Rembish settles down, helps lead Falcons past Red Raiders

TORRINGTON - St. Paul Catholic starting pitcher Ethan Rembish withstood a miserable first inning, then kept the Falcons (12-2; 10-2 NVL) alive for a 5-4 seventh-inning comeback win over Torrington (7-5; 6-5 NVL) Wednesday afternoon at Fuessenich Park.

“Ethan’s been good for us all year,” said St. Paul coach Vic Rinaldi. “He’s a bulldog.”

For the second straight day, a Torrington’s starting pitcher — Brian Bassler on Wednesday — controlled a big lead into a late-inning buzz saw.

Tuesday, the Red Raiders turned Watertown’s comeback tie in the sixth inning into a walk-off Torrington win in the seventh.

Wednesday, in their final at-bat after St. Paul’s uprising in the top of the seventh inning, Torrington went down in order to reliever Scott Winters.

On a day with just 12 total hits (7-5 Falcons), errors opened big innings for both sides.

In the first, a St. Paul throwing error on a double play grounder helped load the bases with one out after a leadoff hit by Aaron Bain-

er (2-for-4) and a hit batter.

Still alive with two outs, Jake Nilsson pounded a three-run double into deep right center field.

Rembish gave up just three more Raider hits in the game, but Torrington pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fourth inning with two of them. Ryan Ahlman, a hero of Tuesday’s win, singled, then scored on a double by Bainer.

Bassler, meanwhile, nohit the Falcons for the first two innings, gave up a single in the third and just two more hits before the seventh — a triple and RBI single by Sean Crean and Josh Cofrancesco (2-for-4) in the fifth.

Leading 4-1 with just one more inning to go, Bassler gave up a pair of singles to St. Paul sophomore Walker Sharp and freshman Shaun Remillard with one out.

In a flashback to the first inning, Bassler drew a grounder good for at least another out at third if not a game-ending double play. Instead, a throw to second bounced low into the outfield, scoring Sharp while leaving the game open for an RBI single by Nick Morrell, a walk and a winning two-run single by Ryan Greene.

“We stole one,” said Coach Rinaldi. “We’ve hit the ball all year but (Bassler) kept us off balance.”

“They’re probably the best offense in the league,” said Coach Richardson. “(Bassler) pitched great all day. He deserved to win.”