Skibek Pitches Hawks Past State No. 1 Seymour

Senior Jason Skibek, Woodland's starting catcher for the past four seasons, took a new role into his hands Wednesday afternoon in Beacon Falls--starting pitcher against Seymour, the state's number-one-ranked team. Skibek, in his third career start, pitched a gem, allowing just three hits in a complete game, 3-2 victory over the Wildcats.

Skibek squared off with Seymour's Garrett Cornwell, who three-hit the Hawks in the teams' first matchup on April 17. Both pitchers cruised through the first two frames, but it was Woodland that struck first in the third inning. Sophomore catcher Jack DeBiase led off by being hit by a pitch and junior designated hitter Lou Enama, hitting for the first time this season, stroked a double to right field.

Junior center fielder Ryan Genua followed up with a single through the right side of the infield, plating both DeBiase and Enama for a 2-0 lead. Senior shortstop Nick Boucher kept the scoring going with a double to left-center, scoring Genua to give the Hawks a 3-0 advantage.

WOODLAND 3, SEYMOUR 2 Seymour                    000 010 1--2 3 0 Woodland                 003 000 x--3 5 2 Pitcher: Garrett Cornwell and Danny Perez, catcher; Pitcher: Jason Skibek and Jack DeBiase, catcher. SO: Cornwell, 3; Skibek, 6. Records: S 15-1; W 9-7.

Skibek worked in and out of trouble throughout the next few innings, allowing a run in the fifth after a pop-up dropped between home plate and the pitcher's mound and the subsequent throw ended up in right field, allowing Chris Renzoni to score. But Skibek always found a way to escape the inning with minimal or no damage.

The Hawks were unable to supplement their lead, but Skibek took the hill in the seventh to close out the game. He walked the first two batters of the inning on eight pitches, but picked off Gabe Cretella at second base for the big first out of the inning. A ground ball to senior second baseman Matt Sherman recorded the second out of the inning. An infield error allowed Renzoni to score after the following at-bat to make it 3-2, but after a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs, Danny Perez popped up to junior third baseman Kyle Georgia to seal the win.

It was Woodland's first win over Seymour since a 7-2 win on May 11, 2007, six meetings ago, which was Seymour's first Naugatuck Valley League loss (44 games ago). The loss was Seymour's first of the season, sending the 'Cats to 15-1 on the year and likely demoting them from their number-one position atop both the Hartford Courant and New Haven Register Top 10 polls.

The Hawks are now 10-7 after the monumental win over Seymour and a 6-3 comeback win over Ansonia on Thursday night at Nolan Field. Georgia pitched five scoreless innings of relief for the Hawks, who posted two runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to secure the victory. After sweeping the week, the Hawks travel to Municipal Stadium on Monday to face Kennedy.