Candlewood Valley Beaten in Senior Babe Ruth Tournament

Candlewood Valley pitcher Dean White was becoming increasingly agitated by what he was felt was a tight strike zone.

White surrendered seven runs and eight hits over 3 2/3 innings Thursday, as Candlewood Valley fell to Housatonic Valley, 9-4, in the Connecticut Senior Babe Ruth state tournament at New Canaan's Mead Park.

White's body language on the mound clearly showed that he was annoyed, and it may have affected his pitching. His coach, Dave Bruckenthal, certainly thought so.

"It's tough when an umpire can control a game, as much as the guy behind the plate was able to control that," Bruckenthal said.

"When you have a kid who's throwing high 80s and he's making you throw a ball down the middle for a strike and he can't paint corners and he can't throw curveballs for strikes, it makes him put a ball almost like a batting cage."

Candlewood Valley dropped into the losers' bracket final and will play again on Friday (5:30 p.m., Mead Park) against Stamford, a 13-1 winner over Southeastern Connecticut in Thursday's other game.

The winner of that contest will advance to Saturday's championship game and have to beat Housatonic Valley twice in the double elimination event to win the state title.

Candlewood Valley is comprised of players 16-18 years old from Ridgefield, Danbury, Bethel and Newtown.

White has a scholarship to Mount St. Mary's, a Division I school in the Northeastern Conference in Baltimore, MD. During his scholastic career at Immaculate High School, he rarely was hit as hard as he was Thursday.

"There's not too much I can do about it," White said.

Jim Pjura did most of the damage for Housatonic Valley, going 3-for-3 with four RBI, including two booming extra-base hits.

After Pjura's RBI triple to deep center field gave Housatonic Valley a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Candlewood Valley answered in its next at-bat on Nick Ryan's RBI double.

But Housatonic Valley broke open the contest with five runs in the third, grabbing a 6-1 lead. Pjura's two-run  double igniting the rally, and he added an RBI single in the fifth to make it 7-1.

With two outs in the fifth, White fell behind 2-0 in the count to Dave Johnson. After the second ball, he walked around the mound and exchanged words with the plate umpire, whose name Babe Ruth state officials would not reveal.

Wisely, Bruckenthal made a pitching change at that point, preventing things from escalating any further. Left fielder D.J. Bruckenthal came in to pitch and White went to third base.

The Candlewood Valley players also were upset because they felt the strike zone expanded for the Housatonic Valley players.

Still, White preferred to take the high road.

"I started leaving balls up, so I started getting frustrated," he said. "My shoulder kept flying open, but it's on me. I got to throw more strikes, I guess," he said.

His coach, however, was not quite as diplomatic.

"They're a good-hitting team," Dave Bruckenthal said. "I don't want to take anything away from them, but it's unfortunate, at this level of play for a state tournament, that an umpire can have that much control and influence the game."

Candlewood Valley tried to rally, getting back a run on Leo Betancourt's RBI single in the fourth. It then pulled within 7-4 in the sixth on consecutive RBI singles by White and D.J. Bruckenthal.

But Housatonic Valley put away the game with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh without the benefit of a hit.

Anton Hanley recorded the win, allowing two runs and four hits over five innings.