Sloppy Defense Dooms Westport Legion In 10-5 Loss To Bridgeport

Westport Senior American Legion manager Wayne Randazzo may see Bridgeport Post 11 runners circling the bases in his sleep.

Resembling a merry-go-round, Bridgeport stole 12 bases en route to a 10-5 victory over Westport in a sloppy Zone Four contest at Staples High School on Tuesday evening.

The constant action on the bases put enormous pressure on Westport's defense, which committed eight errors. Four of them came on errant throws by catcher Mike McGowan.

Matt Reynolds took the loss for the hosts, allowing eight runs — five earned — and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks.

Westport entered the game having won three of its last four contests and was looking to reach .500. Instead, the home team dropped to 6-8, hurting its chances of making the state tournament.

To qualify in Zone Four, teams must win at least 15 games in a 27-game schedule, meaning Westport has to go 9-4 in the second half of the season, which will be a tall order if the defense doesn't improve.

Randazzo did a goob job getting Staples players to commit to Legion ball, as every member of the tean also played for the Wreckers, including their Ivy League-bound pitching tandem of David Speer (Columbia) and Jimmy Sikorski (Cornell).

But like most Legion teams, Randazzo faces an uphill battle to have a full compliment of players on the bench. Due to  other commitments, four players were absent Tuesday, including Ben Lipper, Colin McCarthy and Mike Rustenmeyer, who were key cogs on the Staples' team that went 18-4 in the spring.

Second baseman Jack Hennessy, the FCIAC Player of the Year who has a track scholarship to Boston College, decided not to play baseball anymore before the start of the Legion season.

While Randazzo was short on the bench, Westport faced a struggle Tuesday to merely catch the ball in the field, committing three errors in each of the third and fourth innings. Bridgeport scored three times in each frame to open an 8-2 lead.

Mike Meszoros, who had a sneaky quick fastball, earned the win for Bridgeport, surrendering three runs — all unearned — and five hits over five innings with four walks and six strikeouts.

But it wasn't like Westport didn't have opportunities. The host stranded 13, twice leaving the bases loaded.

Sikorski had three of Westport's nine hits while Austin Mills had two hits and an RBI.

Batting with runners on first and third in the sixth, Speer made a bid for a three-run home run over the short porch in left field that would have pulled Westport within 8-6. Instead, he had a to settle for a sacrifice fly as his drive was hauled in about 10 feet from the fence.

Mills delivered an RBI single in the seventh to pull Westport within 10-5, but reliever Christian Sullivan worked out of  a bases-loaded threat to secure the win for Bridgeport. 

Westport is back in action on Thursday at improving Darien (6-6), which has won four in a row.