Blue Wave Ends the Losing Streak in the 10th

-By: Jack Bushell-
Colaboration with: Sam Nelson
(Photo by: Sam Nelson & Christian Panier)

Darien jumped out to an early lead on the Cadets of St. Joes 2-1 on Tuesday (5/5). Senior Michael Miller(pictured right) got the start against one of the best teams in the FCIAC. The Cadets would not relax after just the first inning. Miller pitched a great four innings and then was relieved by senior Ricky Hodges with runners on second and third. Hodges could not hit the strike zone and walked two batters, one to load the bases and one scored a run. The next hitter who came to the plate hit a bouncer right to Hodges, an easy out at home. Ricky threw the ball away and everyone was safe. Darien was able to get out of the inning after relieving Hodges with sophomore Dillon Duncan. The Wave was now down 4-2. After the 6th inning Darien was still trailing 5-2. "It took us awhile to get warmed up", senior Shari Garcia said, a regular fan of St. Joes. This was trouble for Darien. Darien had lost the last eight games and was not showing much energy. The team knew that when facing a strong team like St. Joes, they had to keep the energy high and stay focused. The bats did not start up leaving the pitching staff to keep the game close. Junior Quin Irwin of St. Joes pitched a gem of a game only giving Darien two runs and was relieved by St. Joes senior Drew Thomson to close the game.
At this point in time Darien had runners on and was threatening by the time Thomson got on the mound. Senior Scott Dempsey was brought into the game to pinch hit against the hard throwing Cadets. Dempsey stood up to the challenge and hit a laser shot to the left field wall with a double, scoring a runner and putting Darien closer 3-5. With runners on second and third senior Michael Wolhberg scored junior Dan Pidgeon(pictured above) with a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-5. Junior Ian Sullivan pinch ran for Dempsey on second to give the Wave more speed, going to third on Wolhberg's sacrifice fly. Senior Brandon Tripodi came up with the biggest hit of the game with a single to center to tie the game at five.
We are going to extra innings! Pidgeon started the bottom of the 9th off with a single but Darien could not get the runner in. The teams battled to the 10th inning and Darien had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the inning. The Cadets walked the next batter to load the bases, they brought the infielders in for a possible play at the plate. Sophomore Sam Gillespie was at bat and delivered the game winning hit over the infielders, driving in senior Tommy Blankemeier to end the game 6-5 with a Wave Win! This is a huge win for Darien stopping the eight-game slide. However, if the team looks to keep this up they must get their bats going earlier in the game and make fewer errors throughout. Darien will face off against Brien McMahon on Thursday (5/6) at home on the turf. Hopefully, they can keep their new streak alive.