https://www.newstimes.com/highschool/article/Baseball-ND-Fairfield-tops-New-Milford-reaches-12939141.php
Baseball: ND-Fairfield tops New Milford, reaches SWC semifinals
Updated 9:02 pm, Wednesday, May 23, 2018
NEW MILFORD — The first round of the SWC tournament typically means low-scoring pitcher’s duels between the top aces on each staff.
That played out early in the matchup between No. 4 New Milford and No. 5 ND-Fairfield, but the Lancers’ bats came alive in an impressive display to reach the semifinals.
Jacob Rainey and Austin Allen each belted home runs, Dillon Higgins pitched 6 1/3 innings and the Lancers upended the Green Wave 6-2 to reach Thursday’s semis. ND-Fairfield socked 10 hits — including four that went for extra bases.
“We were just trying to hit the ball hard and hit where they weren’t,” said Rainey, who also doubled. “That worked out well; I was glad I could help out the team. We were seeing a lot of pitches and were focused in the dugout.”
The Lancers will meet top-seeded Newtown for a spot in the final at Bethel High.
The pair of homers staked ND a 3-0 lead through three innings while Higgins went to work. New Milford clawed back into the game behind RBI singles from Colin Lindner and Chris Gesualdi to pull to within 3-2 heading into the seventh.
Just when it appeared it was setting up for a tense finish, the Lancers broke the game open with thre runs in the top of the seventh. The key hit came with two outs off the bat of freshman Richard Kerstetter, who stepped onto the mound in the bottom of the frame to close out the win.
“That felt pretty good and gave us a lot of insurance,” Rainey said. “We had a lot of momentum going into that last inning; hopefully that carries over into the next game.”
New Milford left 10 runners on base Wednesday, many of which were in scoring position.
“We left too many guys on base and never got a big hit,” said Green Wave coach Ryan Johnson. “We didn’t get hits when we needed to and (ND-Fairfield) did. They capitalized.”
EARLY EXIT
The Green Wave were bounced in the quarterfinals for a second straight season despite a 14-6 record. New Milford fell to New Fairfield 9-4 Tuesday in the final regular-season game before suiting up for the postseason.
“It’s super disappointing,” Johnson said. “The number one goal coming out in the preseason is to SWCs; the be in the finals my first year and lose in the first round the last two years with my aces on the mound is tough.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Dillon Higgins, ND-Fairfield: Got key outs with runners on base that would have changed the complexion of the game. Struck out five batters.
QUOTABLE
“Our pitching has been there all year, but the fielding and hitting sometimes haven’t,” said Lancers coach Bill Mazzucco. “Today we put all three together and it really worked well for us. These guys that we are facing in the playoffs are very good.”
rlacey@bcnnew.com, twitter.com/ryanlacey11
ND-FAIRFIELD 6, NEW MILFORD 2
ND-FAIRFIELD021 000 3 — 6 10 1
NEW MILFORD000 101 0 — 2 7 1
Batteries: ND—Dillon Higgins (W), Richard Kerstetter and Jacob Rainey; NM— Tim Cianciolo, Ian Cooke and Derek Profita. Highlights: ND—Jacob Rainey went 2-for-4 with a home run and a double. Robert Karosy had two hits. Austin Allen had a home run. NM— Zachary Prahach doubled.
