Spartans dismantle Jackets in seventh, 10-2

WINSTED — The Gilbert Yellowjackets baseball team hosted the Lewis Mills Spartans Monday, May 11, at Walker Field. Lewis Mills and Gilbert remained tied at one through four innings before the Spartans battled their way to a 10-2 victory.

The Spartans posted their first run of the game when an attempt to pick off a runner at third was thrown wild and allowed Mills to take an early 1-0 lead. Gilbert’s lead-off hitter, Alec Brochu, started off the inning with a hard bouncing shot that with a bit of help from a fielder’s error allowed him to make it to second. Zac Tuozzo’s single put Brochu at third. The Jackets’ starting pitcher, Nate Lapointe, brought in Brochu to tie the game up 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Lewis Mills managed to pick up their defensive effort late in the inning to prevent a tie-breaking run with a quick play at home.

Neither team could generate much offense through the next three innings, until Lewis Mills’ hitting game sprang back to life in the fifth. The Spartans started the inning with a long fly triple, then a batter hit by a pitch put an additional runner at first. Mills brought in both runners with another long, hard shot to the outfield, taking the lead 3-1. Gilbert’s fielders managed to cut off the surging Spartan offense with a solid double play to end the inning before any more damage could be done.

The Jackets were unable to spark their hitting game, and after walking another batter in the top of the sixth, Gilbert’s Nate Lapointe was relieved by Jon Tessman. Tessman gave up a long triple that brought in a runner to extend the Spartan lead to 4-1 in the sixth. Catcher Xavier DuBois caught a runner at third and made a great play to snag the first out of the inning, and Devon Kulinski made an incredible catch on a long shot to the outfield to snag the third out of the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Tuozzo managed to get on base with another single, and freshman Justin Morhardt drove him in on a double to narrow the gap to 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth.

The final inning started decently enough for Tessman, who gave up a single but then struck out the next batter. Then things began to fall apart for the Jackets. Gilbert gave up five singles, a double and six runs in the seventh inning before finally halting the Spartans’ locomotive hitting game. The Jackets were unable to produce anything in the bottom of the inning and took a 10-2 loss at home.

The Jackets’ Justin Morhardt was one for three in the game and had a double and a run batted in. Zac Tuozzo was two for three and scored a run for the Jackets.