Avon third baseman Matt Boone picks up an bunt and throws out the runner in Saturday’s win over Farmington.
AVON, May 3 – In three of the first four games of the season, the Avon High baseball team allowed leads to slip away.
Granby erased a four-run lead to earn a 6-4 victory. Suffield scored four runs in the top of the seventh to help erase a three-run lead and win by three runs. Somers erased a one-run Avon lead to take a two-run victory. And just like that, the Falcons were off to a 0-4 start.
But Avon has been plugging away. They picked up a victory by beating Lewis Mills by two runs, 4-2. And since then, the Falcons have added another five straight wins, giving up just five runs in that stretch while scoring 41 runs of their own.
Avon made it six wins in a row on Saturday afternoon at Buckingham Field with a 7-1 win over Farmington. The Falcons (6-4, 5-3 NCCC) scored four runs in the first inning to seize control of the game early. Patrick McKearney had a two-RBI double while Jared Rosenblatt had an RBI single.
“We played well today,” long-time Avon High coach Marty deLivron said. “We made tough plays look easy. They didn’t make many mistakes. We put the ball in play. We ran well on the bases.”
The pitching has been consistent. In previous four games, Avon had allowed just 15 hits and six were in a 8-1 win over Canton on Thursday.
“I think we can do something,” deLivron said. “There is a lot of potential here. These kids play a lot of baseball. We’re going to take it one game at a time. It’s been a team effort with a lot of guys contributing.
Farmington (3-5) was still stinging from a one-run loss to New Britain on Friday night, 4-3. The Indians had the tying and go-ahead run on base but couldn’t knock them in.
“We started out the game with an error, a misplayed bunt and a walk. We hadn’t gotten our heads off of the pillow,” Farmington coach Mike McGuire said. “We were lackluster. Actually, up to this point, we had been playing pretty well. Our pitching has been solid and our defense has been good to very good. And usually, we can hit.
“One big thing was our pitchers continued to get behind in the count on nearly every batter,” McGuire said. “When you do that, you have to throw it to the white part (over the plate) and they have some good hitters.”
Avon’s first batter Nick Sanderson reached base on an error. Sean DelGallo’s reached on a bunt single and then Hahn coaxed a walk to load the bases with no outs in the first inning.
Rosenblatt hit an RBI single to right field and McKearney followed with a two-RBI blast to centerfield for a 3-0 lead. Rosenblatt scored on a sacrifice fly by Stephen Carrier for a 4-0 lead.
Farmington did have some opportunities but couldn’t convert. The Indians left 10 men on base, including five in scoring position.
With one out in the second inning, Farmington’s Bailey Meccariello reached on an error and stole second base. David Malijanian ripped a deep fly ball into the gap in right/center field. But Carrier, Avon’s center fielder, ran a long way to make an outstanding catch and squelch a potential rally.
In the third inning, Farmington had runners on first and second base with one out but DelGallo got Jack Roy to strike out and Ben Rossetti to fly out to left field to end the threat.
Avon extended its lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the third inning when Hahn led off with a single, moved to third on a single by Rosenblatt and scored on a wild pitch. McKearney walked, stole second base, moved to third on a ground ball out and scored on a wild pitch.
Farmington had a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Rossetti singled and moved around the bases on three wild pitches. Thanks to a pair of walks and some wild pitches, Farmington had runners on first and third. But Avon reliever Eric Welles got Tom Fresher to strike out to end the threat.
McKearney added a RBI single for Avon in the fifth inning. For Avon, it was their fourth win over Farmington in six meetings dating back to 2007.
“Simply, they made plays and we didn’t,” McGuire said.
Next week is a busy week for the Falcons with games on Monday (at Bolton), Wednesday (Windsor Locks) and Friday (at Enfield).
Against Canton on Thursday, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead. Ben Sullivan struck out but reached on an error. He stole second base and scored on a RBI single by Jake Wood.
Avon took a 2-1 lead in the fourth and extended the lead to 3-1 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Rosenblatt. The Falcons broke it open in the sixth with five runs as walks and errors hurt the Warriors. McKearney and Hahn each had doubles for the Falcons.
Avon coach Marty deLivron (19) talks to his players after beating Farmington.
Avon 7, Farmington 1
At Avon
Farmington (3-5) 000 010 0 – 1-4-1
Avon (6-4) 402 010 x – 7-7-1
Unknown, Dominic Alfano (4), Ben Rossetti (6) and unknown; Sean DelGallo, Jared Rosenblatt (4), Eric Welles (5), Noah Hahn and Dylan Marquis; WP: DelGallo; 2B: Patrick McKearney (A), Steven Carrier (A)
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