Berlin Baseball Eliminated In The Quarterfinals

By Rick Volk

It was tough enough that the Berlin Redcoats ran into Waterford pitcher Jordan Hamler today. They also ran into his bat in a 7-2 CIAC Class L quarterfinal loss Saturday at Waterford High School.

Hamler limited the Redcoats to seven hits and three walks, while striking out six in a complete game victory. At the plate, the senior right-hander drove in three runs with a double and a single. The Waterford attack pounded out 12 hits against starter Connor Bennett and another off reliever Jared Gallagher.

Bennett, who pitched many sharp games throughout the reason, left the mound in the 6th to an appreciative ovation from Berlin fans and his teammates. He finished his senior season with a 7-3 record. Both Hamler and Bennett had thrown 10-strikeout shutouts in their teams' opening round Class L games; Hamler over Torrington and Bennett against Jonathan Law.

Hamler’s two-run double in the first gave Waterford a lead it never relinquished.

A Berlin rally in the fourth inning produced an answer with Daren Grabowski scoring on run on Dante Vasi’s sacrifice fly.

Waterford broke through with three in the third to take a 5-1 lead on an RBI hit by Adam Goss and Seth Hoagland’s two-run single. Berlin had chances in the fifth, putting two runners on but came up empty.

In the sixth a Jordan Zima double plated Mitch Williams, but Alec Norton’s drive to deep left with two runners aboard was caught.

Waterford (19-4) joins the final four of Class L for a game against Notre Dame of West Haven, with North Haven and New Canaan meeting in the other semifinal.

The Berlin season, which began in frosty April, had 13 regular season wins and a 2-1 playoff run, but came to an end in eastern Connecticut on blazing hot June day.

BERLIN (15-8)

• Greg Konowski lf 4-0-2
  
• Daren Grabowski cf 3-1-1
  
• Mitch Williams 3b 3-1-2
  
• Jeff Sylvester dh 3-0-0
  
• Dante Vasi lb 2-0-0
  
• Jordan Zima c 3-0-1
  
• Dave Condon rf 2-0-0
  
• Alex Norton 2b 3-0-1
  
• Matt Rocco ss 1-0-0
  
• Kevin Cowperthwaite ph 1-0-0
  
• Logan Taracini ph 1-0-0 
  
• 2B: Zima
  
• RBI: Vasi, Zima
  
• SF: Vasi
  
• BB: Grabowski, Williams, Condon
  
• SB: Grabowski, Williams 
  
• P  Connor Bennett(L, 7-3) 5.2IP,12 H, 7R, 6ER, 1BB, 4K
• Jared Gallaher .1 IP, 1H, 0R 
  

• Will Sherman cf 3-3-2
  
• Tom Pezzolesi 2b 3-0-1
  
• Seth Hoagland rf 4-1-2
  
• Jordan Hamler p 3-0-2
  
• Tom Keech ph 1-0-0
  
• Connor Lewis 3b 4-0-2
  
• Kyle Willoughby 4-2-3
  
• Adam Goss lb 4-0-1
  
• David Zaldivar pr 0-1-0
  
• Sam Strout c 2-0-1
  
• Jesse Coates ss 3-0-0 
  
• 2b: Hoagland, Hamler
  
• 3B: Willoughby
  
• RBI: Hamler 3, Hoagland 2, Goss, Strout
  
• BB: Sherman
  
• SB: Willoughby
  
• SH: Pezzolesi, Strout 
  
• P Hamler (W) 7IP, 7H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 6K