Sports
Post 32 Advances in Legion Play as Crispino Paces a 19-Hit Attack
Northwest Catholic star raps four hits and Kerlejza pitches six scoreless innings as injury-riddled Unionville moves into Wednesday's second round
The road to the American Legion Sweet 16 remains wide open for Unionville Post 32 if a side trip to the infirmary doesn’t prove any more costly.
David Kerlejza pitched six scoreless innings and Mac Crispino cracked four safeties in a 19-hit assault as Post 32 played its way into the second round of the state tournament Tuesday with a 9-4 victory over Waterbury Post 1 at Tunxis Mead.
The prevailing question is whether the locals, seeded 21st in the 33-team field, will have enough of their key players available when they venture to East Haven today with a berth among the final 16 at stake.
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Third baseman Jeff Schweighoffer is out with a broken hand.
Shortstop Jimmy Mulpeter, his fingers jammed on a diving attempt in the ninth inning, remained at the UConn Medical Center Emergency Room last night awaiting the verdict on the severity of his injury. Should he be unable to go, head coach Walt Nakonechny will have to piece together the right side of his infield against 12th-seeded East Haven.
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John Arcidiacono, a fleet outfielder who played a key role in Farmington High’s run to the Class L final in June, is nursing a shoulder injury that has reduced him to limited action.
“On a championship team, when key players go down other players step it up,” Nakonechny said. “That’s exactly what we saw, guys like Max Spracklin stepping up with three hits and some great ‘D’ at third base. …That’s what I like to see in teams that are competing, that are going to go a long way in tournaments.”
Spracklin had one of three RBI singles in the first inning that were key to a five-run uprising against Waterbury starter Jerry Ayala. Colan Callahan sent Ayala to an early shower with a two-run single. Callahan, a catcher who didn’t play baseball last year, came through with three hits and three RBI.
“They came out hitting,” Nakonechny said. “There were 19 hits on the board. Anytime you do that, it’s pretty remarkable. It’s good to see guys are coming around, and a lot of production from the bottom of our lineup, too. Guys like Callahan.”
Kerlejza and Crispino also ripped run-scoring hits in the frame.
“[Crispino] has that capability. He’s a strong kid,” Nakonechny said. “It’s nice for him to see some better pitches. He turns on it. The ball comes off his bat in a different way than most of them.”
Crispino went 4-for-5, reached base in all five plate appearances and scored twice.
“Today in [batting practice] I was focused on keeping my hands a little quieter than they have been,” Crispino said. “I was thinking gap-to-gap. [Waterbury pitching wasn’t] too overpowering so I was able to go right up the middle. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
Kerlejza pitched out of a first-inning jam with runners on the corners and two out. He yielded four hits in all, scattering three singles over the middle innings and keeping Waterbury off the board.
“I wanted to just get ahead of the batters, try not to walk anyone and let any big innings happen,” Kerlejza said.
The coaching staff considered removing Kerlejza early to save him for possible action over the next few days but the right-hander went six innings, walked one and struck out three.
“We entertained the notion. We ultimately want to have him available on three days rest,” Nakonechny said. “If it was a 5-0 game after three and it was a seven-inning game (like the regular season) but in a nine-inning game, anything can happen. He threw 71 pitches so I feel comfortable with him coming back after three days.”
Singles by Mulpeter and Brian Schweighoffer set the table for Crispino’s RBI single in the fourth.
Unionville (19-9) tacked on two in the seventh. Crispino’s double – Post 32’s only extra-base knock – was the first of five consecutive hits. Juan Rojas and Callahan drove in the runs. Rojas, who earned a save by hurling the final three innings also had a sacrifice fly to plate Spracklin in the eighth with the final tally in a satisfying win.
“We’ve had a pretty good season and I thought we were pretty ready to go,” said Crispino, a three-sport standout at Northwest Catholic, where he’s heading into his junior year. “We were a little down [with Jeff Schweighoffer out) but we held together nicely.”
Nakonechny said he would wait to name a starter for Wednesday’s game (4 p.m., East Haven High School).
Unionville 9, Waterbury 4
American Legion Tournament Play-In
(At John P. Grocki Field)
Waterbury Unionville
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Eason cf 5 1 2 0 deVaux 2b 5 0 2 0
Acosta ss-p 5 1 3 0 Mulpeter ss 5 1 2 0
Rinaldi 1b 4 1 1 2 BSchwghfr 1b 3 2 2 0
Chieffo c 2 0 0 0 Kerlejza p 5 1 1 1
Szopor ph 1 0 1 0 Spracklin 3b 5 2 3 1
Costa 3b 3 0 0 0 Crispino cf 5 2 4 2
Saunders p 2 0 0 0 Rojas lf-p 4 1 1 2
Plourde rf 3 0 1 0 Callahan c 4 0 3 3
Torres ph 1 0 1 2 Arcidcno pr 3 0 0 0
Naylor 2b 3 0 0 0 Garger c 1 0 0 0
DeLucia lf 4 0 0 0 Wollenberg rf 5 0 1 0
Gonzalez dh-if 3 1 0 0
Ayala p 0 0 0 0
Totals 36 4 9 4 Totals 45 9 19 9
Waterbury 000 000 022 – 4 9 4
Unionville 500 100 21x – 9 19 0
E – Plourde, Chieffo, Costa, DeLucia. DP – Unionville. LOB – Waterbury 10, Unionville 12. 2B – Torres, Rinaldi, Crispino. SF – Rojas. SB – Acosta, Eason, Gonzalez, Crispino.
Waterbury
ip h r er bb so
Ayala L 0.2 5 5 5 0 0
Acosta 5.1 10 3 2 0 1
Saunders 1 4 1 1 0 0
Szopor 1 0 0 0 0 1
Unionville
Kerlejza W 6 4 0 0 1 3
Rojas Sv 3 5 4 4 2 5
(Acosta faced 3 batters in 7th)
WP – Saunders, Kerlejza. PB – Callahan. HBP – by Ayala (B. Schweighoffer); by Kerlejza (Chieffo); by Rojas (Chieffo). A – 55. T – 2:44. Records – Waterbury 16-12; Unionville 19-9.
