Baseball Routs Masuk

After waiting 24 hours to play their state tournament opener, the Ridgefield High School baseball team was more than ready to do some major damage.
 
Spencer Judge paced a 15-hit attack by going 4-for-4 with a home run and six RBI, as the 20th-seeded Tigers routed Masuk, 15-1, Wednesday afternoon in Monroe.
 
Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the contest was pushed back a day due to the heavy rain that hit Fairfield County.
 
"We really worked hard at swinging the bat in preparation for this game, and our defense was great," said Judge, who spurred the Tigers' offense early with a two-run homer in the top of the first.
 
After an up-and-down regular season and a 7-1 loss to Greenwich in the quarterfinals of the FCIAC playoffs, the Tigers (13-9) took out some of their frustrations on the 13th-seeded Panthers (13-8).
 
The win earned Ridgefield a second-round date at No. 4 Bristol Central on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
 
Judge added a double and two singles for the Tigers, who tacked on two runs in the second, three in the third and five more in the fifth to take a 12-1 lead and put the game out of reach. Ridgefield finished the scoring with three runs in the seventh.
 
Masuk scored its only homer in the fourth when Ridgefield starter John Morrison had his sole rough inning, giving up two walks and one hit.
 
"If I hadn't given up those two walks to open the inning, they wouldn't have scored at all," Morrison said.

Morrison, who will be attending and pitching for Endicott College next year, said his fastball wasn't working. But his off-speed pitches, especially his curveball, kept the Masuk hitters off balance throughout the contest.
 
After Jonathan Testani scored the Panthers' run on Gordon Spencer's  single, Morrison got out of the inning with a timely double play, started by Judge at shortstop.
 
Sophomore and former junior varsity pitcher Josh Newborn threw his first pitches at the varsity level ever in relief for the Tigers in the seventh inning. 
 
Newborn, who struck out two, gave up one walk and also allowed a hit. He then induced a grounder to Judge, who fittingly completed the throw to first for the game's final out.  
 
"I felt pretty good, especially with a big lead," said an obviously uncomfortable but excited Newborn.