Chatham Baseball Team Displays its Pluck in Loss to Morristown-Beard on Senior Day

Despite a two-run homer from right fielder Roger Wilson, Chatham fell to Morristown-Beard 11-7 at home on Senior Day.

"Wilson's been on the ball the last couple of days," said Chatham head coach Doug Chambers. "He's really been swinging the bat well lately. It was a slugfest today. Unfortunately, they outslugged us."

The Cougars (5-16) fell behind 4-0 after the first inning due to a pair of RBI singles and a two-run base hit from the Crimson. However, pitcher Matt Reader stepped up big at the plate and Chatham rallied to knot it up in the home portion.

Center fielder Dan Haus led off with a double and shortstop John Marcelli walked before Reader stroked a single to load the bases. Wilson went down swinging but catcher Tommy DeVito offered a sacrifice fly to right field, which made it 1-0. Third baseman Kevin Falconi then laced a two-run double to the gap in right and designated hitter Andy Matt offered up an RBI single to left for the equalizer.

An RBI ground-rule double gave the visitors a one-run edge in the second, and the Cougars went quietly in the bottom half.

"I think it just comes down to defense," said Chambers. "[Morristown-Beard] is a very good team and they're going to take advantage of it."

An RBI single and a two-run double in the third, followed by an RBI ground-rule double and a sac fly in the fifth, ballooned the difference to 10-4.

"I think because they were good hitters [Reader] was nibbling a little bit," said Chambers. "He knows, he plays against a lot of these guys so he's not going to throw them right over the plate.

The Cougars trimmed their deficit in half in the bottom portion of the fifth thanks to some timely hitting and a mistake from the visitors. Reader led off with a single before Wilson crushed a hitter's count pitch over the fence in left, just out of the reach of the left fielder. DeVito kept it going with a single and advanced on Falconi's ground out before nabbing third base. Matt drew a walk to make it first and third before a balk advanced to runners to make it 10-7.

"It was a 2-1 count and I knew I was going to get something good to hit," said Wilson. "I was thinking just keep the inning going, just get to the next guy. Luckily for me he put one over the plate and I was able to get a hold of it. I thought it was a fly out, personally, but it just kept going and fortunately it got over the fence."

With a runner on third and two outs, a botched throw to first on a grounder to second base allowed a run to score in the sixth.

Walks from Mike Fox and Wilson were nullififed by groundouts from Haus and DeVito and a line out from Reader in the sixth. Then, a leadoff walk from Falconi was rendered moot as Matt, Kevin Giannattasio and Casale were retired in order to end the game.

"I thought we were in it all the way through," said Chambers.

The Cougars will close out their season against Hanover Park at home on Monday at 4 p.m.

Got photos from Senior Day? We'd love to post them. Send them in to zach@patch.com.