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07/02/2021 12:00 AMThe Clinton Huskies 17-U AAU baseball team is back in action this summer in the East Shore Travel League. After an abbreviated 2020 season with a late start due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Huskies are playing a season that Head Coach Willie Fritz is accustomed to. With six games of recent action, the Huskies hold a 4-2 record on the year, thus far.
Regardless of the results of the last half-dozen games, Coach Fritz was excited to be back on the field like normal with his team this summer.
“I love it. I missed it. Last year, we got to play, but we couldn’t start until July. We also did a little bit in the fall. Thankfully, these guys got to play high school this year,” Fritz said. “They had a good season this year. I made a point of that to a couple of the parents. It’s good for me.”
The Huskies began the season with a doubleheader against the Boys of Summer Mather at the Indian River Complex on June 17. The Huskies dropped both games, taking an 8-2 defeat in the first game and losing by a score of 2-1 in the nightcap. In the first game, Mike Zingarella pitched three scoreless innings before running into trouble in the fourth with some walks and four hits adding up to four runs. Ethan Ranaudo came on in the fifth inning and gave up three earned runs for the rest of the game on three walks and two hits.
Zingarella had a couple of walks and stolen bases as far as his offensive input. Ethan Reemsnyder had a hit and an RBI. The Huskies tallied three hits as a team.
In the second contest, Alex Sheehan pitched a no-hitter but gave up a pair of walks and an error, which allowed two runs to score in the first inning. Sheehan had 11 strikeouts in the outing, but the Huskies couldn’t put enough runs across the plate. Garret Garbinski, Ryan Hromadka, Brady Fritz, and Ranaudo all had base hits in the game, but the Huskies lost 2-1.
Coach Fritz thought his players looked a bit rusty, but still competed.
“We hadn’t played in a couple of weeks, but we had a practice or two. Zing pitched the first game and just ran out of gas in the fourth, when it was 0-0. We brought in Ethan. Between the fourth and fifth, they scored seven runs,” said Fritz. “Alex Sheehan pitched the second game. He threw a no hitter, but we gave up two runs. We lost that game 2-1, and he didn’t give up a single hit. The night before that was graduation at Morgan. I wasn’t expecting too much under those circumstances.”
On June 19, Clinton had another doubleheader against Run & Gun Baseball at Seymour High School. The Huskies had a better showing with an 8-6 win in the first contest and a 5-3 victory in the second game.
Garret Garbinski had a great showing on the mound pitching a complete game with 13 strikeouts and had a shutout going for five innings before giving up three runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh.
The Huskies picked up three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, and four more in the seventh inning. Garbinski had a double and an RBI, Darr had two hits hit and two RBI, and Ranaudo had a hit and drove one run in. Nick Spaziano had a base hit and two stolen bases. Jake Nelson supplied a hit, while Cam Gratton had a hit and two RBI. Ryan Luciani grabbed an RBI in the win.
“Garbinski threw the first game. He pitched a complete game, and was really throwing strikes. He was getting a bit tired by the end, and we made a couple of errors. That’s how they got their runs,” said Fritz. “We hit the ball well. It was good. Everybody was hitting the ball well. Nobody was carrying us. Everybody got into the action.”
Anderson Darr started the second game giving Clinton four innings on the bump giving up two runs in the first, but then settling down the rest of the way. Ranaudo came on in relief in the fifth inning and gave up a single run over the final two frames, as the game was shortened to six innings. The Huskies won 5-3.
The Huskies scored a couple of runs in the first when Zingarella had a hit, then stole second. Dom Carpenter then drove him in with a double, and Ranaudo plated Carpenter with an RBI single. In the fourth inning, Ranaudo hit a double, and then stole third to set Spaziano up for an RBI single. Gratton also picked up an RBI in the fourth. The Huskies added another run in the fifth with a Fritz double and Zingarella drove him in.
“The second game was a little closer. We had a couple of kids that had to leave after the first game. Darr pitched the second game. He hasn’t pitched a lot, but he only gave up two runs. They had a couple of hits and a couple of walks and that was his two runs,” said Fritz. “After the fourth, we put Ranaudo in, but we only played six innings because of the time rule. We didn’t hit as much as we did in the first game, but neither game was really in doubt at any point.”
On June 24, Clinton played a pair against the CT Rage at the Indian River Complex. The Huskies claimed a lopsided 9-0 in the first game and a 4-3 victory in the nightcap.
In the first game Zingarella pitched six scoreless with seven strikeouts. Garbinski had three hits and two runs, while Fritz added a hit, a run, and an RBI. Zingarella supplied two hits and a run, and Ryan Inglis provided a hit and two runs scored. Clinton put a run on the board in the first, two in the second, two more in the third, and four in the fifth inning.
“Zingarella got his second start, and he was fantastic. We mercied them in six innings and he struck out seven,” Fritz said. “They hit the ball, but we played good defense behind Zingarella. We scored runs in almost every inning.”
The second game turned out to be a tighter affair for the Huskies. Ranaudo took the mound in the nightcap and pitched six innings allowing two runs with 13 strikeouts. Zingarella had so few pitches in the first game, he was available to close out the second game, and he gave up a single run, which was good for the 4-3 win.
As far as offense, Gratton had a run scored and a stolen base. Hromadka had a hit and an RBI. Nelson walked and scored a run, while Darr had a double and an RBI. Garbinski and Fritz each had hits and two stolen bases.
“That second game was really close. Ethan Ranaudo started that game, and he hadn’t pitched in a while. He pitched six solid innings, giving up two runs. He had 13 K’s in six innings, but he walked a few guys,” said Coach Fritz. “We were winning 4-2 going into the seventh, and Zingarella only threw 65 pitches in the first game, so he came in the seventh. We payed good defense. We also stole a lot of bases. We bunt. We play for runs. Small ball isn’t dead.”
Coach Fritz is happy with the group he has this season. They are gritty players who are always there for each other. That bodes well for the rest of the season. Coach Fritz likes his mix of guys this season, and is happy to help them balance their baseball activities and their work responsibilities.
“These guys are great guys. They are supportive of each other. We have 15 guys on the roster, which is good. A lot of guys are working summer jobs and doing this, so it’s good to have some extra players,” Fritz said. “We have a kid who’s going to be a freshman and a couple of kids who are going to be juniors. They get to face high school kids during this season. It works pretty well. This team is mature. We have some kids that are going to be seniors next year or graduate.”