CTABL

Recap

While the weather was questionable half an hour before first pitch, Hoss Dental and CT Royals got a game in on a wet and windy morning in Tolland that played to a 13-2 Royals win in five innings.

Hoss got off to a hot start thanks to walks and timely baserunning. Aiden Cooney stole home on a well executed first-and-third play with Elias Deleon, who also came around to score on a wild pitch later in the inning. The Royals would not be outdone, as Gio Morales reached base on an infield single in the wet grass, and was doubled home by Josh Svoboda. A pair of errors saw Svoboda come across to tie the game, and with the bases loaded Eryk Jones batted in what would be the game-winning run.

Both teams settled down in the second inning, but the third inning had some more excitement. Hoss got the first two batters on base to start the inning, but the Royals were prepared for another first-and-third situation, catching the runner at second without allowing the runner on third to advance. Later in the at-bat saw the defensive play of the game, as Jones caught a fly ball in left field and threw a laser to Mike Lukaszewski at the plate to nail the runner by a few steps. In the bottom of the same frame, Eric Rubelmann blasted a ball over the fence in left-center which extended the Royals’ lead to 4-2.

The game sat at that score for the next inning-and-a-half, and the Hoss bullpen allowed nine Royals to score and earn a mercy-rule win, capped off by another big Svoboda hit.

Christian Torres earned the win for the Royals, allowing two runs in three innings of action. Aiden McCarthy pitched well in two innings of scoreless relief work, including striking out the side in the fourth.