Baseball Round Up: A Championship Game Tonight

After stumbling early in the double elimination tournament, Monroe's 12's poured it on in the "Loser's Bracket" advancing to the I-84 championship game against New Fairfield.

Since New Fairfield had not lost a game in the playoffs, Monroe has to beat
them twice to claim the Championship.

Last night Monroe defeated New Fairfield 10-9, led by the hot bat of Justin Young who hit two home runs, giving him four in three days.

Tonight the 12's play New Fairfield again in a winner takes all match up with New Fairfield at Beardsley Field at 5:30.

The 13 Year Old Travel team also plays at 5:30 tonight in the I-84 Semifinals against Ridgefield at Wolfe Park Field's Field No. 2.

The winner advances to the championship game.

The 11 Year Old All Stars have been playing in the SeabBreeze Tournament in West Haven. Below is a summary of their games:

The Monroe 11 year old district all star team finished as the No. 1 seed in the Seabreeze tournament held in West Haven. After losing the first game to Guilford the boys bounced back winning four games in a row to finish in first place.

Monroe gets a bye in the first round of playoffs and plays in the semi-final game on Sunday, Aug. 1, at 12:30.

The Championship Game will be Monday night at 6 at Morse Park, right
on the Long Island Sound in West Haven.

Game 1 vs. Guilford

Monroe lost 3 to 1. Joey Salvatore, Brian Lilly and Jimmy Forno all pitched very well, racking up 15 strikeouts.

Jack Bebbington went 2 for 2 and John Orzechowski went 2 for 3. Monroe also got hits from Chris Prutting, Brian Lilly, Jack Rose, Joey Salvatore and Eli Feuz.

Defense was a little shaky and in the end we lost on two unearned runs.

Game 2 vs. Wilton

Monroe wins the game 2 to 1 behind the strong pitching of Matt Carloni and Jimmy Forno.

Chris Prutting and Jack Rose went 2 for 2 and John Orzechowski and Cameron Lazar added hits of their own to lift Monroe to a one run victory.

RBI's by Cameron Lazar and Jack Rose in the 5th inning were all that was needed in this come from behind win.

Game 3 vs. Branford

Monroe had another come from behind win against a strong Branford team. Great starting pitching from Jack Rose led the way.

Jack was able to keep Monroe in the game by mixing speed and location and keeping Branford off balance.

Jon Orzechowski got on base three times, scored twice and got one hit. Joey Porricelli hit a huge triple and an RBI.

Base hits from Matt Carloni, Jack Rose, Chris Prutting, and Cameron Lazar contributed to the win.

Solid defense from Joe Porricelli helped as he turned a 6-6-3 double play.

Game 4 vs. Fairfield American

Once again Monroe came from behind to defeat a hard hitting Fairfield team 5 to 3.

Joey Salvatore pitched a gritty game and kept us close enough to be able to come from behind.

Brian Lilly gave us solid middle relief retiring 7 of the 8 batters he faced.  Jimmy Forno came in the 6th to close the door.

The offense got going in the third inning when Cameron Lazar hit a single and Ryan Simmeth hit a triple to score Cameron.

Monroe had a huge 5th inning started off by a Jack Rose single. Chris Prutting followed with a double followed by singles from Jack Bebbington and Cameron Lazar.

The inning culminated in a huge double by Logan Sitar.

Game 5 vs. West Haven

Matt Carloni pitched four strong innings racking up 10 strikeouts against a great hitting West Haven team for a 6 to 3 Monroe win.

Monroe trailed 2-0 in the first after giving up a two run home run.

Monroe came right back scoring 4 runs in the 2nd inning. Eli Feuz worked an 0 and 2 count into a walk and Matt Carloni ripped a base hit.

Then with 2 outs Cameron Lazar blasted a two RBI double.

After Logan Sitar and Jimmy Forno both walked, Ryan Simmeth hit an RBI single.

Cameron Lazar would add another double and Joey Porricelli added a critical two out two RBI single to put Monroe ahead to stay.

John Orzechowski retired five of the six batters he faced, striking out three of them, for the save.

Monroe will play on Sunday, Aug. 1, at 12:30 p.m. in the semifinal game against a yet to determined opponent.

This gritty team never gives up, plays as a team and represents Monroe well with their solid defense, timely hitting and great sportsmanship.

— Keith Crosby is president of Monroe Little League