Ridgefield Junior Legion Falls To Fairfield, 8-5

The Ridgefield Post 78 Junior American Legion baseball team was out of sync Wednesday, according to coach Tim Forcelli.

"We had some bad bounces and made too many fielding errors," said Forcelli, whose team fell to Fairfield, 8-5, in Ridgefield.

Ridgefield starter Chris McClellan walked four of the first five batters he faced, which allowed Fairfield to score three runs in the top of the first.

Pitching on seven days' rest instead of his normal five due to Monday's rainout, McClellan appeared to be out of  rhythm. Still, he battled through his control problems and struck out the side in the second inning.

But the extra days between starts appeared to affect him as the game wore on. He issued four more walks and was pulled after just four innings.

McClellan was much better at the plate, as he went 3-for-4 with two singles, a double, a walk and two RBI.

Ridgefield was making good contact at the plate, but many of the balls ended up as long flyouts at critical times.

Trailing 8-2, Post 78 mounted a rally in its final at-bat and pulled within 8-5 on Bryce Maher's double. However, the hosts left the bases loaded after another long fly ended the game.

"We had gone three games wihout any errors," Forcelli said. 

Ridgefield dropped to 7-7, while Fairfield, which was 0-27 last season, improved to 6-7.

Post 78 will have a chance for revenge on Friday, when the teams meet again in a doubleheader at Fairfield's Kiwanis Field at 3 p.m.