Printer Friendly Version - Shoreline Cougars Drop a Pair of Contests

Killingworth resident Ross Meglin and the Cougars baseball squad took a couple of recent defeats, but showed a ton a lot of character by nearly pulling off a seventh-inning comeback against the Norwalk Revolution in a 4-3 defeat. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Source

The Shoreline Cougars baseball team took a pair of recent defeats to move to 2-7 on the season.

On June 25, the Cougars faced off against the Norwalk Revolution and lost a tight game by the score of 4-3. The Revolution jumped ahead quickly by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Cougars got one back in the third inning, when Haddam-Killingworth student Owen Marica reached base and promptly stole second to get into scoring position. Chester resident Mike Leffingwell then drove in Marica for the Cougars’ first run of the game. In the fourth inning, the Revolution added two more runs to extend their lead to 4-1.

Then in the seventh inning, the Cougars started to mount a comeback. Killingworth’s Ross Meglin walked to get things started, after which Matt Bjorkland singled to put runners at first and second. Marica grounded to second base for a fielder’s choice that moved the runners to second and third. Old Saybrook resident Scott Masse worked a walk to load the bases, and then Trevor Rydel singled to plate Meglin and move everyone up a base. Leffingwell came to the plate with the bases loaded and singled to center, scoring Bjorkland to make it 4-3, although Masse was thrown out on a close play at the plate, as Norwalk hung on for the victory.

Rydel threw a complete game with nine strikeouts on the afternoon, while Leffingwell had three base knocks for Shoreline.

Head Coach Dennis Annicelli felt that the Cougars played a good game and was pleased with the fact that they competed hard for the full seven innings.

“We played really good defense, and Trevor really grinded out there,” said Annicelli. “We were short on arms, and it was a gutsy pitching performance. The kids really competed the whole game, and Owen and Scott really got the guys up in the seventh.”

On June 27, the Cougars matched up against the Clinton Huskies at Morgan High School and took a 5-0 defeat. Clinton scored two runs in the first inning and one run each in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Marica and Killingworth’s Mike O’Toole contributed base hits for the Cougars.

Although Shoreline was unable to get a victory, Coach Annicelli said that his team showed a lot of heart against a veteran Huskies club.

“We didn’t have a player on the field older than 16. They had a pitcher just back from college, and they have a bunch of other college guys out there,” said Annicelli. “Even though it was 5-0, our ability to stay in the game and compete was really encouraging. We aren’t getting the outcomes that we want yet, but we’re right there and getting better.”