Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Generals Earn Walk-Off Win in Fog

Connor Sullivan made the most of his time on the field Thursday night as he earned himself the win with a walk-off single in the Bottom of the eighth inning against the Topsfield Tories. Judd Funchion started for the Generals and pitched great going 6 1/3 innings before giving way to Sullivan who would eventually earn the win. Andrew Pomazon started for the Tories and went 4+ innings but did not figure in the decsion. McCarthy pitched well in relief but was charged with the loss.

The Tories struck right away with 2 in the first. Dyer led off with a double and was later brought in on a Lobdell FC. Lobdell would come in on a perfectly executed double steal. The Generals struck back with 1 in the bottom of the first to cut the lead in half. Stewart was able to score on an O'Leary single that was mishandeled in the outfield.

The Tories pushed the lead back to two in the top of the second on a Driscoll HR. Luke Painchaud would score on a wild pitch in the bottom half to pull the Generals within one once again. By the third inning the Fog would roll in and change the atmosphere of the game completely, it became very difficult to see for both teams.

The Generals took the lead in the fifth inning. After loading the bases with no outs Vitale hit a ball to short with the infield drawn in. The Tories got the runner at the plate but the throw to first got away into rightfield allowing two runs to score. The lead did not last long as the Tories were able to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Doug Hittenger delivered the game tying RBI single. With no outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, the Generals found themselves in a tight spot. Gallugi next hit a fly ball to left field, with the runners tagging up Luke Painchaud delivered a strike to the plate to cut down the go ahead run and complete the double play.

Connor Sullivan was able to get the Tories in the 7th and 8th innings, keeping the score knotted at 4. In the bottom of the 8th, Tilley led off with a single down the line followed by back to back walks that loaded the bases with no outs. McCarthy was then able to induce an infeild fly that caused some confusion in the fog. The ball was ultimately dropped but some quick thinking kept the game going as the attempted winning run was cut down at the plate. Now with two outs and runners on first and second, Connor Sullivan delivered a line drive into the fog in right field that got down and scored Funchion from second. The hit gave the Generals, and Sullivan, the 5-4 win in 8 innings.