Kingston snaps 4-game losing skid
Tigers come from behind to top Middletown and put an end to four-game losing streak
Kingston High snapped its four-game losing skid, scoring four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie en route to a come-from-behind 8-4 Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association baseball contest on Tuesday at Gruner Field.
The (3-5 OCIAA, 4-5 overall) won the middle game of the three-game set against the Middies, after dropping Monday’s opener, 4-1, in Middletown. The teams complete the series 4:30 p.m. Thursday back in Middletown.
Garrett Warnecke led the Kingston offense with two hits, two runs scored an an RBI, while winning pitcher Christian Ott (run scored) and Ryan Nace added a double and an RBI each in the win.
Pinch-hitter Thomas Restivo knocked in Kingston’s goahead run in the sixth, driving in Warnecke, who led off the frame against losing pitcher Abdiel Morales with a walk and was sacrificed to second. A pair of bases-loaded walks helped Kingston add three more insurance runs in the frame.
The Middies scored two quick runs in the top of the first before the Tigers cut the
lead in half when Ott hit a 2-out double and scored on Warnecke’s base hit. Trailing 4-2 in the fourth, Kingston knotted the score on an RBI double by Nace, who scored two batters later when Jackson Parker beat out an infield hit.
Alex Loeb had Middletown’s lone extra base hit with a double.
“We certainly didn’t get off to the start we needed to after losing four in a row,” Kingston Coach Mike Groppuso said. “We showed some resiliency by battling back and finding a way. It was a complete team effort as six guys had an RBI.
“Christian competed out there today and Thomas came up big for us. We talk every day about what we have to do to go out and have a solid team effort. It can change on a daily basis;, today we were able to put it together.