A cold Wednesday afternoon brought the Hall Titans to Rotary Field in South Windsor for a highly anticipated CCC matchup with the South Windsor Bobcats.
Senior Brayden Edwards took the mound for the home ‘Cats and looked to build off an impressive start to the season. Edwards had started three games before Hall, where he had been excellent in each one.
Five shutout innings against previously third ranked Southington, six innings of one run ball against Berlin, and five innings with just one run to Wethersfield were what had preceded yet another crucial start for Edwards.
Edwards took the mound and picked up right where he had left off against Southington. A long fly ball to center would be the only threat, but freshman Torin Edwards was there to make the catch just a few steps shy of the fence. A strikeout capped off the inning as the ‘Cats left the field clean.
A two-strike, two-out base knock in the top of the third would be the games opening hit, however, Edwards bunkered in and soon finished the inning.
Torin Edwards singled in the bottom of the third, which was followed up with a base hit from his older brother. With two on and just one out, it seemed to be the best chance for the ‘Cats, but the Titans were able to settle in and retire two straight hitters to escape the inning.
The top of the fourth would be the most trouble Edwards faced all game. After two quick outs, an infield single and then a bloop hit to right put two in scoring position. With the Titans knocking on the door, Edwards delivered some of his best stuff all game, delivering a filthy strikeout to retire the side still without a run.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Bobcats knew they had to get some offense going or it could turn into trouble. After the first two batters both got out, it seemed it’d be another inning of smooth sailing for Hall, but a walk to Torin Edwards put a man on base with the top of the order coming up.
Brayden Edwards stepped to the plate and watched a ball that brought Torin over to second on a steal. A few pitches later, the elder Edwards launched a ball deep into center field. A hop to the warning track and the brothers were off to the races. Cruising into third with a stand-up, RBI triple to break the 0-0 tie sent the home dugout into a frenzy.
Edwards provided himself with some run support, now having to get just six outs to avenge the ‘Cats from their loss to Hall in last year’s CCC tournament semifinal.
A runner would reach base in the top half of the sixth on an error, but a flyout to center and a strikeout would end the frame with the man stranded on first.
Junior Braydon Falco led off with a double but would get no further than that as the home side of the sixth went down quickly.
Edwards jogged to the mound for the seventh and final inning needing to make decently quick work with a pitch count in the upper eighties. After falling behind 3-0 to the leadoff hitter, Edwards fired a pair of strikes with the latter being grounded to his shortstop, junior Bennett Durbois, for the first out.
A quick strikeout followed to bring Hall down to their final out. Edwards fired the ball over the plate, where it was grounded over to Falco at second and thrown over to first to end the game.
Edwards final line for the day featured seven innings, nine strikeouts, just three hits, a season-low one walk, and zero runs allowed.
The ‘Cats ace spoke to The Prowl after the game, saying “Felt good on the mound. I was very happy with the command; pretty cool to get it done with my brother.”
Behind the dish was senior Aiden Jackson, who felt his pitcher had great efficiency all game, “He pitched efficiently. He got ahead in counts and trusted his defense behind him and that’s what we needed him to do,” Jackson said.
The win marks the third straight for the Bobcats, this one being a huge conference victory over a strong Hall team. With Tolland on Friday and East Lyme the next morning, the state sixth ranked Bobcats look to extend their win streak and cap off a huge week with two more victories.
