Obviously, a baseball team can always get better. We have some things we need to do, cleaning up ourselves defensively. We need to make sure we make the plays when we have the opportunity to make plays and we need to make sure we need to make the next-level plays,” said Hanssen. “I like what we’re doing at the plate right now. We’re swinging well. We just need the ball to follow and a little bit of luck. A little luck. That’s what we need.”