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The Woodstock Academy baseball team may have had a tough loss to end the week, but overall were pretty happy with the results of spring break week.
They had picked up victories against Killingly and Lyman Memorial earlier in the week before traveling to Waterford April 21.
The Centaurs suffered a 9-1 loss to the Lancers and saw their record slip to 4-3 overall and 1-2 Division II of the Eastern Connecticut Conference.
Three errors in the first inning cost the Centaurs.
Waterford took advantage of those miscues to score four runs.
The Lancers added two more runs in the third, another in the fourth and two in the sixth to walk away with the victory.
Ben Holden pitched the first four innings and allowed just three earned runs and eight hits with four strikeouts.
The Centaurs could only muster five hits against Lancer pitching.
Luke Mathewson had two of those hits, a pair of singles, one of which drove in Tommy Li with the only run of the game for the Centaurs in the sixth inning.
Mathewson and Li were keys to the earlier success in the week.
Mathewson had a sparkling performance in a 3-1 win over Killingly and Li was just as effective in a 5-3 win over Lyman.
“Both of them did a great job pitching,” said Woodstock Academy coach Brian Murphy.
Mathewson pitched a no-hitter through six innings against the Redmen, before Jacob Jones and Evan Zanauskas reached him for a pair of singles and a run in the seventh for Killingly.
The Centaurs gave Mathewson all the support he needed in the first inning.
Doug Newton reached on an error and Eric Preston walked.
Preston walked five times in the games against the Redmen and Bulldogs, giving him 11 free passes this season.
“He has a great eye, but they’re not pitching to him either. (Opponents) are being very careful and he has been a very patient hitter. Obviously, he has three green light to hit early in the count especially when he gets a fastball and he knows that. He’s a team player. If it’s not there, he gets on base and he’s done his job. He’s been very patient,” Murphy said.
Mathewson reached on a fielder’s choice following the walk to Preston and both runners scored on a Nathan John double.
Li added an RBI single in the fifth inning to knock in the insurance run.
Mathewson struck out seven in the game.
It was the sophomore’s turn against the Bulldogs April 20.
Li was cruising through the first five innings. He allowed a run in the sixth and got the first two outs of the seventh before a pair of errors opened the door for a couple of Lyman run to make the final score much closer.
The majority of the runs for Woodstock Academy came in the third when it pushed four runs across, two on a double by Mathewson.
Li and Avery Riva also had doubles for the Centaurs while Zach Ellsworth had a sacrifice fly.
Li finished with a three-hitter with five strikeouts and a pair of walks.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director