Unionville Sweeps Terryville to Move Forward in Zone I

FARMINGTON – The American Legion schedule is a grueling proposition in the best of times.

Unionville Post 32 plays a slate that rivals that of professional teams over a month’s time.
But the mountain became even harder to climb for coach Walt Nakonechny and his staff when Farmington High’s baseball season extended all the way to the state championship round.

Time was so short that paying attention to the game’s nuances was impossible.

But with just over one-third of the campaign in the books, Post 32 is in the thick of the Zone I pennant race after Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep of Terryville Post 20.

Brian Schweighoffer drove a single through a drawn-in infield to score Max Spracklin from third in the ninth inning as Unionville notched a 2-1 win in the opener at John Grocki Field. David Kerlejza collected three hits and four RBI to back the three-hit pitching of Juan Rojas in a 7-1 victory in the nightcap.

Unionville (7-4) has won three straight to surge past Terryville (5-5) in the standings.

“The tremendous success of the Farmington High School baseball team going deep in the tournament kind of delayed our season,” Nakonechny said. “We had to postpone four games. And then the rain that came postponed another four.

“It’s been baseball every day so it wears and tears on your arm.”

Kerlejza, Jeff Schweighoffer and David Wiegard were the mainstays of the FHS pitching staff, but with the Legion playing 26 games over the course of a month, Nakonechny needed volunteers.

Neither Rojas nor Jimmy Mulpeter saw much varsity action, but were right on target Tuesday. Rojas struck out 10 in six innings while yielding just one earned run. Mulpeter, Unionville’s first-game starter, allowed six hits over seven innings, walked two and fanned seven. John Arcidiacono earned the win in the opener and mopped up in game two without surrendering a hit.

“Guys like Mulpeter pitching seven and Juan pitching six, it’s huge because we need arms,” Nakonechny said. “We have seven games in five days and you’ve got to have the arms. Those guys came up big.”

Mulpeter was burned by a leadoff walk in the first inning that came around to score on a single by Todd Schaus. No other Terryville baserunner got past second base the rest of the way. A double play started by second baseman Matt deVaux after he snagged a soft liner that seemed destined to grab turf in the second inning helped.

Rojas struck out five of the first six hitters with a live fastball and using a slider and occasional change to keep the Terryville hitters off-balance. Post 20 dented him for a run on two hits in the third, but permitted just an infield hit over his last three frames.

“I just had an aggressive approach throughout the game, attacking every single hitter,” said Rojas, who should loom large in the FHS rotation next spring.

Unionville trailed 1-0 in the first game when successive singles by Jeff Schweighoffer, Mac Crispino and Spracklin filled the sacks in the fourth. A shot to third by Brian Schweighoffer (2 RBI) flagged down brilliantly by a diving Gabe Russo plated the equalizer.

Post 32 won it in the ninth when Spracklin was hit by a pitch, took second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on Brian Schweighoffer’s hit with nobody out to end the low-scoring affair.

“That’s the idea behind almost all of our games,” Nakonechny said. “It’s like Groundhog Day. Every day you wake up and it’s 1-0 on the scoreboard. Wooden bats. It’s just that type of game – execution and small-ball.”

The second game was an offensive showcase for Kerlejza. Although he batted sparingly during the high school season, he had an RBI single to left in the first, and two-run double to center in the third and a run-scoring two-bagger in the fifth.

“I was getting good pitches to hit because I was getting ahead in the count,” Kerlejza said.

Said Nakonechny: “The ball jumps off his bat a little bit different than other people. He’s got a lot of power in his swing. He’s good with his legs.”

Spracklin had an RBI double and Pat Wollenberg contributed two hits to the 10-hit attack. A diving catch in center by Crispino and a sprawling stop at second by deVaux that turned into a force play buoyed a sound defensive effort.

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Unionville 2, Terryville 1 (9)

Game 1 (At Grocki Field)

Terryville            Unionville

                               ab  r  h  bi                                                ab  r  h  bi

Donofrio p             2  1  0  0            Arcidcono lf-p            4  0  1  0

Covello 2b              2  0  1  0            Mulpeter p-ss            3  0  0  0

Schauss c                4  0  1  1             deVaux 2b                  4  0  0  0

Notchick ss             4  0  1  0            JSchwghfr 3b            3  1  1  0

GRusso 3b             3  0  1  0              Crispino cf                 3  0  1  0

Parkes 1b                4  0  1  0             Spracklin ss               3  1  1  0

JRusso cf                3  0  0  0             BSchwghfr 1b           3  0  1  2

Pederson lf             4  0  1  0              Garger c                    3  0  0  0

Morin rf                  2  0  0  0             Wolenbrg rf              3  0  0  0

Szyndlar ph-rf       2  0  0  0           

Totals                      30  1  6  1             Totals                        29  2  5  2

Terryville            100 000 000 – 1  6  1

Unionville            000 100 001 – 2  5  0

(No outs when winning run scored)

E – Notchick. LOB – Terryville 8, Unionville 8. DP – Unionville. 2B – Notchick. S – Covello, Mulpeter. SB – Donofrio, Crispino, J. Schweighoffer, Spracklin. CS – Covello.

Terryville

                               ip    h  r  er  bb  so

Donofrio L            8     5   2   2   2   4

Unionville

Mulpeter                7     6   1   1   2   7

Arcidiacono W       2     0   0   0   1   2

WP – Donofrio, Arcidiacono. HBP – by Donofrio (J. Schweighoffer, Spracklin), by Arcidiacono (Donofrio, J. Russo). T – 2:13.