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GREENWICH, Conn. The rock-solid defense and razor-sharp pitching that Greenwich had used to win its first 22 games of the season failed to hold up in Saturdays conference championship game. The Cardinals committed three crucial errors and Trumbull took advantage, as Greenwich fell for the first time this season, 7-1.
We played 22 great games and today we didnt. It was tough, said Greenwich manager Mike Mora. We kicked the ball around, which is uncharacteristic of us. We have to play good defense and throw strikes. Today we didnt. I have to give Trumbull all the credit in the world.
Pitching on just two days rest, starter Dylan Callahan never looked comfortable on the mound. He walked two, hit two batters and staked Trumbull to a 2-0 lead. The Cardinals defense did not help their pitcher, either, committing a pair of throwing errors in the third that led to two unearned runs.
That was more than enough offense for the Trumbull pitchers, who allowed just one run in the 25 innings they played in the tournament. Trumbull starter Colin Keyes scattered just three Greenwich hits over four innings. Mike Yerina was nearly spotless in relief of Keyes, striking out four in three innings of no-hit ball.
The Trumbull pitching duo was named co-MVP of the game.
Thats how you win a championship, Mora said of Trumbulls pitching effort. I was trying to get two or three out of Dylan, and maybe some guys werent as rested as they should be. But thats baseball.
Greenwichs lone run of the contest came in the bottom of the fourth on a Cameron Fennell RBI single. The Cardinals only other serious threat came in the bottom of the fifth when they had runners on first and second with one out. But Yerina got Callahan to pop out and struck out David Berdoff to kill the potential rally.
Trumbull put the nail in the coffin in the top of the sixth, getting to ace Casey Gaynor, who had come on in relief. In just two-thirds of an inning, Gaynor surrendered three runs on two hits and two walks.
The loss continued a recent trend in the conference in which the top seed has failed to win the title for the past five seasons.
Greenwich (22-1) will look to start a new winning streak when the Cardinals play in the Class LL state tournament on Wednesday. Top-ranked Greenwich gets a first-round bye in the tournament and will host either Hall or Conard.
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