Grays Deny Cutters First Victory Again

Published on June 1, 2005 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Haven County Cutters News Release


The New Haven County Cutters started Wednesday's game at 11 a.m. underneath overcast skies. When the sun finally decided to come out in early afternoon and broke through the gloomy skies, it did little to inspire the slumping New Haven County Cutters, who were unable to hold onto an early lead and fell to the Grays 9-6.

The Cutters took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second as left-fielder Orlando Encarnacion tripled in catcher Andy Larned. Like many of the leads the Cutters have had this season, it was short-lived.

Over the course of the three game series, the Cutters became very familiar with the Grays "small" ball strategy, which involved getting runners on base and either stealing bases or sacrificing batters to get players in scoring position. Timely hitting from the likes of Greg Strickland, B.J. Weed and Francisco Lebron did in the Cutters pitching staff for three straight games.

Heading into the bottom of the eighth and down 5-3, the Cutters showed signs of a rally. Chas Terni scored on a sharply hit Bill Peavey ball that appeared destined for centerfield only to be blocked by the torso of pitcher Randy Rapp. With one out and the tying run on second, Jeff Brooks and Larned were unable to get Darren Ciraco home.

Getting to the home half of the ninth down by only one proved to be a problem for the Cutters, just as it had been in Tuesday night's game. A combination of five hits and an error opened the door for a four-run rally by the Grays. The lead had been expanded to six runs in a matter of minutes.

The Cutters battled in the ninth and pushed three runs across to bring the score to 9-6.

Ciraco, who was batting .185 heading into the game, showed signs of breaking out of his early season slump by going 2 for 4 and batting in a pair. Starter Ryan Bonesio improved on his opening start of the season, throwing six innings and allowing four runs.

The Cutters next series will be against the Quebec Les Capitales and they will be looking to exact some revenge on their Canadian opponents, after being swept by them in the season-opening series. Josh Tomsu and Danny Prata are the pitching probables for New Haven County and Quebec, respectively.

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Canadian American League Stories from June 1, 2005


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