The Fairfield Mariners and the New Canaan Cannons stepped onto the field Sunday morning at Mead Park as the only unbeaten teams just two weeks into the Fairfield County Men's Senior Baseball League. The defending league champion Mariners pushed a run home in the ninth to nip the Cannons, 3-2.
Fairfield grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the first on a single and stolen base by Imtiaz Vohra. Rob Ayala's RBI single gave the Mariners the lead. New Canaan answered with two runs on an RBI groundout and Mario Lopez's RBI double.
Eric Dube doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Bob Mingutz to knot it up at 2-2. Both teams got runners on base in the early innings but had trouble getting runs across. Both starting pitchers exited early, and it became a battle of relievers.
A bright spot for New Canaan was pitcher Pat Chieffalo. With the bases loaded and one out, Chieffalo induced a ground ball to third baseman Brian Vickers, who made an alert play to step on third and throw to first for the inning-ending double play. Chieffalo allowed no runs in four-plus innings of relief.
The Cannons' big chance came in the eighth. Fairfield pitcher Mike Guilfoyle, who dominated in earlier innings with six straight strikeouts, showed signs of bending. He allowed back-to-back singles with no outs, but New Canaan could not score.
New Canaan surrendered the winning run in the top of the ninth. Shaun Malay doubled to center field and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. With one out and Malay at third, Bob Mingutz hit a slow grounder up the first base line that was snagged by Cannons' pitcher Scott Carew. As Malay danced off third base, Carew's throw to first was low and trickled into foul territory, allowing the run to score.
New Canaan falls to 2-1. The Cannons continue their three-week home stand with a game against the Bridgeport Brewers on May 29 at 9 a.m.
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