Kersi strikes out 14 as Terryville evens Tri-State series with 5-1 win

Terryvilel shortstop Tony Patane had a single, double and one RBI to help the Black Sox even their Tri-State championship series with Tri-Town Thursday night with a 5-1 win.

The Tri-State League’s championship series is going the distance – as it should with the two best teams in the league going at it.

Terryville Black Sox pitcher Kody Kerski struck out 14 batters and allowed six hits to lead the Black Sox to a 5-1 win over the Tri-Town Trojans Thursday night at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury.

The win allows the Black Sox (25-3) to knot the best-of-3 series at 1-1, forcing a decisive game three for the league championship Friday night at 7 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.

Terryville is looking for their second straight league championship – the 2020 season was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic – while Tri-Town is looking for their first title since 2018 when the Trojans beat the Black Sox in game 3 of the championship series, 4-2.

This will be the fifth time since 2011 that Tri-Town has played in game 3 of the league championship series. The Trojans won in 2018 and 2013 with a 2-1 win in 12 innings over Naugatuck.

The Trojans will have to play better than they did on Thursday. Tri-Town (19-4) made six errors in the loss and struggled to get their offense going against Kerski.

Terryville took advantage of three walks to load the bases in the third inning. They ended up scoring three runs thanks to a passed ball, a successful squeeze bunt from Chris Ayer and a sacrifice fly from Bill Armstrong.

In the fourth inning, Tri-Town put two runners on base thanks to a walk and a single from Dan McCarty but Kerski fanned the next two hitters to end the threat.

In the sixth inning, the Trojans cut the lead to two runs, 3-1. Austin Swanson singled with one out and moved to third on a ground ball out. He scored on Mike Fabiaschi’s RBI single.

Terryville added another two runs in the seventh inning on Tony Patane’s RBI single and when a Tri-Town outfielder dropped a fly ball to extend the lead to 5-1.

Patane was 2-for-3 with a double for the Black Sox while catcher Alex Rauso also doubled. Fabiaschi was the only Tri-Town player with two hits, going 2-for-3 at the plate.

Terryville 5, Tri-Town 1
At Waterbury
Terryville (25-3)               003  000  200  — 5-7-0
Tri-Town (19-4)               000  001  000  — 1-6-6
Kodi Kerski and Alex Rauso; Bob Chatfield and Landon Gardella; WP: Kerski; LP: Chatfield; 2B: Rauso (Tv), Tony Patane (Tv), Matt Troy (TT); 3B: none; HR: none

2021 Tri-State League
Championship series
At Municipal Stadium, Waterbury
Wednesday, August 18
Game 1: Tri-Town 5, Terryville 0
Thursday, August 19
Game 2: Terryville 5, Tri-Town 1, series tied 1-1
Friday, August 20
Game 3: Tri-Town vs. Terryville, 7 p.m.