The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Lewis Mills’ Alvarez fans 11 in win over Abbott Tech
CLASS M BASEBALL: LEWIS MILLS 7, ABBOTT TECH 2
BURLINGTON — Tenth-ranked Lewis Mills used all the clubs in its bag for a 7-2 Class M firstround baseball win over No. 23 Abbott Tech Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ve won in a lot of different ways this year,” said Spartan coach Jesse Darcy, whose Class M runners-up pounded the Wolverines 15-4 in the quarterfinal a year ago.
Still, Abbott Tech stunned then-No. 5 Oxford (17-3 in the NVL) in the second round on its way to that 2017 meeting with Mills.
On Tuesday, a pair of sophomore Wolverine pitchers limited the Spartans to an 8-5 hitting advantage.
“We’re trying to change the school culture,” said Simone, in his fifth year as coach. “We’ve got kids who really appreciate baseball. Today, we were right there, but Mills didn’t make any mistakes.”
The Wolverines did — five errors, eight walks and a hit batsman — but Abbott Tech’s mistakes were just part of Mills’ advantage. The other part was the Spartans’ eagerness to jump on them.
“We’re a different team this year,” Darcy said. “The guys are making adjustments pitch by pitch and inning by inning.”
Mills’ first jump came in the second inning. When Wolverine starter Wyatt Mills walked leadoff batter Josh Schibi, the Spartans
played small-ball.
“Sometimes, you have to jump-start the attack,” Darcy said.
Darren Janssens laid down a perfect bunt single. Four batters and a Wolverine error later, Berkshire League batting champion Devin Shaffer (2-for-4) laced a two-run dive up the middle.
“I learned not to reach for his curve,” Shaffer said with a smile.
An inning later, the Spartans scratched out another run on a pair of singles by Ricky Cizeski and Schibi, a hit batter and a bases-loaded walk.
Meanwhile, Spartans pitcher Kyle Alvarez hummed through the first three innings, giving up just one hit on his way to 11 strikeouts in a complete game effort.
“I like it hot,” said the big senior. “It gets you looser and you stay loose.”
In the top of the fourth, down 3-0, Abbott Tech made it hotter.
Jordan O’Brien walked. R.J. Hunt (2-for-3) doubled him home. Dan Collinge and Stanley Roman followed with singles, closing the gap to 3-2 with no outs.
Alvarez stuck out the next two batters and got the third to pop up.
Mills scrambled for two more runs in the bottom of the inning on another Shaffer hit, an infield chopper by Sam Buchanan and a pair of sacrifice flies by Cizeski and Janssens.
Wolverines starter Mills was done when he walked Bryce Duda in the bottom of the fifth, bringing on Cody Waterbury. Waterbury allowed just two more Spartan hits, but Mills’ short game still clicked and two more huge clubs were still in the bag.
Duda, number nine in the Spartan batting order, stole second and third, then scored on a throwing error for a 6-2 lead.
In the sixth, Janssens and Ross Coyle showed the Spartans can also go long, drilling back-to-back triples to the right center field fence for the final run.
“We’re not relying on last year,” said Coach Darcy. Lewis Mills, now 15-6, goes to Beacon Falls Wednesday for a second-round game against No. 7 Woodland. The Hawks, 16-5 in the NVL, beat No. 26 Stonington 4-3 on Tuesday.