On Wednesday, April 17, the South Windsor High School baseball team hosted the New Britain Hurricanes. A huge offensive outburst helped lead the Bobcats to a 13-0 victory.
The game started with South Windsor senior Andrew Goulet on the mound, who retired the Hurricanes offense in order. The Bobcats got a runner into scoring position in the bottom half of the opening inning but couldn’t get him to the plate.
Goulet shut down New Britain again in the second inning, bringing up Brian Garvey to lead off the next half inning for the ‘Cats offense. On his 18th birthday, Garvey got plunked by the pitch, sending him to first base.
A wild pitch and a walk put two runners on for junior Sam Balducci. The lefty smoked the ball deep into right-center field, landing for a two run triple. Balducci came around to score on an infield single by junior Jake Palombizio. Sophomore Brayden Edwards hit Palombizio in on a double, followed by an RBI single by Goulet.
I felt pretty good. That was a good team win and a great confidence boost for everyone to get us back on the winning track.
— Sam Balducci
Junior Robert Wunsch followed with a single, putting runners on the corners.
Garvey stepped up again and delivered a base hit of his own to score Goulet.
The offensive outburst continued with Justin Dittmar knowing a base hit to score Garvey and Wunsch.
Balducci stepped up again and put his barrel perfectly on the ball, lining his second triple of the inning and bringing Dittmar home to score. When it seemed almost over, another junior drove in a run for the ‘Cats. Jake Gombotz slapped a hit to bring in Balducci.
The marathon of a second inning finally ended. South Windsor’s lead sat at 8-0.
“Everyone swung well and contributed today, which is huge going into a big game on Friday,” Brayden Edwards commented.
Goulet came out for the third inning, and, yet again, dominated the Hurricanes offense, keeping them scoreless. This outing was a huge bounce back for the reigning CCC all-conference player after his last start against Enfield.
The fourth inning brought even more offense for the Bobcats. Senior Tyler McLaughlin got the inning started with a walk, then came around and scored. Goulet, Wunsch, Garvey, and Dittmar all followed with runs of their own. The ‘Cats lead grew to 13-0 and would stand for the remainder of the game.
Following the game, Garvey spoke to The Prowl, “Andrew Goulet filled up the zone all day and produced weak contact and easy outs. The offense was strong and we swung the bats well.”
Gombotz came in to pitch and close the game for South Windsor. The win brings the Bobcats to 3-2 on the season.
A trip to Wethersfield on Friday, April 19 is the next game on the schedule for the ‘Cats, looking to start a winning streak with their dominance over New Britain.
