No. 1 Westhill opens with win over Hall
STAMFORD — When the GameTimeCT preseason baseball poll was released on Friday, Westhill was sitting atop the state, earning the notable, but sometimes dreaded, No. 1 ranking. Westhill coach Michael Riveles is not a fan of that top spot, at least not at this early stage.
“I hated it,” Riveles said. “I love the recognition, these kids love the recognition and they earn it and they deserve it, but 1? I’m going to try and remember and keep reminding these kids that the only 1 that matters is in June.”
No. 1 can indeed be precarious, but the Vikings survived an opening-day challenge from Hall by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 4-1 victory at Cubeta Stadium on Saturday.
Westhill catcher Connor Sullivan had the big hit, breaking a 1-1 tie with a two-run triple which onehopped the wall in dead centerfield with two outs. Jake Benner, homered, singled and scored twice, then pitched a scoreless seventh inning to get the save.
The three-run sixth came at an opportune moment after the Warriors had scored in the top of the inning to tie the game.
“Even though they scored and they had the momentum, we wanted to get that back as soon as possible,” Benner said. “That’s what great teams do.”
The game was a fitting rematch of last year’s Class LL quarterfinal game, which was won by the Vikings 6-4.
“I wanted to schedule the best and as it turned out, they’re No. 1 ranked, so I guess I picked them right,” said Hall coach Nick Marsh,
who’s team plays Southington and Staples this week. “We open up with five very difficult games. I try to schedule the toughest teams we could find, and the four that I picked up were all teams that were either in the finals or semifinals (in 2021).”
Starting pitchers Kyle Kipp of Westhill and Joe Dooley of Hall both looked solid and went a bit deeper than their coaches had expected for the first game.
Kipp worked five shutout innings, striking out 11 and allowing just one single and one walk.
Dooley retired the first 10 batters he faced before allowing a solo home run to Benner with one out in the fourth. That was the Vikings’ only hit until the sixth inning. Dooley fanned six and allowed three earned runs on four hits while taking the loss.
“Dooley is a stud, an absolute stud,” Marsh said. “I’m excited to have him for one more season. He pitched great right up until the last two batters. We were hoping to get four or five innings and he exceeded
our expectations.”
Hall scored its only run in the top of the sixth when Dooley drew a two-out walk, went to second on a Tommy LaSpada single, and scored on an error.
The Vikings responded with three two-out hits in the home half of the inning, as singles by Mika Peterson and Benner set up Sullivan’s triple. An error on the next play allowed Sullivan to score the final run.
Benner did a bit of everything for the Vikings and Riveles referred to him as the team’s “Jeter.”
“Big players step up in big situations and he got one out when we were struggling,” Riveles said of the home run. “I think that ball is still going, It was hammered.”
Despite being a loss, the game was one the Warriors can build on.
“I told the guys two days ago, if we win today, it doesn’t make our season, and if we lose, it doesn’t break it,” Marsh said. “This was a good test , we saw where we are, and I’m proud of our boys. We fought all the way to the
end. I hope we see them again in the playoffs.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jake Benner, Westhill: Benner had the Vikings’ first hit of the season with a booming home run, singled to help set up Connor Sullivan’s two-run triple, and then pitched a scoreless seventh to earn the save.
QUOTABLE
“I’m just going to ignore it, put it to the side and just battle against every team. I don;t want to let that get to our heads because if that happens, we’re going to lose.” — Westhill senior Jake Benner on being ranked No. 1.
david.stewart @hearstmediact.com; @dstewartsports