| CHS Varsity Baseball 2009 Postseason |
| SCC Quarterfinal Cheshire 5 West Haven 4 Dan Manke 0-5 HBP Steve Howard 2-6 HR, run, RBI Dave Tammaro 1-3 double, run, 3 BB Brad Runowicz 1-5 double, RBI, Dan Flynn 1-4 run, BB Max Slade 1-4, run,sac Connor David 2-4 run, BB, RBI Eric Ostroski 1-5 double Dom Severino 0-4 sac fly, GWRBI Jefferis (W,6-2): 10 Innings, 4 runs (2 earned), 5 hits, 4 walks, 12 K's, 150 pitches Slade: 1 Inning, 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 K, 0 walks, 13 pitches |
| Jefferis Matches Lawrence for 10 Innings Rams Beat #1 West Haven in 11, 5-4 If you like pitching, you were treated to a beauty on Tuesday night at Quigley Stadium. In a light to steady rain, two of the best pitchers in the SCC locked up in a marathon of a pitching dual. When it was all said and done, Dom Severino's fly ball scored Connor David in the top of the 11th as the Rams advance to the semi-finals of the SCC Tournament with the upset win over West Haven. Max Slade pitched the bottom of the 11th and blew away the Devils to save the game for Jefferis (6-2). This was a a see saw battle early on that saw Cheshire jump out to a 2-0 lead in the second only to have the Westies battle back with 2 in the 3rd and 2 in the 5th to take a 4-2 lead. It could have gone south for the Rams at that point, but they have been a tough group all year and tonight they really showed that this is a special group of kids. In the top of the sixth, the Rams answered. Steven Howard led off the inning with a bomb over the right center field fence for his 1st home run of the year to cut the lead to 1. Dave Tammaro then walked, moved to second on a wild pitch (one of five thrown by Lawrence on the night), and Brad Runowicz lined a 3-2 pitch for a double scoring Tammaro and tying the game at 4. Jefferis would then retire the next 14 batters while the Rams had base runners in the 7th, 8th, and 9th but could not push a run across. Lawrence (16 strikeouts) would wiggle his way out of the jams with a brilliant mix of fastballs and curve balls, keeping the Ram hitters off balance most of the night. West Haven had their only real shot at a game winning rally in the bottom of the 10th. After two were out, an infield single and a walk put runners at 1st and 2nd, but Jefferis got out of the inning by inducing a 6-4 force play. It was a brilliant performance by Jefferis, frustrating the West Haven hitters all night as evidenced by the shaking heads going back to the dugout. The pitching game plan seemed to be executed well, as he was throwing all pitches on all counts, striking out 12 in a 10 inning stint. Then came the Cheshire 11th. West Haven finally went to the bullpen, bringing in Mark Langello, who had a win against the Rams earlier this year. As the rain began to fall a little harder, catcher Connor David surprised the stadium, noticing the third baseman playing deep, he dropped down a beautiful bunt down the third base line for a hit. The ball stayed just fair and the Rams had a leadoff runner. Senior Captain Eric Ostroski was next. The Westies had Ostroski's number for most of the night and the whole stadium was expecting a sacrifice bunt. After one attempt failed, Ostroski got a 2-2 curve ball that he was looking for and drove a line drive over the right fielder's head for a double to move David to third. The loyal Cheshire crowd came out of their wet seats as the chance for a improbable win was at hand. Sophomore DH Dom Severino came to the plate and calmly hit a fly ball to medium center field. As the center fielder got to the ball, he tried to throw it before he caught it and it glanced off his glove. David cruised home from third to make it 5-4. Langello would bear down and get the next three batters, two on strikes, stranding Ostroski and Severino, but the damage had been done. Max Slade, who has positioned himself as a reliable closer for the Rams, did just that, coming in and striking out two and inducing a ground out to Tammaro at third. Cheshire opened the scoring against Lawrence in the 2nd. Junior Dan Flynn led off with a single to left. Slade would then single up the middle. Both runners would advance on a wild pitch. Another wild pitch scored Flynn to make it 1-0. David then drilled a high fastball to centerfield for a run scoring single to make it 2-0. West Haven tied the game on a Lawrence RBI single and a long triple by first baseman Mark Corriea off the left center field fence. Jefferis stranded Correia by getting a flyout to Flynn in left to end the threat. Lawrence would help his own cause in the fifth with a two run opposite field home run that just cleared the high fence in right. That would set the stage for the comeback. The Rams will be playing in the semifinals of the SCC Tournament on Thursday afternoon at 4:00 at Yale Stadium against Foran, who defeated Branford in their quarterfinal game. The 7:00 semifinal will pit Amity,a winner over Notre Dame West Haven, vs. Johnathan Law, who defeated Shelton. |
| Michaud Settles In, Quiets Rams 5-4 Foran Pitcher Joe Michaud had a tough three innings. He had trouble finding the plate and his defense let him down. Cheshire was up 4-3. However, after Foran scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a balk and a sacrifice fly, Michaud retired the final 13 batters of the game and led his team into the SCC Championship game against fellow Milford school Johnathan Law, who came behind from a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Amity. The Rams did start the scoring in the first inning. With one out, Steve Howard reached on an error and Dave Tammaro lined a single to left center. Brad Runowicz singled home Howard and back to back walks to Dan Flynn and Max Slade scored Tammaro to make it 2-0 Rams. Foran would answer against Cheshire sophomore pitcher Ryan Fowler in the bottom of the frame. A leadoff double by Mike Pascarella and a wild pitch put a runner on third. After inducing a fly ball to right and making a great stab of a hard hit come backer, Fowler uncorked a wild pitch to score Pascarella with the first run. Still with two outs, a walk and a single by Zach Phelan put runners on 1st and 2nd. Catcher Tom Booth lined a single scoring one run and a second run came home when the ball was booted in the outfield, giving Foran a 3-2 lead. The Rams would jump back out in front in the third. Runowicz led off with a double down the right field line. An intentional pass to Flynn put runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Slade bunted the runners over and Connor David lined a two run single to left center, giving the lead back to the Rams. Cheshire then executed the hit and run to perfection as DH John Kubilus hit a ground ball right where the second baseman was before he left to cover second, however the rally died there. The Cheshire offense also died there. They would go down in order in each of the last four innings at the hands of Michaud, who is off to pitch at Division 1 Bryant University in the fall. The winning rally by Foran started with a Phelan double. Booth singled to left putting runners on first and third. It was then that Fowler attempted the "fake to third, throw to first" pickoff move. The first base umpire ruled that Fowler did not step directly to third, ruling a balk, scoring Phelan and moving Booth to second. Booth would immediately steal third and score the eventual winning run on a sacrifice fly to right by Nick Drenchen. Slade came in to pitch the 5th and 6th working himself into and out of jams in each inning to give the Rams a fighting chance that wasn't to be tonight. The silver lining to the cloud is that the Rams have clinched the #5 seed in the Class LL State tournament that will start Monday. That means that Cheshire should get two home games to start the tournament. By not playing in the SCC Championship game on Saturday, the Rams will go into the first week of the tourney with all of their pitchers well rested and ready to go, especially Kevin Jefferis, who pitched 10 innings in the first round win against West Haven on Tuesday. Stay tuned for 1st round opponent. |
| SCC Semifinal Foran 5 Cheshire 4 Dan Manke 0-4 Steve Howard 0-4 run, Dave Tammaro 1-4 run, Brad Runowicz 2-4 double, run, RBI Dan Flynn 0-1 run, 2 BB Max Slade 0-1, sac, RBI, BB Connor David 1-3 2 RBI Eric Ostroski 0-3 John Kubilus 1-3 Fowler (L,5-2): 4 Innings, 5 runs (4 earned), 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 K's, 1 balk, 2 pickoffs, 71 pitches Slade: 2 Inning, 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 K, 1 walks, 33 pitches |
| CIAC Baseball: Cheshire advances, Southington goes home By: Sean Krofssik 06/01/2009 Record-Journal CHESHIRE - A potent offense and the strong pitching of ace Kevin Jefferis lifted the No. 5 Rams to an impressive victory 8-2 victory over No. 28 Greenwich in a first round game of the CIAC Class LL baseball tournament at Cheshire High School. "We feel the first one is always the toughest in any kind of tournament," Cheshire coach Bill Mrowka said. "We try to play these tournament games, every pitch, every at bat, every play, but it's always good to get that first one. Now we could relax a little bit and it takes away a lot of tension." Through the first six innings, Jefferis (7-2) was dealing. The right hander scattered three hits and fired just 6-1 pitches to get through those frames. "I got ahead on them today and my offense gave me a big lead today," Western New England-bound Jefferis said. "I just threw strikes. I had a pretty good slider today and I was able to locate my fastball." In the seventh he got touched up for two runs, including two walks and two hits, but by that time the Rams offense had already opened up 8-0 lead. Cheshire (16-5) scored in each of the four innings to take the pressure off right away. In the first, after the first two batters were retired by the Cardinal ace Yuta Okazaki (5-4), Brad Runowicz worked a four-pitch walk, stole second base. Teammate Dan Flynn lifted a fly ball to right field that was dropped by Greenwich's Robbie Catalano for a Cheshire 1-0 lead. The Rams runs from then on out were much louder with a bevy of screaming line drives splitting the Cardinals outfielders. Max Slade and Connor David opened the second inning with stinging singles to centerfield. Cheshire DH John Kubilis stroked a frozen rope just short of the 365 marker in left-center field that chased home Slade and Davide as Kubilis strolled into second base. Runowicz kept the hard hits coming with a deep drive right-centerfield gap for a triple to drive home Steven Howard who opened the third with a ground ball single to left field that made it 4-0. Cheshire leadoff hitter Dan Manke (2-for-4, double, triple, three RBIs) got in the hit parade with a RBI double in the fourth inning, driving in Kubilis (who reached on an error) and the Rams fifth run. After Okazaki retired Cheshire in order in the fifth inning on three pitches, the Rams struck again in the sixth inning. For the second frame in a row, it was Manke who had the big hit, a ringing triple to left field bringing home David (single) and Dom Severino (HBP) that built the lead up to 7-0. "I've been in a slump and he gave me two pitches that I could hit," Manke said. "It felt good. I think today was one of the best games we played all year." Howard added a RBI single that pushed Manke across home plate for the Rams final run. Greenwich (10-11) scratched across a pair in the top of the seventh with a RBI single by Adam Franchella and a run-scoring groundout by Mike Swenson, after loading the bases with no outs. "We got beat by a very good team," Greenwich coach Mike Mora said. "They have a good team and were ahead in the count all of the time. Once we got behind, it's hard to come back against a good pitcher like that. All of the credit goes to them, but our kids played hard the whole game." Okazaki took the loss for the Cardinals giving up nine hits and eight runs (six earned). The Rams will now move on to the second round today against No. 21 Hall (13-8) at 3:30 p.m. The Warriors upset No. 12 Westhill on Monday 9-5 on the road to advance. Cheshire's Steven Howard (2-2) will be toeing the rubber today for the Rams sporting a 2-2 record this season. "It was a great way to open the state tournament," Jefferis said. "We look forward to (today)." Cheshire's second round game will be carried on AM 1290. West Haven 4, Southington 2: Tom Lawrence fired a one-hitter, striking out 15 and walking one as the Blue Devils defeated the Blue Knights in West Haven. Trailing 4-0 after three innings, Kevin O'Brien recorded Southington's only hit of the game. It brought home a run. Southington pitcher Dylan Danko (4-4) pitched the entire game, struck out five and gave up seven hits. Southington ended the season at 10-11. |
| CIAC First Round #5 Cheshire 8 #28 Greenwich 2 Dan Manke 2-4 double, triple, run, 3 RBI Steve Howard 2-4 run, RBI Brad Runowicz 1-3 triple, run, RBI, SB, BB Dan Flynn 0-3 Eric Ostroski 0-3 Max Slade 1-3 run Connor David 2-3 2 runs John Kubilus 2-3 double, run, 2 RBI Dom Severino 0-2 HBP, run Jefferis (W,7-2): 7 Innings, 2 runs (1 earned), 4 hits, 3 walks, 5 K's, , 86 pitches |
| CIAC Second Round #5 Cheshire 7 #21 Hall 1 Dan Manke 1-4 RBI Steve Howard 2-2 HR, 2 runs, RBI, SB, 2 BB Dave Tammaro 0-4 RBI Brad Runowicz 1-3 run, SB, HBP Dan Flynn 0-3 run, SB, BB Max Slade 2-3 run, RBI Connor David 1-3 run, BB Eric Ostroski 1-2 run, RBI Ryan Connolly 0-0 BB, SB Dom Severino 1-2 RBI, BB Howard (W,3-2): 7 Innings, 1 runs (earned), 3 hits, 1 walk, 8 K's, , 87 pitches |
| Rams Ride Howard's Arm, Bat to LL Quarters Another Play Date with West Haven on Saturday Steven Howard pitched a 3 hit gem and launched a rocket home run to left field to lead the Rams into the LL Quarters with a 7-1 win over Hall of West Hartford today. Howard struck out 8 and was in control all the way. It took the Ram offense a little while to get going in this one. Howard did hit his line shot into the trees in left in the 1st to give himself a 1-0 lead. It would stay that way until the 4th. With one out Max Slade drew a walk. Connor David followed with a hard single in the hole between 1st and 2nd. He took second on the throw to try and get Slade at third. With the infield in, Eric Ostroski shot a single into left to score Slade and move David to third. Ostroski came out of the game with a bruised ankle. He had fouled a ball off of the ankle prior to the RBI single. Ryan Connolly ran for Ostroski and promptly stole second. This would bring the infield in once again and Dom Severino would rip one past the dive of the shortstop and into left to drive in David and make it 3-0. Dan Manke would then line a single to center to drive in Severino. Cheshire would steal an insurance run in the 5th. Dan Flynn would lead off with a walk. He would move to second and then to third on two wild pitches. One out later David drew a walk. With David running, Flynn broke for home and made it easily to give the Rams a 5-0 lead. The Rams would add even more insurance in the sixth on an RBI ground out by Dave Tammaro, who was playing on a bad ankle and an RBI single by Slade. Unfortunately Howard would lose the shutout in the seventh giving up a one out triple and a sacrifice fly before striking out the last batter and sending his team to the quarter finals against old friend West Haven. After dropping two close decisions to the Devils, Cheshire beat Tom Lawrence in 11 innings in the SCC Tournament, thanks to an outstanding pitching performance by Kevin Jefferis. The two Aces will get another shot at each other on Saturday. The site and time have yet to be determined. We will update you as soon as the word goes out. For the second consecutive game, the Rams have played flawless defense to go along with the outstanding pitching and timely hitting. Stay tuned to your home for Ram Baseball!!! |
| CIAC Quarterfinals #4 West Haven 3 #5 Cheshire 2 Dan Manke 2-3 RBI, BB, 2 SB Steve Howard 0-4 Dave Tammaro 0-3 Brad Runowicz 0-3 Dan Flynn 1-3 double Max Slade 0-2 BB Connor David 0-2 BB Eric Ostroski 1-3 run Dom Severino 1-3 double, RBI Jefferis (L,7-3): 6 Innings, 3 runs (2 earned), 6 hits, 1 walk, 3 K's, Balk , 84 pitches |
| Rams Battle Back, Fall Short to WH 3-2 The dream season ended on Saturday for the Cheshire Rams Baseball Team. Cheshire lost to Tom Lawrence and the West Haven Blue Devils 3-2 at Palmer Field. The Rams were trailing 3-0 going into the seventh, but wouldn't go quietly, putting together a rally in which Eric Ostroski got it started with a two out single and Dom Severino and Dan Manke had key RBI hits. When Manke stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, the crowd grew to it's feet, but Lawrence got the last out on a strikeout, advancing West Haven to the semi's against old friend Shelton, who knocked off #1 Bristol Central. West Haven jumped out on top in the first inning. A one-out single by John Ascenzia was followed by a long double to right by Dave Riccio. Ascenzia would score on a Lawrence ground out and Riccio would come home on a balk, as the ball fell out of Jefferis glove while standing on the rubber. The Rams had a couple of opportunities early. Back to back walks to Max Slade and Connor David in the second but they could not advance the runners. In the third, Dan Manke singled and stole second but Lawrence was able to get Howard and Tammaro to end the threat. In the fourth, Dan Flynn doubled with one out, moved to third on a groundout, but was also stranded. The Blue Devils added an insurance run, that ultimately became the winning run, in the bottom of the fourth on a Kevin Croce home run down the left field line just inside the foul pole. In the seventh, Lawrence got the first two hitters. Ostroski hit one up the middle for a single. Dom Severino then drove a 1-1 pitch to the base of the wall in right center, scoring Ostroski. Manke promptly drove in pinch runner Ryan Connolly to cut the lead to one. Manke stole second but that's as far as he would make it. The Rams finished the season 18-7. It was the final game for Seniors Dave Tammaro, Kevin Jefferis, Eric Ostroski, Steven Howard, Andrew Narcisco, Brad Runowicz, and Ryan Dupont. We thank them for their dedication and professionalism. |