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Great Week
Ethan Davis had a great week going 7-for-11 (.636) at the plate with four RBIs and four stolen bases in three wins for the Centaurs. Photo by Woodstock Academy senior Bryson Gould.
Ethan Davis had to sit on the sidelines for most of the winter season due to a knee injury.
But the senior, who will play football for Southern Connecticut State University in the fall, decided to finish off his athletic career at Woodstock Academy with one more shot at glory on the baseball field.
Centaurs coach Brian Murphy is glad he did.
Davis drove in both runs in a 2-1 win over Lyman Memorial May 3.
He added a three-hit performance May 5 in a 13-3, six-inning win over Ledyard.
And May 6, he delivered another three-hit performance in a 13-9 come-from-behind win at New London.
“I’m excited,” Davis said. “I didn’t play my sophomore year because we didn’t have a season and last year, I focused on football, but I’m really glad I came out with a big group of friends and finish my senior season.”
The wins raised the baseball team’s record to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in Div. II of the ECC.
Lyman Memorial scored in the first inning but Davis helped the Centaurs pull even in the third.
Eric Mathewson singled, advanced to second on an error and was sacrificed to third by Brennan Blow. Mathewson came around on a sacrifice fly to center by Davis. The senior put the Centaurs ahead to stay in the fifth inning. Blow reached on an error and stole second. He then flashed that speed again when Davis went to the opposite field with a base hit to left.
“Ethan is just an athlete. I’ve watched this kid grow up and he’s an athlete and a gamer. He also works- like when we work in batting practice against a lefty- on going to the left side. Take what the pitcher gives you and he does. Ethan connects practice to the game and it’s paying big dividends,” said coach Brian Murphy.
Blow also earned credit from Murphy. He not only delivered the key sacrifice bunt and scored the game-winning run, he also made a nice play, making an over-the-shoulder catch on the run in the top of the seventh.
“He’s a team player,” Murphy said of Blow. “We gave him a start (Tuesday) and he performed big. It was a huge catch going away and I’m just happy for him because he works so hard and supports everything we do.”
Murphy’s son, Kaden, did the rest. The righthander went the distance, threw just 77 pitches and allowed just three hits.
Brian Murphy said there was concern before putting Kaden out on the mound as he was hit in the pitching wrist the week before.
“He said he was good and we felt like we had to run him out there so we did. He was pretty sharp. He pitched to contact. We will take a complete game 2-hitter. When he locates, hits his spots and changes speeds, he can be tough,” said Murphy.
The Centaurs started early against the Colonels. Mathewson stroked a two-run first inning single to put Woodstock up.
The Colonels came back to tie in the top of the second inning but in the bottom, the Centaurs forged ahead again when Hamilton Barnes scored Blow with a fielder’s choice. Woodstock Academy put the win away in the fourth with a six-run rally.
Carter Morissette had a two-run double and Mathewson added another RBI single to ignite that uprising.
In New London later, Murphy said: “The team showed a lot of resiliency. New London played hard. It’s a much-improved team, it beat Waterford. I told the guys going down there that they were to be loaded for us and they came at us. We didn’t play our best game, we struggled in a few areas. Sometimes, you get into a weird ballgame and this was a weird ballgame. The weather, the cold, a team up for you, not that we were flat but all the ingredients were there for things not to go our way.”
The Whalers took the 1-0 lead early, but the Centaurs went up 2-1 when Morissette scored on a wild pitch and Maxx Corradi came around on a ground out.
New London went ahead with two of their own in the bottom of the second inning, only to see Woodstock score three in the top of the third on a three-run double by Morissette.
The Whalers tied the game in the bottom of the third and took a 6-5 lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth. But the bottom fell out for New London in the top of the sixth when the Centaurs scored eight times, all coming with two outs.
Davis began the comeback when he stroked an RBI single to score Corradi and tie the game. Barnes put the Centaurs ahead to stay with a run-scoring single and Zach Roethlein followed later with a two-run double to left. Jackson Goetz and Mathewson later added singles and then Murphy got creative with Morissette and Mathewson both stealing home.
The pitching staff struggled a bit, including giving up three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Centaurs came home with the win.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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