East Granby High Baseball Ends Skid with Victory Over Bolton

The baseball team snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-4 victory over Bolton High in East Granby on Wednesday afternoon.

Pitcher EJ Lavoie allowed four runs, just three of which were earned, and scattered seven hits over seven innings to notch the victory for the Crusaders, who improved to 2-6 on the season.

Lavoie struck out six in going the distance for East Granby.

“He did a very good job. We needed that, because our pitching has been spotty,” said East Granby head coach Bob Bromage, who added that his pitching staff doesn’t have a true ace. “That’s what we really need. … We’re doing the best we can.”

At the plate, East Granby put pressure on Bolton’s defense by frequently bunting with runners on base and attempting to steal.

“We went to the bunting game to put a little pressure on them to make them make a play,” Bromage said. “Our kids get a little over-anxious trying to hit the first pitch all the time.”

Tyler Fricke drove in Lavoie with a single in the second inning to give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

Nick Maltagliati put the Crusaders up 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single that drove in Brian Watterlond, who reached on a bunt single.

Bolton closed the gap to 2-1 in the top of the fifth on an error that allowed Rob Munroe, who doubled, to score. But East Granby broke the game open in the bottom half of the inning with five runs, with Noah Fersch delivering the dagger in the form of a two-out bases-loaded double that drove in two runs to put the Crusaders up 6-1.

Alex Moger later scored on a passed ball to make it 7-1, and Lavoie scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth to give East Granby an 8-1 lead.

Bolton (3-6) made it interesting in the top of the seventh, scoring three runs, including one off Liam Christ’s double that plated Matt Zawislinski to make it 8-2. But the rally ended when Lavoie struck out the last batter to give the Crusaders their first victory since April 11.

“They played a good game,” Bolton head coach Greg Gunn said. “East Granby did a lot of things fundamentally. Their pitcher kept us off balance all day long, they got up on us a little bit and they executed small ball very well.”

Bromage, for his part, believes that his young team has a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.

“We’ve been through the tough part of our season,” Bromage said. “The kids have got to hang in there and get some breaks. I’m happy with our progress we only have two seniors and that’s it. Hopefully we get better as the season goes on.”

The Crusaders host East Windsor today at 3:45 p.m, while Bolton travels to Windsor Locks on Friday at 3:45 p.m.