American Legion Wrap-up

American 

Legion 2015 

season off 

to slow start

By Ron P. Coderre

The high school baseball season is finally in the rear view mirror.  The elimination of East Lyme High School in the CIAC Class L finals signaled the start of the American Legion season for all teams in Zone VI.

All three local entries, TriTown, Danielson and Moosup saw action this week.  The start of the TriTown season was delayed due to East Lyme’s extended run in the high school tournament.  The entire three game series will be played later in the season, forcing TriTown to delay its first game until Saturday, June 13 against Ledyard-Pawcatuck on the road.

Danielson dropped two of three against New London in its first series of the season.  Moosup, composed primarily of players from Plainfield High School, won two of three against Norwich to get its season off to a good start.

TriTown Drops Opener in Extra Frames

Itching to go from the practice field to actual game action the TriTown team under new head coach John Foucault, dropped its opener to Ledyard-Pawcatuck 11-8 in 10 innings.  The Towners came out with the bats blazing, connecting for 12 hits but it wasn’t enough as they lost to the hosts.

Ryan Gadoury was the starting pitcher, going 5 1/3 innings before being relieved by Alex Angelo who absorbed the loss.  After falling behind 8-2, the Towners exploded six runs in the 7th inning to knot the contest.  Benny Brissette had two hits and walked twice for TT.  Josh Allard had two runs batted it.

The Towners finally got into the Win column as they took the second game of a doubleheader from LP 9-5.  Jared Durand threw six strong innings in the win.  Brissette led the way offensively with two hits, a walk and two runs-batted-in.  Ledyard-Pawcatuck took the first game of the DH 10-7.  J.P. Bergeron and Kyle Tyler each had two RBI’s in the loss.  TriTown is 1-2 on the season

Danielson Loses Two-of-Three to New London

Danielson opened its home season with a 7-2 loss at the hands of New London, which had a 17 hit attack.  The lone bright spot for Danielson was an RBI double by Charlie Innes.  In a doubleheader on the road, Danielson was shutout in the first game 4-0.  The second game was a different story as Cory Sipos went the distance in a 6-3 Danielson win.  He struck out eight Whaler batters.  Dylan Clarkin and Tre Belanger each scored two runs in the victory for 1-2 Danielson.

Moosup Off to Fast Start

Moosup picking up off the success of the Plainfield High School baseball team swept 2-of-3 games from Norwich in its opening season series.  After splitting the first two games of the series, Moosup hitters got serious in the final game, exploding for an 11-5 win.

Mike Esposito, home from college, had a three-run homer and knocked in four runs to pace Post #91.  Dave Carpenter also unloaded for a three-run four bagger and chased home five runners in the win.  Jeff Nicolosi went the distance in picking up the win for 2-1 Moosup.

TriTown Juniors Lose Opening Series

The TriTown American Legion Junior program opened the season on a positive note, winning its opener only to lose the following two contests.  In the lid lifter of the 2015 season, Scott Davagian went the route leading the Towners to a 5-3 victory over Niantic.  

In the home opener the next evening Niantic turned the tables on TriTown with a 4-3 victory.  Aiden Ciquera and Davagian each had two hits in the loss.  In the finale of the three-game series, the Towners were shutout 6-0, dropping TriTown to 1-2 in the early season going.