Twice, Meriden rallies to beat Simsbury in CEBA action

Simsbury’s Cayden Thomas was 5-for-8 with a double and one RBI Sunday in two Connecticut Elite Baseball Association contests against Meriden.

MERIDEN, July 26, 2020 – The Meriden Under 19 baseball team rallied twice to beat Simsbury and sweep a pair of Connecticut Elite Baseball Association contests Sunday at Legion Field.

Meriden erased a six-run deficit to beat Simsbury, 7-6 in game one and erased an early two-run deficit to take the second game, 7-5. Meriden (13-6) keeps pressure on Berlin in the race for the Division I championship.

Berlin (15-5) clinched a playoff berth Sunday with a 5-2 win over Bristol behind six strong innings from pitcher Daniel Veleas. Berlin can win the division title with a win over West Hartford on Tuesday night or an additional loss from Meriden. The top two teams in Division I will advance to the CEBA playoffs.

Simsbury (4-13) had a six-run lead in game one thanks to a two-run single from Matt Rose and a pair of errors. But Meriden slowly chipped away with three runs in the second inning and three runs in the third to tie the game at 6-6.

In the sixth inning, Meriden’s Andrew McCarty walked and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw. With one out, he stole third base and scored on a sacrifice bunt from teammate Michael Duffy.

Wes Deno picked up the win for Meriden, going the distance. He pitched all seven innings, scattered 10 hits and struck out seven.

Simsbury’s Cayden Thomas was 3-for-4 with a double while Connor Anthony was 2-for-3. Matt Rose, Jackson Matczyk and Aiden Attianese each drove in two runs.

For Meriden, Kam Hartenstein was 4-for-4 with two RBI wile Michael Duffy was 2-for-3 with two RBI.

Simsbury’s Jack Rose had two hits in game two of Sunday’s doubleheader with Meriden.

In game two, Simsbury took an early 2-0 lead on a two-out double from Anthony. But Meriden scored the next six runs to take a 6-2 lead after three innings. Simsbury added a run on a RBI single from Jackson Matczyk in the fourth inning, a RBI double from Matt Rose in the fifth inning and a RBI single from Thomas.

Matt Rose had two doubles in game two while Jack Rose was 2-for-3 with a pair of singles. Thomas was 2-for-4 with one RBI.

Simsbury returns to action on Tuesday when they visit Bristol at Muzzy Field at 5:30 p.m., before closing the season on Friday, July 31 at West Hartford at 5:30 p.m.

Avon (3-16) split a doubleheader on Sunday. Avon captured the opener with an 8-4 decision over Newington before dropping game two, 5-4.

Avon returns to action on Tuesday with a visit to Meriden beginning at 5:30 p.m. before closing out the season by hosting Cheshire at Buckingham Field at 5:30 p.m.

Meriden 7, Simsbury 6
At Meriden
Simsbury (4-12)             600  000  0 – 6-10-3
Meriden (12-6)              033  001  x  — 7-12-2
Daniel Fritz, Jack Rose (3), Mike Santos (5) and unknown; Wes Deno and unknown; WP: Deno; LP: Santos (0-1); 2B: Cayden Thomas (S), Sean Dupuis (M)

Meriden 7, Simsbury 5
At Meriden
Simsbury (4-13)             200  120  0  — 5-12-4
Meriden (13-6)              321  001  x  — 7-5-0
Cooper Schneider, Matt Rose (4) and unknown; Evan Avery, Max Giancco (5) and unknown; WP: Avery; LP: Schneider (0-2); 2B: Matt Rose (S) 2, Connor Anthony (S), Jack Clancy (M), 3B: Andrew McCarty (M)

Connecticut Elite Baseball Association
Under 19
Division I

y-clinched playoff berth
Sunday’s results
Meriden 7-7, Simsbury 6-5
Avon 8-4, Newington 5-5
Cheshire 3-4, West Hartford 1-3
Bristol 8-2, Berlin 1-5
Tuesday’s games
Simsbury at Bristol
Avon at Meriden
Newington at Cheshire
West Hartford at Berlin
Wednesday’s games
Cheshire at Avon
Meriden at Bristol