Calhoun Baseball Uses Big Fifth to Best Kennedy

Calhoun took the fifth, leaving Kennedy to plead it.

A pitcher's duel gave way to a wild, offense-fueled, mistake-filled inning, as the Colts did all of their scoring at once, and defeated the Cougars 11-1 in the first of a three-game series between the conference rivals.  The win gives Calhoun sole possession atop Conference AA-III.

A wet field moved the game from Calhoun to SUNY Farmingdale, but the change of venue seemed to have little effect on the day's starters.

Calhoun lefty Frank Trimarco and Kennedy's Jordan Boyer matched each other with four scoreless innings each, and things were moving right along on the neutral site.

Trimarco tossed up another zero in the fifth, and Boyer seemed poised to do the same, retiring the first two hitters. But Calhoun outfielder Dan Sullivan hit a shot off Boyer's foot for a single. It was another case of deja vu, as Kennedy's Andrew Wood had a similar hit deflect off Trimarco's foot in the first inning.

Trimarco got out of that inning, but Boyer would have no such luck, as the bizarre inning was set to begin. Boyer walked Trimarco, but seemed to catch Sullivan napping off second, and he was caught in a rundown. Kennedy was unable to execute, however, and Sullivan made it back safely to second.

Another walk followed, bringing up Robbie Rosen. The Calhoun second baseman ripped a bases-clearing double to left-center and put the Colts up 3-0.

"I knew I had to do something ... I just wanted to hit it down and hard, almost got under it but I got a really good piece of it and drove it the other way," Rosen said.

Another walk followed, ending Boyer's day.

Jon Scharfman took the mound, and after another walk, seemed to get out of the inning on an Alex Ras pop up. However, the ball hit off the mitt of Kennedy second baseman David Leiderman for an error, allowing two runs to score, and things continued to unravel for the Cougars.

"The error started us off," Calhoun coach Joe Corea said. "The rundown at second base, let [Sullivan] get back, and that opened up the floodgates."

Josh Nigro laced a pinch-hit double to score two more, and third baseman Alex Vargas stroked a two-run homer over the left field fence to make it 9-0. Jake Thomas capped off the crazy inning with a two-run triple, and a clean, crisp game quickly became a rout.

"You make a bad play, and a good team like Calhoun capitalizes on it," Kennedy coach Eric Passman said. "We made two bad plays in the inning and that was the game."

Wood's ground-rule double in the sixth plated the only Cougar run, the only blemish on the day for Trimarco, who went the distance, scattering six hits and striking out 10.

"He's been throwing great all year long," Corea said. "He hangs in there. [He is] a gutty pitcher, not overpowering but he throws strikes and keeps the ball down."

It was the first conference loss of the year for Kennedy, which falls to 6-1. Calhoun remains unbeaten in league play at 7-0.

The clubs go right back at it again today at SUNY Farmingdale.

"We have to forget about today," Passman said.  "The most important game is the next game."