Durfee baseball scores four in sixth to beat SBR 4-0

SOMERSET — Clutch hitting and strong pitching. That's a reliable route to a good record.

Durfee (9-1) put its delightfully familiar formula to use again on Friday, getting a combined two-hitter from Conner Moniz and Cam Macedo and doing all its scoring with two outs in the sixth inning to trip up Somerset Berkley Regional 4-0 at Jim Sullivan Field.

Curtis Perry raked a two-out, two-run single to left field in the sixth inning after SBR starting pitcher Alex Millar had worked his way to-thirds of the way out of a second-and-third-no-out jam. "He threw a curve ball," Perry said. "I just sat back on it and put it in play."

Curtis Perry of Durfee breaks scoreless tie in 6th inn at SBR. Brayden Bustin follows with RBI double. Durfee leads 4-0 end 6. ⁦@DurfeeAthletics⁩ ⁦@sb_raiders⁩ pic.twitter.com/wKNnO94akC

— Greg Sullivan (@GregSullivanHN) May 10, 2019//

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Perry stole second and scored when Brayden Bustin crunched an RBI double, through a strong wind, to center field. A passed ball and wild pitch brought Bustin home.

The Hilltoppers collected three of their game total five hits in the sixth. After Alex Dominguez led by walking on a 3-2 pitch, Brett Fonseca crushed a double to deep left for second and third. Millar (6 innings, 9 strikeouts, 3 walks) maintained the baseruner status quo with an infield tapper and a curve ball called strike three, before Perry delivered.

In his first pitching start of the season, Moniz went four innings with two hits, three strikeouts and no walks. Macedo walked two and fanned one in his three hitless innings.

"Both pitchers did a really good job," Durfee coach Dave Ulmschneider said. "Conner was really strong for four innings, had a little arm soreness, so we went to Cam and he was ready to go. Their side, Alex did a good job keeping us off balance for five innings and were were able to break through in the sixth."

The Raiders (2-11) played error-free ball in absorbing their fifth straight loss.

"They (Durfee) had good at-bats and our guy battled, and the defense battled," SBR coach Dennis Almeida said. "So hat's  off to them. Unfortunately we're struggling offensively. So we give up a few and that's that."

Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.