Unionville Legion Stays in Zone 1 Race With Wins Over Burlington

FARMINGTON – Jimmy Mulpeter looked like he just put in a day’s work in the corn field.

His uniform was soiled from head to toe. He flashed a tired smile, prompting his American Legion coach Walt Nakonechny to tag him as the personification of what had transpired over the previous four hours.

Unionville Post 32 did not play crisp baseball. There were errors, mental and physical. The pitching was spotty. Only the bats produced the way Nakonechny would prefer, but his boys did what they needed to do. Two victories over Zone 1 cellar-dweller Burlington Thursday at John Grocki Field were essential to keep Unionville playoff hopes flickering.

Pat Wollenberg cracked a long double to score Max Spracklin from first base as Unionville completed a 5-4 eight-inning win to finish a game that was suspended by rain last month. Brian Schweighoffer drove in three runs and David Kerlejza had three hits to pace the local Legionnaires to an excruciating 7-4 win in the nightcap.

How ugly was it? Seven batters were hit by pitches over the course of the 13 full innings played. Each team made three errors in the second game as simply tired bordered on exhausted.

When all was said and done, it wasn’t picturesque but as the sports axiom goes, a win’s a win.

“We’ll take it at this point of the year,” Nakonechny said. “We did play sloppy. We are capable of playing much, much better. But sometimes you’ve just got to grind it out.”

Unionville is 13-6 in a zone traditionally dominated by Bristol, Simsbury and Southington. The locals need to keep on winning to break through to the state playoffs slated for Bristol’s Muzzy Field beginning July 17.

“Bristol has four losses and we have six so Bristol has to lose two,” Nakonechny said. “The remaining part of the schedule is pretty tough so we have to play our game. We literally have to win just about every game but crazier things have happened.”

The first game was washed away in the second inning on June 15 with Unionville holding a 3-0 lead. But Burlington (2-16), which played the role of spoiler to the hilt, rallied for four runs in the fourth inning with the help of two Unionville miscues.

Unionville, its back to the wall in the seventh, got a run-scoring double from Mac Crispino (2-for-3, 2 RBI) on an 0-2 count to tie the game at 4. Matt deVaux led off the frame with a walk and took second on a sacrifice by winning pitcher Jeff Schweighoffer.

Burlington knuckleball pitcher Tyler Doyle, who kept the Unionville hitters off-balance with his slow floater, got the first two outs in the eighth, but Spracklin singled to left and Wollenberg blasted a shot over the head of left fielder Paul Gionfriddo for the walk-off win.

“He had been struggling a little bit at the plate but he hits a rocket by attacking the inside of the ball,” Nakonechny said. “He grinds out an at-bat in the second game by fouling off about five pitches and hitting a line drive up the middle.

“So out of these sloppy games I see very positive things coming forth.”

Jeff Schweighoffer allowed just one earned run in a route-going effort. He walked one and struck out four.

In the regularly scheduled game, Unionville scored twice in the first inning on RBI singles by Kerlejza and Brian Schweighoffer.

The play of the Schweighoffer brothers has been essential to Unionville’s success, which Nakonechny attributes to their father’s lessons.

“It’s a testament to Coach Mike Schweighoffer,” he said. “He teaches them the right way to play, both on and off the field, mentally and physically, since they could walk. That kind of attitude is contagious. They lead by example.”

Crispino didn’t have his best stuff but managed to prevent Burlington from completing its second comeback of the night. Mulpeter finished up with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball to gain a save but hit two batters in the process.

“They did not have their ‘A’ game going, but I’ve been trying to teach them that with your ‘B’ game, you can be very effective and get guys out,” Nakonechny said. “A lot of young pitchers have a tendency to start walking the house, but they stayed calm, stayed focus and threw strikes. They had limited stuff but got the job done.”

Unionville put it away with a four-run uprising in the third. Kerlejza’s double set the table. Brian Schweighoffer, Mulpeter and Colan Callahan smacked run-scoring singles.

The resilient visitors scored single runs in the fourth and fifth to pull within two, but Unionville got one back in the sixth on Brian Schweighoffer’s sacrifice fly. A double by deVaux and single by Kerlejza were the key hits.

Unionville next hosts Simsbury Saturday before Avon comes to Tunxis Mead for a Sunday doubleheader.

Unionville 7, Burlington 4

Game 2 (At Grocki Field)

Unionville                                 Burlington

                           ab  r  h  bi                                 ab  r  h  bi

Crispino p             4  1  1  0          Wazorko ss         3  1  2  1

deVaux 2b            2  2  1  0          Gionfriddo cf       0  0  0  0

JSchwgffr 3b         3  0  0  0          Ugalde 2b           2  0  0  0

Kerlejza rf             4  2  3  1         Maytas cf            2  0  1  0

BSchwgffr 1b        2  1  2  3          Caruso ph           1  0  0  0

Mulpeter ss-p        4  1  2  1          Doyle ph             1  0  0  0

Rojas lf                 4  0  0  1         Bohlman c           1  2  0  0

Callahan c             3  0  1  1         Sullivan ph           0  0  0  0

Arcidiacono ph      1  0  0  0         Augustine lf          1  0  0  0

Wollenbrg cf         4  0  2  0          Melbourn ph        2  0  0  0

                                                  Martin 3b            2  0  1  0

                                                  Bruzas p              2  0  0  0

                                                  Neuhaussr 1b      0  0  0  0

                                                  Palma ph             3  1  1  0

                                                  Kysar rf               3  0  0  0

Totals                   31  7  12  7      Totals                  23  4  5  1

Unionville             204 001 0 – 7  12  3

Burlington            002 110 0 – 4    5  3

E – J. Schweighoffer, Mulpeter 2, Bruzas 2, Wazorko. LOB – Unionville 8, Burlington 7. DP – Unionville. 2B – Kerlejza, deVaux. S – deVaux, Gionfriddo. SF – B. Schweighoffer. SB – Palma, Bohlman. CS – Maytas, Palma.

Unionville

                                ip      h   r   er  bb  so

Crispino W                4.2     4   4   1   6   4

Mulpeter Sv              2.1     1   0   0   0   2

Burlington

Bruzas L                    7      12   7   7   0   4

WP – Crispino 2. HBP – by Mulpeter (Ugalde, Sullivan), by Bruzas (deVaux, Crispino, B. Schweighoffer, J. Schweighoffer). T – 2:12. Records – Unionville 13-6; Burlington 2-16.