Westerners Conjure-up 4-3 Walk-Off Win
July 1, 2011 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Danbury Westerners News Release
The Westerners beat the Laconia Muskrats 4-3 in dramatic fashion yesterday, scoring two runs in the ninth inning to walk-off with the victory at Rogers Park.
Kyle Convissar of the University of Maryland led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. After two consecutive outs, Head Coach Jamie Shevchik sent Dave Ciocchi of Binghamton University to pinch hit and Kyle Richardson from St. Johns University to pinch run. Richardson then went to second base on a wild pitch. Ciocchi would subsequently deliver the game tying double to score Richardson.
It looked like the game would then go to extra inning, but Tanner Krietemeier of the University of Nebraska had other ideas as he lined another double off the centerfield fence to score Ciocchi and win the game. The team mobbed Ciocchi at home plate and then went out to celebrate with the player of the game, Krietemeier.
But it was the pinch hitter, Ciocchi, who kept the game alive and he could not have been more ready for the moment. ¬ÅI was on the bench with the bat in my hand the last two innings and when I got the call I was ready to go, ¬Â Ciocchi said. ¬ÅI knew a curveball was coming because he threw three curveballs prior to that pitch. ¬Â
Even though the timely hitting of a few individuals stood out, as a team the Westerners never lost hope. The players partook in a few superstitions to get the rally going, including drawing ¬Årally turtles ¬Â in the dirt of the dugout, and building a pyramid of baseballs to turn their fortunes. The tactics clearly worked as Danbury got their fifth home win in six games.
The starting pitcher, Kevin link of Princeton University, had a strong start and gave up two runs in five innings. The Westerners combined for 11 hits as they improved on their NECBL leading batting average.
Danbury is now 6-4 as they head into a doubleheader today against the Keene Swamp Bats. The Westerners lost to the Swamp Bats at Keene by a score of 13-3 last time the teams met up on June 16, so the team hopes to exact revenge today at Rogers Park.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from July 1, 2011
- Mountaineers Walk-Off Again Against Mystic - Vermont Mountaineers
- Blue Sox Fall to Steeple Cats in 10th Inning, 7-6 - Valley Blue Sox
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- Division Rivals Join Forces To Help One Of Their Own With July 13th Benefit - Vermont Mountaineers
- Team USA Tours Through NECBL - NECBL
- Blue Sox Defeat Newport 3-2 - Valley Blue Sox
- Westerners Conjure-up 4-3 Walk-Off Win - Danbury Westerners
- SteepleCats Can't Handle Navigators - North Adams SteepleCats
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