Baseball Grits Out Win Over Naugy

The rivalry between Naugatuck and Woodland has been an intense one ever since the Hawks joined the Naugatuck Valley League in 2003. The tempers between the two that were first seen early in the rivalry flared up once again during Monday’s baseball matchup. After a game filled with trash talk and solid play, the Hawks claimed a 3-1 victory over the Hounds in the borough to solidify its place at the top of the NVL Copper Division.

The Garnet and Grey sent junior Kyle Beardsworth to the mound, as senior ace Greg Rice had thrown a complete-game shutout against Torrington last Friday. Beardsworth stranded the leadoff runner on second and retired the side, but was forced to exit due to shoulder pain.

Woodland did have the services of its number-one pitcher, senior Nick Boucher. Boucher worked himself out of a two-on, one-out jam in the inning to hold Naugy off the board, helped by superb defense by senior second baseman Matt Sherman.

The Black and Gold cracked the scoreboard in the top of the second to take an early lead. With two outs, sophomore right fielder Jack DeBiase was hit by a 1-1 offering by junior pitcher Mike Kennedy. DeBiase stole second and was knocked home by a sharp ground ball hit by junior center fielder Ryan Genua to make it 1-0.

Boucher ran into some trouble in the bottom half, but wiggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out mess by inducing a flyout. After a scoreless third, the Hounds took advantage of the chance to knot the score. Junior right fielder Brandon Halbert led off by reaching on an error and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kennedy. Halbert was later doubled in by senior left fielder Joe Iannotti to tie the game. The rally ended when Boucher picked Iannotti off second base to stop the damage.

“I thought that was a key play in the game,” Woodland Head Coach Joe Steele said. “Without Nick picking him off second, things could have gotten worse and it could have changed the entire ballgame.”

WOODLAND 3, NAUGATUCK 1 Woodland                 010 002 0—3 6 2 Naugatuck               000 100 0—1 9 1 Woodland pitcher: Nick Boucher and Jason Skibek, catcher; Naugatuck pitchers: Kyle Beardsworth, Mike Kennedy (2nd inning), Chris Cretella (7th) and Arber Mehmedi, catcher; SO: Boucher 3, Kennedy 1; Records: W 5-4; N 3-6.

A scoreless fifth went by, leaving the Hawks with a chance to pull back ahead in the sixth. Junior third baseman Kyle Georgia and senior designated hitter John Augelli both singled to start the inning, and after a bunt, junior first baseman Mike Diurno hit a deep single to plate both runners and give his team a 3-1 lead.

“I was just looking for my pitch,” Diurno said. “I actually got the squeeze call, but when they called timeout, I told coach that I was going to get a hit, so he let me swing. I was looking to just put it in play and score one run, but I got a hold of it.”

Naugatuck’s offensive woes continued into its final two turns at the dish. The Greyhounds wasted a two-on, none-out situation in the sixth and squandered a two-on, one-out chance in the seventh. Boucher struck out the final batter of the game to put an exclamation mark on the win.

“I wish I knew the reason (we couldn’t get the runners in),” Naugatuck Head Coach Tom Deller said of his team leaving 13 runners on base. “I don’t know if we don’t concentrate hard enough when we get runners in scoring position, but we did the same thing against Holy Cross last weekend. We outhit them, but we just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it.”

After the game, the Hawks (5-4 overall; 5-0 division) and Hounds (3-6; 3-2) exchanged unfriendly words, as had been occurring throughout the afternoon. But Steele thinks the outcome of the game was worth more than just bragging rights.

“This is a great start for us, being 5-0 in the division,” he said. “We still have lots of work to do, but with a pretty young team, I’m impressed with these guys. They’ve really been exceeding a lot of my expectations.”