American Legion Wrap-up

American 

Legion hopes

fading quickly

By Ron P. Coderre

Most teams in American Legion Zone VI are approaching the halfway mark of the season and for the local entries Danielson, Moosup and TriTown the dreams of qualifying for the State postseason tournament are fading faster than a speeding bullet.

All three locals are in a battle to get to the .500, as all have a losing record.  Moosup, which had a great high school spring as Plainfield High School, surprisingly is 6-7 after dropping 4-of-4 in last week’s action.

Danielson, under coach Jonathan Krot, had high hopes entering the season but after a brief winning spurt has also hit the doldrums.  The Recs are currently at 5-7 after posting a 2-2 week.  TriTown, which was anxiously looking forward to the start of the season, finally picked up a win after dropping three straight to start the week.  The Towners are mired in last place in 10-team Zone VI at 3-8.

TriTown Splits Twinbill With New London

Following a week best described as a combination of hard luck and poor play, TriTown returned to the win column by taking the second game of a doubleheader from New London 3-1.  Nick Foucault, who’ll be a senior at Putnam High School in September, finally appeared to hit his stride, stifling the Whaling City crew on two hits.  Foucault was immense in going the distance, striking out five opposing batters.

Kyle Tyler helped Foucault’s cause with a pair of key hits.  Zach Cutler and Jared Carignan each drove home runs in leading TriTown to its third victory of the season.

In the lid lifter of the twinbill New London completely dominated the Towners 11-2.  Earlier in the week TriTown let a 6-1 lead slip through its fingers losing to the Whaling City nine 7-6.  The New London tying and winning runs crossed the plate thanks to the generosity of the Towners pitchers who walked in the two runs.  Adding insult to injury, the Towners committed six errors in the loss. 

In a game played at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, host TriTown was shutout by Jewett City 5-0.

Danielson Goes Through a 50-50 Week

Danielson completed a three-game series with Moosup. besting Post #91 8-0 behind the shutout pitching performance of Travis Zurowski.  The Quinebaug Valley Community College frosh struck out five Plainfield hitters in his route going performance.  The big blow of the game was a grand slam home run by Ian Burgess.  The Recs also received RBI singles from Ben Desaulnier and Evan Clarkin.

After being shutout 1-0 by Willimantic in the opener of a three-game series, Danielson bounced back behind the tosses of Cory Sipos to reverse the tables on Willimantic 8-0.  Once again Clarkin and Desaulnier were the offensive stars for Danielson.   In the finale of the series, Willimantic prevailed 8-2.

Moosup Disappoints

Moosup, which was looking like a world beater only a week ago, fell into the doldrums of a severe losing streak.  Post #91 after being shutout by Danielson lost three in a row.  Moosup lost a heartbreaker to Niantic 4-3 and followed that with a doubleheader loss to Ledyard-Pawcatuck.   They lost the first game to L-P 10-2 and followed that up with a 5-2 defeat.

TriTown Jrs. Split DH with New London

The TriTown Jr. team, which boasts a 4-4 record, split a double header with New London.  They captured the first game in an offensive battle 11-6.  New London’s bats came alive in the second game, bashing TriTown pitching for a 10-2 win.