Jesuits rally past Hatters in season opener

DANBURY — It was a back-and-forth battle between perennial Class LL baseball contenders. And on this sun-drenched Opening Day, Fairfield Prep put together the final, decisive rally.

In a rematch of last year’s state quarterfinal clash, the Jesuits came from behind twice to defeat Danbury 7-5 and avenge last year’s tournament loss.

“It was a good team win. We fell behind early, but we battled back,” said Fairfield Prep catcher Dan Fallacaro, who went 2-for-3 three runs batted in, including the go-ahead RBI single in the top of the seventh. “We’re really resilient.”

Henry Schwoerer went 3-for-4 with an RBI double and an RBI single for Prep, and Will Lucas earned the win on the mound with two innings of relief work. He retired the Hatters in order in the bottom of the seventh, striking out the final two batters of the game.

With a senior-laden roster coming back after a trip to the state quarterfinals, the Jesuits are hoping for big things this season. This win was certainly a good first step.

“We have a lot of talent, a lot of guys who want to win, and a good pitching staff,” Fallacaro said. “That’s really all you need. We’re excited.”

For Danbury, Alex Rodrigues went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and scored on a wild pitch to put Danbury ahead 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth. Antonio Martire laced a two-run single, drew a walk and scored twice. Relief pitcher Matt Sabene took the loss.

“We made too many errors,” said Danbury coach Shaun Ratchford, whose team made three . “We tell them it’s what we are at the end of May that’s more important than what we are now. We want to win every game, but we want to continue to get better. That’s what’s most important.”

TURNING POINT

After Rodrigues scampered home from third on a wild pitch to put Danbury up 5-4 heading to the seventh, Fairfield Prep answered immediately with three runs in the top of the seventh to retake the lead, this time for good.

Lucas led off with a mammoth blast to left field that went for a stand-up triple. The Danbury High field has no fence, remember, otherwise that shot would almost certainly been a home run. It landed out by the equipment shed adjacent to the stadium and track. Joe Mancini followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 5. He stole second and scored the go-ahead run on Fallacaro’s single to left. After a perfect sacrifice bunt by Austin Valus that moved Fallacaro to second, Schwoerer plated an insurance run with a two-out, RBI bloop single into shallow right field.

STRONG STARTERS

Both starting pitchers — Alexey Linsenmeyer for Prep and Justin Solimine — pitched well enough to win.

Solimine worked four innings, struck out five, scattered four hits and a walk, and allowed two runs. Sabene and Sean Beaver finished the game.

“We did a lot of nice things, that’s what I’m happy about,” Ratchford said.

Linsenmeyer worked four-plus innings, struck out four, scattered five hits and two walks and allowed two runs. Linsenmeyer allowed back-to-back singles in the fifth — one of which ricocheted off his glove — before turning the ball over to Mancini and Lucas to close out the game.

“He did a good job,” Fairfield Prep coach Rudy Mauritz said of Linsenmeyer. “It would have been really easy for him to get frustrated early, but he didn’t. He stuck with it through the first couple innings. The third and fourth innings, he threw very well. He settled down nicely.”

WHO’S NEXT

Danbury is set to host Masuk on Monday at 3:45 p.m. Masuk is coming off an 8-0 loss to Trumbull on Saturday.

Fairfield Prep is set to host Trumbull at 4 p.m. Wednesday.