Stamford Eliminates Enfield From American Legion Baseball Tournament

With a 4-0 lead, two outs in the fifth inning and ace pitcher Trevor Breton on the mound, the outlook seemed bright for the Enfield American Legion Post 80 baseball team Tuesday.

Unfortunately for the home team, their arms and gloves began deserting them and their bats fell silent, enabling Stamford to come from behind and post a 13-5 victory in the playdown round of the state tournament at Fermi High School.

Six errors led to seven unearned runs, ending Enfield's season with an 18-9 record. Meanwhile, Stamford (16-12) moves on to face Rocky Hill Wednesday.

Stamford pitcher Sam Kosterich overcame a shaky start, hurling a complete game to earn the win. He allowed just five hits and struck out six.

Enfield reached Kosterich early, scoring three times in the first inning. Joe Bowker led off with a walk, moved to second an out later when Breton was hit by a pitch, and scored when a grounder by Ryan Bakes was misplayed. After the runners advanced on an infield out, Dan Cezus lined a two-run single to right.

Cezus knocked in Breton again with a run-scoring single in the third to give Enfield a 4-0 lead. Back on the hill, Breton continued firing seeds, striking out six Stamford batters in the first four innings.

In the fifth, R.J. Calo singled and Kosterich doubled to give Stamford runners at second and third with one out. After a strikeout, Eric Joyner hit a grounder which was thrown past first, enabling both runners to score.

As the 91-degree heat beat down on the field, the Stamford bats caught fire. Alex rough singled and Brandon Docimo walked to open the sixth, and after a flyout, Calo drove them both home with a two-run triple down the right field line. Kosterich followed with a run-scoring single, giving Stamford a 5-4 lead and driving Breton from the mound.

Stamford added three more runs in the seventh off reliever John Cerrato. Kosterich was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in Docimo, then Dan White and Calo scored on another Enfield throwing error.

A five-run ninth cemented the victory for Stamford. A bases-loaded double by Billy Druehl brought in Kosterich and Michael Summa, and a single by Steven Hagedus knocked home Joyner. Druehl scored on a throwing error, and Hagedus crossed the plate with the final run on a sacrifice fly by Docimo.

All nine Stamford starters scored at least one run. Cezus knocked in four runs on three hits for Enfield.