Hernandez’s streak helps spark Hatters

The Danbury baseball team put together a fourgame winning streak after losing its first two FCIAC games. Included in the win streak was three wins in three days over quality opponents in Ridgefield, Westhill and Darien.

The Hatters did not just win, they made a statement, winning those three games by a combined score of

37-10.

Danbury coach Shaun Ratchford credits the team’s difficult out-of-conference schedule to begin the season with helping his team be prepared for the daily grind of the FCIAC. The Hatters had wins against SCC opponents Fairfield Prep and Hamden, and lost to Masuk of the SWC.

“There are really good teams in the league. People want to know why we play such good teams out of conference? Guess what, you want to get in the state tournament, you are going to face a pitcher who can beat you by himself,” Ratchford said. “You want to play as many tough games, you want to play one-run games. This is a very good league and it has really good coaches and the kids have to learn the game and learn how to play.”

Danbury won the three games last week in large part because of the performance of its leadoff hitter, Javon Hernandez.

Hernandez reached base 10-straight times in the two games against Westhill and Darien.

Against Westhill he walked three times with two singles, two stolen bases, three runs scored and an RBI. Against Darien he walked twice, was hit by a pitch and singled twice as part of a 16-2 win in five innings.

“It gives us an advantage when (Hernandez) gets in the box because they are talking about watching the drag bunt and not letting him get on base. That’s a lot of pressure for a pitcher to have to worry about for an individual guy,” Ratchford said. “Once he’s on base, he reads the ball down so well that I don’t really have to coach him out there. I put him on his own a lot of the time and he makes reads and has a great baseball instinct. I didn’t coach that, that is something he came to the table with.”

MANCHESTER MOWING THEM DOWN

In its last four games, Manchester has outscored opponents 31-3, winning all four.

Senior Marc Provera tossed a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 win over E.O. Smith. Manchester is 5-2.

A date with East Catholic (7-1) is on tap for Tuesday as the Indians look to stay in the mix at the top of the CCC standings.