Pitching duel ends in victory for Whalers

WINSTED — The Winsted Whalers battled the Brass City Brew through five innings before rallying late to take a 5-1 victory June 27 at Walker Field.

Whaler Adam Piechowski started things off on the mound for Winsted by striking out the first batter of the game. The Brew responded with a base hit and a deep RBI triple to take an early lead. Piechowski remained unshaken and dropped other Brass City batter with the second strikeout of the afternoon. Brass City inched out early, 1-0.

Winsted’s Chris Davidson started the Whaler’s offense with a triple of his own and was able to quickly score on a sacrifice fly from Winsted’s Nate Lapointe. Brass City pitcher Sean Keegan halted any further first inning offense with a strikeout and an easy ground out to end the inning tied up 1-1.

Piechowski and Keegan would duel from the mound for four more innings, tallying plenty of strikeouts as they kept the game tied at 1-1 into the bottom half of the sixth.

Davidson was able to turn a base hit into a double off a Brass City fielding error to start the sixth. Whaler Ricky Langer drove Davidson in to score on an RBI double to put Winsted ahead 2-1. Chester Warner chalked up a line single which set up Whaler Donny Crossman to send Langer home on a line drive up the middle.

Winsted’s Zac Tuozzo kept the offense alive tracing Crossman’s last shot up the middle with a line drive base hit of his own. Whaler Charlie Putnam came in to pinch hit with the bases loaded and battled with Keegan until Brass City’s pitcher coughed up a run off a walk to give the Whalers a 4-1 lead.

The Whalers were able to add another run in their final offensive inning and held off the Brew long enough for incoming rain to end the game early, Winsted winning 5-1.

Piechowski offered a 10 strikeout complete game performance to earn the win at home. Keegan tallied seven strikeouts before being relieved by Eric Gormley in the final inning. The win improves the Whalers’ record to 7-6.