Ashworth's Perfect Game Leads Amity to Victory

It was 21 batters up and 21 batters down for Amity senior pitcher E.J. Ashworth on Tuesday afternoon at Janenda Field in Woodbridge. With Amity's first no-hitter since Scott Meyer blanked Shelton in 2004, the fourth ranked Spartans defeated South Windsor 4-0 in the first round of the CIAC Class LL baseball tournament.

Neither Amity Athletic Director Paul Mengold nor Coach Sal Coppola could remember any Spartan pitcher before Ashworth ever hurling a perfect game.

According to Ashworth, “Nobody mentioned it to me, but by the fifth inning I began to realize what was happening. I tried to keep it out of my mind and stay focused on the game.”

He went on to admit that the game’s final out (a high fly ball that was grabbed by right fielder Ted Ballou) had him nervous as it left the bat of Bobcat left fielder Derek Pike.

“Right field is very difficult to play because of the sun. I was worried about that and that the ball might sail over Ted’s head, but I saw he got a great jump on the ball and he chased it down,” Ashworth said. “When he did catch the ball, I was ecstatic. I was so happy. It was the first no-hitter I had ever pitched at any level.”

Ashworth did recall hurling five and two thirds of no-hit ball earlier this spring against Shelton and then going six and two thirds innings without allowing a base hit against Sheehan.

In his seven-inning march through the Bobcat batting order without allowing a base hit or a walk, Ashworth fanned five. His gem was saved by third baseman Steve Klebart’s fifth inning grab of a line drive off the bat of South Windsor shortstop/pitcher Pete Haggerty, as well as nifty catches by center fielder Grayson Amoroso and Ballou.

Amity recorded all the runs it needed in the bottom of the first inning. Nick Baviello led off with a base hit. One out later, Vin Siena lined a pitch from Bobcat starter Kyle Dorsey over the left field fence. The Spartan shortstop’s seventh home run of the spring gave Ashworth a quick 2-0 lead.

“Getting that early lead made things much easier for me and took a lot of pressure off me,” he said.

Consecutive third-inning singles by Klebart, Siena, and Ballou plated Klebart and extended the Spartan lead to 3-0. Amity still had two runners in scoring position with no outs, but Haggerty came in to replace Dorsey and he retired the next three batters he faced — including called third strikes on Adam Kyasky and Paul Gusmano.

Ashworth led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single into center field. Pinch runner (and younger brother) Justin Ashworth stole second base, was bunted on to third base by Amoroso and scored on Baviello’s sacrifice fly to left field.

Coppola said, “The first game of the state tournament is always tough. There’s a lot of pressure on the higher ranked team. It is expected to win. Our defense and pitching were simply outstanding today, but I was somewhat disappointed with our offense. We had runners on base and some chances to score more runs but we didn’t get the job done. Still, I’m very happy with how our guys played today. Vinnie’s first inning home run set the tone for the game right away.”

While Ashworth (now 7-3 with a 1.56 earned run average) denied it, Coppola insisted that he threw more fastballs than he usually does.

“I was hitting my spots and that was my key to success today. I was throwing more fastballs inside but also threw a lot of curves on the corners. I threw the slower stuff outside and then came inside with my fastball. They couldn’t catch up with it,” Ashworth said.

Siena led the winners’ seven-hit attack with his two-run homer and a single. He scored a run and drove in two. Klebart added a pair of base hits and scored a run.

The Bobcats end their season with an 8-13 record.

With the win over the 29th ranked Bobcats, the Black and Gold move on to a second round game against 13th ranked West Haven at 3:30 p.m. this afternoon in Woodbridge. Yesterday, the Westies (now 14-7) opened tourney play by defeating Norwich Free Academy 9-1.