Orange Post 127 now 2-2

Scoring in each of the first four innings, West Haven Post 71 stacked up a 10-0 lead over Orange Post 127 Monday night in the first game of a twi-light double header at Brinley Field. After piling up that early lead Post 71 went on to crush Orange 10-3. The Orangemen bounced back to take the nightcap 4-3. With the split of that twin bill, Post 127 is now 2-2 while West Haven sits at 1-4.

 “Once again we got behind early. It’s the second game in a row our defense let us down,” Coach Bob Mirto said after dropping the opener. “I’ m happy to see that we showed signs of coming around toward the end of the game. Our young kids did some things I liked in the late innings. I think I’d describe our team as ‘a work in progress.’ We don’t have dominant pitching so there isn’t a big margin for error. You can’t make mistakes without that dominant pitching. We also swung at a lot of high pitches tonight, swinging  at balls that weren’t in the strike zone.”

West Haven jumped on Orange starting pitcher Adam Kyasky (who had not pitched a game for any team in more than 2 years) for a quick run in the top of the first inning. With one out, Lou Bisighni walked. Former West Haven High hockey goalie J.P. Withington singled Bisighni around to third and he scored on Dan Brennan’s double into the left-center field gap. Kyasky avoided further damage as he retired Matt Gagne on an inning-ending ground ball that left both Post 71 base runners stranded in scoring position.

Second inning base hits by Wes Gambardella, Tyler Gambardella, and Bisighni along with a double steal by the Gambardellas gave West Haven a 3-0 lead.

Things went from bad to much worse for Orange in a nightmarish third inning. Withington led off with a two-bagger into right center field. Dan Brennan waved at and missed the third strike but the ball skipped past Orange catcher Jim Martino.  As Brennan raced to first base on the passed ball, Martino retrieved the ball but his throw struck Brennan in the back. With those mistakes, Withington scored and Brennan ended up on second base. Kyasky hit Gagne with a pitch and then served up a two-run double to Eric Flores. A pair of wild pitches, another batter hit by a pitch and an error by third baseman Brian Speer gave West Haven two more runs and a commanding 8-0 lead.

Jeff Lubin, who came in to get the final out of the third inning, started out the fourth inning by handing Withington a free pass. Another Orange wild pitch and back-to-back, one-out singles by Gagne and Wes Gambardella extended the visitors’ lead to 9-0.

West Haven pitcher Alex Soto threw four perfect innings, retiring all 12 batters he faced. He lost his perfect game by walking Lubin with o-out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The no-hitter went by the boards when Sean Butler cracked a 2-0 out single into left field but both runners were left stranded on base as Soto retiring Nials Damando on a fly ball.

Post 71 tacked on a 10^th run in the top of the sixth on Tyler Gambardella’s RBI single.

After being blanked on only one hit through six innings, Orange finally began to show some offense life in the bottom of the seventh. Consecutive base hits by Ted Ballou, Lubin, Steve Falcigno, and Butler gave Post 127 its first two tallies. Following an error by shortstop Gagne, Sam Taubl ripped an RBI base hit into right field. Those three runs would be all that Orange would get as Soto slammed the door on the hosts would get. The game ended with Bisighni chasing down a long foul drive by Nick Baviello.

According to Mirto, “Jeff Lubin looked good on the mound and Sam Taubl really hit the ball hard. When it left his bat, I thought it was going out of the park. Jim Martino is young but he’s doing a nice job behind the plate and is starting to hit the ball too. We have a lot of young kids that are looking for their first opportunity to play regularly and contribute. If we continue to come together as a team and steadily improve, there’s no reason that we can’t start to play winning baseball. We’ve done that successfully in past years.”

West Haven pounded out 13 hits. Its offensive leaders were: Tyler Gambardella (two base hits, two runs, two RBI), Withington (a double, two singles, and two runs), Gagne (a double, two singles, two runs, three stolen bases), Wes Gambardella (two singles, one run, one RBI), and Florio (one base hit, one run, two RBI).

Soto went the distance, allowing three runs on six hits. He also walked one Orange batter, hit another with a pitch and struck out one as he earned his first win of the summer. Butler singled twice and drove in a run for the losers.

The 2-2 Mirtomen are back in action on Saturday for a 10 AM double- header at Jonathan Law High School, against Milford Post 196.