AVON, July 23 – The Avon American Legion baseball team set a high standard for future teams to match this summer. Fielding a team for the first time in nine years, Avon won a team-record 20 games, qualified for the Legion state tournament for the first time, earned its first postseason victory and came within a run of earning a spot in the final 16, double-elimination portion of the state tournament.
Avon beat East Hartford, 3-1, in the second round of qualifying in the state tournament but were eliminated the next day by defending state champion Branford and pitcher Rob Neagle, who allowed just two Avon hits in a 1-0 victory.
“The season was a resounding success,” Avon coach Brian Doyle said. “The commitment, sportsmanship and general good play that all the players demonstrated over the last six weeks was truly remarkable.”
Avon finished 20-12 overall and fourth in tough Zone 1 with a 16-10 record behind Bristol (25-1), Simsbury (19-7) and Torrington (17-8). Mike D’Onofrio (.294, 23 hits, 10 stolen bases), Tyler Grouten (4-3, 1.30 ERA) and T.J. Stolzenberg (.266, 13 RBI, 7 doubles) were named to the Zone 1 All-Star team by the zone coaches.
Post 201 won 14 of 16 games during a strong mid-season surge and finished the regular season with four wins in the last five games.
“At the beginning of the season, I told the boys that there was a responsibility with being the first ones and I asked the boys to set the tone for the future of the program,” Doyle said.
In the playoffs, Avon continued to play well. In a second round game with East Hartford, Grouten pitched eight strong innings and reliever Sean Lanahan (2-1, 6 saves, 2.24 ERA) struck out the side in the ninth inning of a 3-1 victory.
Russ Martens had a pair of doubles and 2 RBI and Andrew Livingstone delivered a clutch bases-loaded RBI single in the eighth to increase Post 201’s lead to two runs, 3-1.
Avon was rewarded with a date with Branford, the defending state champion with the winner advancing the final 16, double-elimination portion of the state tournament. However, two first inning errors came back to haunt Avon in a 1-0 defeat at Rotary Field in South Windsor.
With a runner on first base and two outs, Branford’s Kevin Korwek reached on an error and Casey Dadio scampered from first to third base. Dadio scored when Avon pitcher Brendan Telfer (4-2, 0.82 ERA) tried to pick him off and threw wildly.
That was enough for Branford pitcher Rob Neagle, who limited Avon to just two hits in seven innings. Neagle struck out three and walked four but the Branford defense didn’t let him down. Shawn Coughlin pitched two innings of scoreless relief, aided by a pair of double plays, to earn the victory.
In the eighth inning, Avon had runners on first and second with one out thanks to a pair of walks to Mike D’Onofrio and T.J. Stolzenberg. But Coughlin got Jason Moore to ground into a double play to end the inning. In the ninth, Connor Doyle dropped in a bloop single into right field for a one-out single. But again, Coughlin got Andy Livingstone to ground into a game-ending double play.
Avon had just three hits on the day. Doyle had two hits, including a fourth inning single. Martens had the other single. Telfer was solid on the mound, allowing one unearned run and five hits in seven innings of work.
“Brendan pitched seven strong innings and worked out of several jams,” Brian Doyle said. “Sean Lanahan pitched well in the eighth to give us a chance but we were not able to muster too much in the way of offense against their ace pitcher. Sometimes good pitching shuts down good hitters – and this was certainly true for both teams tonight.”
Doyle also praised his two assistant coaches John Papa and Chris Moore for their invaluable dedication and assistance this season along with team officials John Simonson, Dave Beaulieu and Frank Mancini.
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