Trumbull’s 3rd inning keys win over Masuk

TRUMBULL — It was top step of dugout time. Masuk had loaded the bases with no one out in the third inning of its season opener at Trumbull on Saturday. Coach Brian Hourigan’s Panthers had the middle of their lineup due to hit.

Connor Johnston, the ace righthander for coach Phil Pacelli’s Eagles, had loaded the bases on a hit batter, a double by Al Perez, and a walk, buthe 6-foot-4 senior stuck out the next three batters.

“I got in some trouble, but my fastball felt good today,” said Johnston, who will pitch next season at Sacred Heart University. “I got some timely strikeouts. We built some energy off that when we came up to bat.”

Trumbull sent 12 hitters to the plate and scored seven runs in the bottom of the third on its way to a 10-2 non-conference victory.

“It was windy and cold, not ideal hitting weather, but I’m pleased with how we swung the bats,” Pacelli said. “Dylan Moran had a big two-run single, and Kevin Katragadda hit that threerun home run, in that sevenrun third.”

Katradadda’s homer cleared the left-field fence by a wide margin. “I’ve worked on my hitting in the offseason. It’s good to get a home run in the first game,” said Katragadda, a senior third baseman who added a runscoring single in a two-run sixth.

Logan Huzi singled in a run and Johnston doubled in a run in the third. Trumbull tacked on an unearned run in the fifth, two runs in the sixth, and two in the sixth.

Johnson allowed four hits infour shutp\out innings. He struck out eight, walked two and hit a batter.

Masuk scored two runs in the in the fifth but left 12 runners stranded.

“We did okay,” Hourigan said. “You’ve got to credit them. In a high school game to have bases loaded with no outs ... you have got to tip your hat (to Johnston) for getting out of it. That was the turning point.”

Perez, who had three hits, hustled out a double to start the Masuk fifth. Ryan Fedeli followed with a single and Kaige Garrity doubled them home.

“It is great to get the first win against a good wellcoached team like Masuk,” Pacelli said. “It came down to that third inning. Conner got the strikeouts and we put six hits together.”