CTABL

Recap

The fields at Cross Farms in Tolland survived a wet Saturday and gave way to a hard-fought game between the Wethersfield DBacks and CT Royals, which saw the Royals pick up their second straight victory, 6-3. Preston Hunt toed the rubber for the Royals against the most formidable pitcher the CTABL has to offer in Rob Roles.

The DBacks got off to a hot start, as Roles gave himself some run support with a sac fly, and Brandon Maldonado added on an RBI groundout to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. Roles looked his usual self early in the affair, but a walk, hit, and error saw the Royals get one back in the third. Eric Rubelmann led off the following inning with a double, a Mike Luaszewski hit advanced him to third, and Aiden McCarthy tied the game up with a sac fly of his own to nod the game back at 2-2.

The DBacks were not done, as they answered the call in the top of the fifth with yet another sacrifice fly, this one off the bat of Maldonado. However, the Royals continued to work counts against Roles, as Gio Morales and Matt Fusco both singled in the bottom of the frame. Josh Svoboda tied the score up and a wild pitch allowed Fusco to scamper home and break the tie. The DBacks again mounted a comeback effort, with a single and double to start the sixth, but Aiden McCarthy stranded both in scoring position to hold the lead.

The Royals pushed across two more runs off Jared Hall in the bottom of the sixth and turned to Matt Fusco to close it out on the mound. Fusco allowed a walk and a hit, but crucially no runs as he earned the save.

Hunt dazzled across 4.0 innings of work, allowing just the pair of unearned runs and walking only one while striking out five. McCarthy earned the win for the Royals 2.0 of relief. Roles was charged with his first loss since entering the league in 2025 despite punching out twelve batters in 5.0 innings.