The bats went silent for the West Haven U19 baseball team as the Westies were swept by Hanks Yanks in a 3-game series.
In the opener, the Westies held a 5-2 lead into the sixth inning, but a two-out rally helped Hanks prevail 6-5.
The Westies jumped on the board first with a pair of runs in the first inning. Jeremiah Douglas and Hudson Axelrod drew consecutive walks, and singles by Haygen Axelrod and Jacob Fowler sandwiched a double play ball for a 2-0 lead.
With the game even at two, West Haven scored three times in the fifth inning to take a 5-2 advantage. Justin Wilson opened with a single, Mike Madera walked, and Ryan Wilson and Douglas followed with singles to put the Westies on top.
After getting the first two outs in the sixth, West Haven watched as Hanks rallied for four runs. Trailing by a run, West Haven looked to rally in the seventh, but left the tying run on third.
The Westies were then shut out 4-0 in the opener of a doubleheader, squandering numerous scoring opportunities.
Douglas was hit by a pitch and Hudson Axelrod walked in the first, but a bases loaded threat went by the boards. Trailing 1-0 in the second, Madera reached on a one-out error, Haygen Axelrod singled, and Lucas Forgette reached on another error to load the bases, but West Haven stranded the bases loaded.
After giving up three runs in the top of the inning, West Haven’s last threat came in the fifth on a pair of one-out walks, but the Westies could not come up with the big hit in a shutout loss.
Hanks took an early lead in the nightcap with three runs in the first and two in the third, on the way to a 5-2 victory over West Haven.
West Haven bounced back with a doubleheader sweep of the New England Knights at Piurek Field. The Westies used timely hitting and solid defense to post the victories.
In the opener, West Haven won the contest 3-2 in walk-off fashion in eight innings. Justin Wilson opened the eighth with a single, Forgette walked, and two outs later, Madera walked to load the bases. Douglas then singled to drive in Justin Wilson with the winning run.
West Haven took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning as Madera led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice by Douglas and scored on a wild pitch. After Hudson Axelrod and Ray Gilbert walked, Cam Cruz grounded out with Axelrod on third for a 2-0 lead.
Cruz picked up the win in relief, tossing three shutout innings. The West Haven pitcher did not allow a hit, while walking three and striking out two.
In the nightcap, West Haven scored six times in the sixth inning to post a 7-2 victory. Gilbert led the offense with two hits, while Fowler, Justin Wilson, Zach Bouteiller and Madera also added hits in the win.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, West Haven evened the game when Hudson Axelrod led off with a walk, moved to third when Gilbert reached on an error, and scored on a ground out by Cruz.
The Knights took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning, before West Haven scored six times in the sixth to break the game open.
Gilbert tied the game at two when he doubled to score Douglas, who had led off with a walk, Fowler singled to score Gilbert, Justin Wilson singled to score Cruz, and with the bases loaded, walks by Ryan Wilson and Madera scored two more runs. Josh Osborne capped the scoring in the inning when he scored on a wild pitch.
Looking to gain momentum after the doubleheader sweep, West Haven could not do so as errors were too much to overcome in a 7-5 defeat at New Haven.
The Westies got off to a quick start, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning when Gilbert reached on an error to score a pair, before he later scored on a single by Justin Wilson.
Two West Haven errors in the bottom of the inning led to four New Haven runs. New Haven never trailed again, using a two-out, two-run single in the second to take a 7-3 lead.
Cruz, who had two hits in the game, singled to score Hudson Axelrod, who had walked in the third, before West Haven’s defense got going to keep the team in the game.
Cruz made a stellar over the shoulder catch in the first, Forgette picked off a pair of runners, and trailing by two runs, a fly ball to Madera in the sixth was turned into an inning-ending double play at the plate.
West Haven got within two runs in the fifth when an error allowed Bouteiller to score, but the Westies could not get the equalizer.
West Haven then took on Madison in a three-game series. Madison won the first contest in its final at bat, before each time split the next two games in convincing fashion.
In the opener of the series at Madison, West Haven rallied with three late runs to tie the game, but the Westies watched as Madison scored with two outs in its last at bat to top the Westies 4-3.
Held to just two hits in the game and trailing 3-0, West Haven evened the game at three in the sixth on bases loaded walks by Fowler and Justin Wilson, before an error scored Gilbert, who reached on a fielder’s choice, with the equalizer.
West Haven had two rallies go by the boards, unable to get the big hit. In the fourth, Gilbert singled and Cruz was hit by a pitch with one out, but both were left stranded. In the fifth, walks to Forgette and Madera had a pair on, but both could not be driven in.
The two teams then met again on Saturday in a doubleheader with Madison scoring eight times in the first inning on four walks, two hit batters, and three hits, on its way to an 11-0 victory in the opener.
In the nightcap, West Haven trailed 1-0, before rallying for a 10-1 victory.
The Westies took a 3-1 lead in the third as Forgette and Madera sandwiched walks around a single by Osborne to load the bases. Forgette, scored on an error, Osbourne scored on a single by Hudson Axelrod, and Madera scored when Cruz was hit by a pitch.
West Haven extended the lead to 5-1 in the fifth as Madera and Douglas opened the inning with walks, and Hudson Axelrod singled to load the bases. Madera scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Gilbert, and Douglas scored on an error on the same play.
The Westies put the game away with five runs in the seventh. Madera and Douglas again started the rally with walks and Hudson Axelrod did the same to load the bases. Gilbert was it by a pitch to score Madera, Cruz singled to score Douglas and Axelrod, and a single by Forgette scored Gilbert and Cruz.