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Fans of pitchers' duels enjoyed a treat at Stamford High School on Wednesday afternoon. Greenwich had its ace Dylan Callahan, while the Black Knights countered with Trevor Kane (4-0, 1 save), who has one of the feel-good stories of the year. Neither pitcher allowed an earned run, but Stamford capitalized on four Greenwich errors to eke out a 3-1 win.
"The best thing a pitcher could ask for in a tight game is for your team to score runs behind you," Kane said. "It was a big game for us. I just did well keeping the top of their order off balance with curveballs."
Kane was not even on the Stamford depth chart as a pitcher to begin the season but has emerged as the Black Knights' best hurler. The tall senior righty mixed his fastball and curveball well, striking out four batters in a row at one point. Kane gave up just three hits, striking out six in five-plus innings to pick up his fourth win. Greenwich's only run came on a throwing error by Stamford third baseman Phil D'Amico.
The breakthrough came for the Black Knights in the fifth when Stamford's Travis Docimo lofted a shallow fly ball to right. Cardinals second baseman Matt Pruner drifted too far into the outfield and collided with right fielder Taylor Olmstead, and the ball dropped between them. Three batters later, Brendan Docimo ripped a ground-rule double to left to give Stamford the lead for good.
Stamford snuffed Greenwich's best scoring chance in the sixth when relief pitcher Mike Beluk tagged out the potential tying run at home. Stamford added an insurance run in the bottom of the frame. Greenwich hit three hard fly balls in the seventh, but they were just loud outs.
"I saw this game on the calendar and thought, 'Uh-oh,' when I saw we would face Callahan," Stamford head coach Fred Kelley said. "We beat a very good team and one of the best pitchers in the league. We've been snake-bitten like they were today, and it went our way this time."
After stumbling out of the gate, Stamford is on a four-game winning streak. The Black Knights begin a five-game road trip Monday when they travel to Wilton for a 6 p.m. game.
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