Darien Baseball Beats Top Seed in State Tournament

Seeded way back in 33rd place in the state tournament, the baseball team travelled to Manchester Tuesday, where the team beat No. 1 seed Cheney Tech in a well-pitched 4-0 victory.

Starter Mackenzie Glavin hurled six innings of four hit shutout ball and shortstop Thomas Carruthers came on in the seventh to record the final three outs.

Timothy Cate, a freshman left-hander who has pitched two no-hitters this year, started for Tech.  A scout from the Cincinnati Reds came equipped with a radar gun to watch him pitch.

Both pitchers worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first inning and pitched shutout ball for three innings. The Blue Wave finally got to Cate in the fourth. With two outs Brendan Donohue reached on an infield hit and raced to second when the throw got away from the first baseman.

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Lead-off hitter Thomas Carruthers rapped a single to left driving in Donohue. Bryan Previte hit a line drive that skipped past the shortstop and into the left centerfield gap driving in Carruthers and ending Cate's day on the mound.

Cate led off the bottom half of the fourth with a single but was caught stealing by Sam Gillespie who recorded his second assist of the game. Darien held a 2-0 lead after four innings.

The Blue Wave added some insurance runs in the sixth on a triple to left by Carruthers, a single to center by Previte, and a double to center by cleanup hitter Gillespie - his second of the day.

Carrying a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh, Coach Scott called on Carruthers to close the game. He struck out the first two batters and the final batter flew out to center fielder Previte completing  a hard fought victory.

The tournament continues Wednesday at 4 p.m. as Darien travels to Madison to play Daniel Hand High School.

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