Sports
Westport Senior Legion Silences First-Place Greenwich Cannons With 3-2 Victory [Video]
Jimmy Kopack goes the distance with a six-strikeout performance as Westport prevents Greenwich from clinching the zone four championship
The Westport senior American Legion baseball team is struggling through a difficult season, but it pulled off a shocker on Monday.
Jimmy Kopack outdueled Andrew Van Eyck as Westport surprised first-place Greenwich 3-2 at Staples High School.
Kopack, who had six strikeouts, kept the high-scoring Cannons (20-3) off balance all night, holding them to eight singles.
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Greenwich, which averages just under seven runs per game, could have clinched the zone four title with a win, but Kopack used his curves and changeups to get the meat of the Cannons' lineup to chase pitches out of the strike zone.
Westport, a young team with few of the players from Staples' FCIAC championship squad on its roster, improved to 6-15. Kopack, however, was on the Wreckers' team that defeated Danbury in the FCIAC finals.
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Van Eyck took a no-hitter into the fourth inning, but Bryan Terzian - who also played for Staples - broke up the bid with a single up the middle. Alex Gandolfo, Marco Romero and Alex Ludel followed with singles, pulling Staples within 2-1.
Finally given a run, Kopack struck out two in the fifth. In the bottom of the inning, Wesport continued where it left off in the fourth.
Center fielder Nick Kiedaisch singled to right and Kopack drew a walk, bringing Terzian to the plate.
Terzian, who is known as "The Bull", fell behind in the court 1-2 before hitting a bullet line drive into the left-centerfield gap, giving Kiedaisch and Kopack enough time to score and put the Wreckers ahead.
Kopack, who was 7-1 with the Wreckers in the spring, retired the side in order in the seventh, but there was one scary moment as a long foul just missed being a game-tying home run.
Greenwich’s scoring came in the third on a two-run, two-out single by Kevin Collins.
Greenwich plays Fairfield on Wednesday at Seaside (5:30 p.m.) while Wesport faces off with Trumbull at Staples on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.)
