Farmington nips Avon under lights; SMSA win ends Canton’s season

FARMINGTON, May 22 – Despite three triples and four extra base hits, the Avon High baseball team couldn’t beat Farmington Friday night at Tunxis Meade under the lights, falling by a score of 4-3 in a non-league contest. 

Derek Fern’s three-run double in the fourth inning put Farmington (10-8) ahead for good, 4-2. In the final four innings, four Farmington relief pitchers limited Avon (13-5) to four hits and just two runs to secure the victory. 

Trailing by a run, Avon tied the game in the top of the fourth inning on back-to-back triples from Ian McDonald and Chris Jacobs. Avon stranded Jacobs at third base thanks to a strikeout and an infield fly ball for third out. 

Avon took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning when Bryant St. Jean led off the inning with a triple and scored on a RBI single to left field from Justin Olson. After Farmington took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, Avon tried to rally in the top of the seventh inning. Andrew LeDuc scored on a two-out sacrifice fly from Stephen Carrier. But a strikeout ended the rally and the game for the Falcons. 

Olson was 2-for-3 with one RBI. Farmington won for the fifth time in its last six games while Avon lost for the second time in its last three outings. 

The Falcons (12-6, 10-5 NCCC) rolled to an 11-0 win over Thursday over Granby with four Avon pitchers combining to throw a one-hitter and strike out six. McDonald pitcher four innings followed by Will Boone with two innings of work and single innings from Kyle Emery and Olson. The lone hit was a 1-out double from Granby’s Jake King off Boone in the fourth inning. 

Avon’s Steve Carrier was 3-for-3 with two RBI while Olson was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Jeremy Zarwanski and Bryant St. Jean each had two hits in Avon’s 14-hit attack. St. Jean had a RBI single and Olson had a two-run single in the fifth inning when the Falcons extended a four-run lead to nine. 

Avon returns to the diamond Saturday with its final NCCC regular season game when they host Suffield at Buckingham. Avon closes out the regular season with a trip to Wethersfield on May 27. 

Farmington 4, Avon 3
At Farmington
Avon (12-6)                      000  110  1  — 3-6-2
Farmington (10-8)            001  030  x –  4-4-2
Kyle Emery, Conner Harris (6) and Jeremy Zarwanski; Derek Finn, Chirag Sikka (4), Connor Walsh (5), Joe Nadel (6), Derek Duffy (7) and Jeffrey Crook; WP: Nadel; LP: Emery; 2B: Justin Olson (A), Derek Fern (F); 3B: Ian McDonald (A), Chris Jacons (A), Bryant St. Jean (A) 

Avon 11, Granby 0
At Granby
Avon (12-5)          003  150  2  — 11-14-3
Granby (10-10)    000  000  0  —   0-1-3
Ian McDonald, Will Boone (4), Kyle Emery (6), Justin Olson (7) and Jeremy Zarwanski, Ryan Ollstead (6); Jake Nichols, Randall Wardrop (5) and Kyle Desjardins, Nicholas Mazzucco (5); WP: Ian McDonald, LP: Nichols; 2B: Jake King (G), Ian McDonald (A), Justin Olson (A)

SMSA beats Canton in season finale
CANTON, May 21 – A little over two weeks ago, the Canton High baseball team was 6-6 after 12 games and the prospects of a return to the Class S tournament looking promising. 

Since a six-run victory over Enfield, the Warriors have struggled to keep the opposition off the base paths. Opponents rapped out at least 10 hits in seven of the last eight games. On Thursday, the scenario was the same as Sport Medicine Science Academy had 14 hits including four extra-base hits as the Tigers beat Canton, 12-4 at Bowdoin Field. 

That loss eliminated the Warriors (7-13, 5-11 NCCC) from the Class S tournament. Canton needed eight wins to qualify. Ben Sullivan was 2-for-3 with two RBI for Canton while teammate Kevin Gurry was 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

The Tigers (10-9) led 6-1 after three innings and extended it to 10-1 after four innings. SMSA’s Stephen Bienkowski was 3-for-4 with four RBI for the winners while Daunte Brinkley was 3-for-4 with one RBI. 

SMSA 12, Canton 4
At Canton
SMSA (10-9)       132  401  1  — 12-14-1
Canton (7-13)      001  030  0  —  4-7-3
John Gegetskas, Aaron Swahn (6) and unknown; Kevin Gurry, Ethan Burke (5) and Braedon Bean; WP: Gegetskas; LP: Gurry; 2B: Theodore Elsner (S), Daunte Brinkley (S), Stephen Bienkowski (S) 2; 3B: Chris Rodrigues (S)