Spirit fall to County Cutters

August 8, 2005 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit News Release


Jeff Brooks and Orlando Encarnacion combined for nine RBI as the New Haven County Cutters put an end to the Spirit's winning ways of late and batted their way to a 12-8 victory in the series opener on Monday night at the New Fraser Field.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Spirit. The New Haven County Cutters improved to 13-9 on the season, while the Spirit saw their second-half record fall to 13-8. Ryan Bicondoa took the loss for the Spirit, while Courtney Hall picked up the victory.

It was North Shore who took the early lead in the game, picking up two quick runs in the first inning. Garrett Weir, batting from the leadoff spot, got things started with a single to left. He stole second, and then scored on an RBI double from Vic Davilla. Davilla moved to third on a single from Travis Oglesby and came around to score the second Spirit run on Brian Macchi's RBI single.

New Haven got one run back in the second on a solo home run from Brooks. They evened the score at two in the fourth inning when Derrick Gibson scored on a wild pitch.

New Haven put things out of reach in the sixth inning, however, getting to Bicondoa for seven runs on five hits. After the Cutters picked up the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk, Brooks cleared the bases with an three-run double. Encarnacion and Andy Larned followed that shot with back-to-back home runs, putting New Haven ahead by seven and knocking Bicondoa from the game.

The Spirit answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, pulling to within five runs. Rob Fischer led off the inning with a solo home run, his 11th of the season. Davilla followed with his second double of the night. After stealing third, he scored on an error from the Cutters catcher.

Davilla, on a tear as of late, was 4-5 on the night for the Spirit with two runs and an RBI. The offensive effort from the Can-Am League's player of the week, however, wasn't enough to overcome the New Haven attack.

Unfortunately for the Spirit, the Cutters grabbed three more runs in the seventh extending their lead to eight, the largest margin of the night. After a leadoff single from Chas Terni, Gibson and Bill Peavey drew walks from Spirit reliever Ryan McCally. Brooks plated two runners with a single for his fifth and sixth RBI of the night. Encaranion scored Peavey on a sacrifice fly for the 12th New Haven run.

Andy Howdeshell got the Spirit back in the game with a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth once again pulling the Spirit to within five. After walks to Fischer and Oglesby, Howdeshell, getting the start at third base, launched his third home run of the season.

The Spirit added one more run in the bottom of the ninth, on an RBI double from Fischer. That was as close as they could get, however, as New Haven didn't allow another run across the plate.

The Spirit will try to get back in the win column tomorrow night when these two teams take the field in the second game of the series. Game time is at 7 p.m. at the New Fraser Field.



Canadian American League Stories from August 8, 2005


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