On a hot Monday afternoon, the South Windsor High School baseball team hosted the Farmington River Hawks. The Bobcats came out winning the contest, albeit sloppily, with a final score of 11-7. This win clinches a second consecutive playoff berth for the ‘Cats.
Senior Andrew Goulet started the game on the mound for South Windsor. Goulet set the River Hawks down in order to head into the home-frame of the first.
A leadoff single by sophomore Brayden Edwards and a walk to Goulet had two runners on with nobody out. Two batters later, junior Justin Dittmar was plunked to load the bases.
Fellow junior Sam Balducci followed up with a walk to bring a run in. The next batter was senior Ryan Fischer, who watched four straight balls miss the strike zone to bring in Goulet. The inning ended with South Windsor ahead by two.
Despite allowing the first hit on a Bobcats pitcher in three games, Goulet sent the River Hawks back to the dugout in the second, still with a goose egg on the scoreboard.
Senior Tyler McLaughlin led off the bottom of the second with a base hit, followed by an Edwards double. Goulet came up with two runners in scoring position but would strike out, however, the ball hit the dirt and slipped away from the Red Hawk catcher, allowing Goulet to run to first.
The Farmington catcher overthrew his first baseman on the attempted recovery, scoring both runners and getting Goulet to first. Junior Robert Wunsch then drew a walk, bringing senior Brian Garvey up to the plate. The lefty smacked a single to bring in both runners.
Fischer got onto first, putting runners on the corners. The senior stole second, with the throw down slipping into center field, allowing Garvey to score and Fischer heading to third. Junior Jake Gombotz then hit a single to bring in Fischer. The ‘Cats left the inning ahead 8-0.
Trouble arose for Goulet in the top of the third. The River Hawks were able to slap some hits, draw a couple walks, and drag out three runs by the end of the inning.
A hit-by-pitch to Edwards and walks to Goulet and Wunsch brought up junior Justin Dittmar. The righty launched a bases-clearing double to push the lead to 11-3 with no outs, however, he’d end the inning stranded on second. “It was a lot closer than we wanted but we will be ready for the next one,” Dittmar said following the game.
Goulets’ day would come to an end in the fourth inning before he could even record an out in the frame. Gombotz came in to relieve him. The junior escaped trouble to keep Farmington scoreless in the inning.
For the remainder of the game, the ‘Cats offense was relatively silent. South Windsor failed to score for the last three innings.
Farmington managed to scrape together two more runs in the top of the sixth, had the same result in the seventh, but Balducci came in to close the doors on the River Hawks by the end of that inning.
Despite sloppy play to end the day, a win is a win, marking the sixth straight for the Bobcats. They improved to eighth wins on the year, meaning they’ve already clinched a playoff spot. There is more to achieve, however, and aim for much more by the end of the season.
The next game for Bobcats is a matchup against Wethersfield on Tuesday, April 30 at home in South Windsor.
