Beat West Windsor 4-3
By: Neil Hay
After an opening-night loss, helped along when somebody
turned out the lights, East Windsor PAL resumed its winning ways from a
year ago with back-to- back victories in the Mercer County Senior Babe Ruth
League.
Last Thursday East Windsor defeated host West Windsor,
4-3. The score was close, but it really should not have been, according to
coach Dave Dino.
"We did not play as tight a game as we should have," Dino
said. "We won but not by a big margin."
Winning, after all, is all that matters, and East Windsor
PAL did come out on top. But the close score is indicative, at least in
Dino’s view, of the way his team played that night.
"We did not play as intense a game as we should have. The
kids realized we have the better team so they played down to their caliber.
The intensity and focus were not there," said Dino.
East Windsor broke a 3-3 tie with what proved to be the
winning run in the sixth inning. A walk, error, and Brendan Murphy’s
run-scoring groundout plated Larry Ficarro with the go-ahead run.
The locals scored three times in the third. Brandon
Lugannani doubled and came home on David Rodriguez’ run-scoring single. Bob
Boyce walked, David Peterson’s single plated Rodriguez, and Boyce came
around on a fielder’s choice.
Louis Cote started and pitched five solid innings for the
win. Cote struck out eight batters, walked one, allowed no runs and just
one hit. But Steve Sikorski, in relief, was ineffective. In two-thirds of
an inning, he allowed three runs on three walks and two hits with one
strikeout. Boyce (one hit, one strikeout, no walks and no runs) pitched one
and two-thirds innings for the save.
"Cote pitched an excellent game," said Dino. "Boyce did a
great job getting the third out in the sixth and pitching the seventh
inning."
East Windsor PAL finished with only six hits, including
two each by Lugannani ( double) and Rodriguez.
On Sunday night East Windsor overcame the rain to post a
9-2 win over visiting Princeton.
Steve Fcasni (three innings, one run, two hits, four
strikeouts and two walks) was the inning pitcher. With rain falling and the
ball getting wet, Dino brought in Craig MacDonald for some work. MacDonald
lasted barely more than one inning with one run allowed on three walks, one
hit and three strikeouts. D.J. Dino retired the final two batters he
faced.
East Windsor banged out 10 hits, including three each by
Fcasni (two doubles, single, two RBI) and MacDonald (three singles, two
ribbies). Boyce and Lugannani both had two singles, and Kevin Merrill a
single and two runs batted in.
"We pretty much blew them away," Dino said. "We played a
more intense game. The guys were more serious, more focused. We put the
ball in play, had fewer strikeouts and didn’t make mental mistakes. We
capitalized on Princeton’s mistakes. It was a better win."
Dino exudes confidence when he talks about this team. And
if confidence means wins, then East Windsor PAL will repeat as Mercer
County Senior Babe Ruth champions.