Greenwich Legion Baseball Inches Toward Finals

GREENWICH, Conn. – Scoring four runs with two outs in the bottom of the first turned out to be the difference for the Greenwich Senior Legion baseball team as it defeated Southington, 5-2, on Monday and moved closer to a state championship.

Southington appeared headed for an easy inning, but a pickoff gone wrong kept the frame alive and allowed Brendan Hardin to score from third. The play flustered Southington starter Justin Robarge, who allowed the next four Greenwich players to reach.

Ricky Okazaki blooped a two-run single to right, which was followed by another RBI single by Matt Pruner, giving Greenwich an early 4-0 lead.

The Southington miscue turned out to be huge for the Cannons, as Robarge settled down and went on to strike out 14 Greenwich batters in a complete-game effort. Greenwich starter Dylan Callahan matched his opponent, however, as the Cannons’ righty went eight-plus innings, striking out seven.

“Anytime you get a lead like that it makes pitching a lot more comfortable,” Callahan said. “The guys really picked me up with that big first inning.”

Greenwich could be in the state championship game by the end of Tuesday. The Cannons were to play at 9:30 a.m. in Stamford and at 6:30 p.m. in Bristol due to last weekend’s rain. If Greenwich wins both games, it advances to Friday’s state final.

“It was huge to have Dylan throw that kind of game, because we’re kind of low on pitchers right now,” Okazaki said. “It’s going to be hard going up to Bristol, but we’ll go hard and give it our best.”

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