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For Norwalk's baseball team to be a serious challenger in the league and state playoffs, the Bears need pitcher Jonathan Cohen to be at his best. Like he was last night in a 4-0 win over city rival Brien McMahon.
Cohen pitched a complete-game three-hitter with 12 strikeouts to pace the Bears over the Senators. He took a no-hitter in the fourth inning, walked three and had the Senators off balance all evening. "He threw like that in the first game of the year, and then struggled for a couple of starts,'' Norwalk coach Angelo Bruno said. "When he's relaxed, he gives a good effort. I told him he has to relax and let his talent take over."
Norwalk (13-5 overall, 13-3 in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference) continues its pursuit of the no. 2 seed for the league playoffs. The Bears entered Monday tied with Greenwich and Wilton with three losses apiece in league action. McMahon fell to 10-8 overall and 8-8 in the FCIAC.
Norwalk scored the only run it would need in the first inning when Nick Milliman ripped a one-out triple to deep center field. He scored on Spencer Jacoby's groundout. The Bears added three in the third on two walks, an infield hit by Kevin Danielle, a throwing error and Leon Fleming's RBI single. McMahon's best threat came in the fifth, but Chris Holomakoff was gunned down at home by left fielder Chris Kasimis as he tried to score on a single by Ronnie Sherman.
"Jon was great out there,'' McMahon coach John Cross said. "He was fantastic. We were off balance the whole night. He even had our best hitters off balance, which is a testament to how good he was tonight."
Sophomore pitcher Ricky Torres pitched five solid innings for McMahon before giving way to Bryan Daniello, who came on in a two-on, none-out jam in the fifth and got out of it without allowing a run.
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