Unionville Drops Into Legion Losers' Bracket

BRISTOL – Unionville Post 32 was on the plus side of the American Legion’s 10-run mercy rule in drubbing Oakville in its state tournament opener on Saturday.

On Sunday, the baseball cleat was on the other foot.

Kevin Cawley lashed four hits and drove in three runs Sunday as the Norwalk Post 12 used a 15-hit assault to send Unionville to the losers' bracket with a 13-3 win at Muzzy Field that ended mercifully with two outs in the home seventh inning.

Unionville manager Walt Nakonechny was discreet about the effect of the defeat.

“I just told these guys, character comes not when you’re up 12-1. It comes when you’re down. That’s where you build character,” Nakonechny said. “We came back and scored two runs. They just came back and hit the ball. They showed even more heart. That was the nail right there. There’s only so much you can do.”

Unionville starter Adam Spracklin didn’t have the command he had in his last outing, a win over East Haven in the play-in round when he allowed two hits over five shutout innings.

Two walks and an infield hit set the tone for Norwalk’s four-run second-inning rally. After Unionville posted a run in the third on an RBI single by Jimmy Mulpeter, Norwalk scored another four off Spracklin in the fourth when two more free passes evolved into runs.

Unionville battled back from an 8-1 hole in the sixth.

With two out and the bases empty, Mac Crispino singled and Colan Callahan walked. Juan Rojas drilled a double to left and both runners scored to cut the lead to five.

But Norwalk (23-7) got the runs back off Crispino in the sixth. Eric Stenger’s triple was the key blow. Spencer Jacoby and Cawley also had hits in the frame. Cawley’s two-run double in the seventh brought down the curtain, but Nakonechny and his troops remained positive about the future.

Unionville meets Zone 1 foe Bristol Monday in an elimination game at Muzzy 40 minutes after the completion of the 12:30 p.m. game.

“We have to come back tomorrow and play our game,” Nakonechny said.

Kevin Wiegard is the likely starter Monday with Crispino and Rojas available in relief.

“I like our chances,” Nakonechny said. “We just have to claw our way back into this thing. This is far from over. Nobody in this dugout thinks that we’re done and we’re not. We have a pitcher who’s going tomorrow who gave up just one earned run in [Farmington High School’s] state championship game.”

Norwalk 13, Unionville 3 (7 innings)

American Legion State Tournament

(At Muzzy Field, Bristol)

Unionville                                 Norwalk

                         ab  r  h  bi                                ab  r  h  bi

deVaux 2b          3  0  0  0       Parlanti p-lf          5  1  1  0

Mulpeter ss         3  0  2  1       Stenger ss           3  3  2  2

BSchwghfr 1b     4  0  0  0       Jacoby cf             5  2  3  2

Kerlejza rf           3  0  0  0       Daniele c            4  1  1  2

MSprcklin 3b-p   3  0  0  0       Cawley 1b           5  1  4  3

Crspino cf-p-3b  3  1  1  0       Flemming 3b        2  1  1  0

Callahan c          1  1  0  0       Ederle rf              4  1  1  0

Rojas lf              3  1  2  2       Angeley lf-p         1  2  0  0

Arcidiacono dh    2  0  1  0       Welch p              1  0  1  1

ASpracklin p       0  0  0  0       LaBry 2b             3  1  1  1

Kozak cf             1  0  0  0

Totals                26  3  6  3       Totals            33  13  15  11 

Unionville            001 002 0 –   3    6  1

Norwalk              040 403 2 – 13  15  0

E – Kerlejza. LOB – Unionville 6, Norwalk 8. 2B – Rojas, Daniele, Welch. 3B – Stenger. S – deVaux, LaBry. SB – Mulpeter 2, Parlanti.

Unionville

                                 ip      h   r  er  bb  so

ASpracklin L               4     10   8   8   4   3

Crispino                     2       4   3   3   1   0

MSpracklin                0.2     1   2   2   1   0

Norwalk

Parlanti W                 5.2    6   3   3   3   4

Welch                       1.1    0   0   0   0   0

(Mercy rule invoked with 2 out in bottom of 7^th)

WP – Parlanti, Crispino 2. BK – A. Spracklin. HBP – by M. Spracklin (Daniele). T – 2:21. Records – Unionville 21-10; Norwalk 23-7.