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STAMFORD, Conn. North Stamford's Alex Mella doubled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth in a back-and-forth affair against Berlin Wednesday in Orange. Hunter Semmel battled through a tense sixth inning to hold off Berlin and grab the 6-5 win for North Stamford in the opening game of the state sectional tournament.
"We used a couple of big horses in Grant [Stone] and Hunter today and to not have won this one would have hurt," North Stamford manager Dave Grafstein said. "You have to get out of here with the win. You can't worry too much about pitch counts [in sectionals]."
After North Stamford took a 2-0 lead in the first, its ace Grant Stone surrendered two solo home runs and Berlin was right back in it. Stone gave up all five of Berlin's runs in 4-plus innings pitched.
Berlin took a 4-2 lead in the fourth on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch, but North Stamford manufactured three runs in the bottom of the inning. Stone and Semmel led off with back-to-back singles and were sacrificed over to second and third. Ryan Cahill singled in Stone and Semmel and was driven in by Michael Grafstein on a sacrifice fly.
After Stone gave the lead up for a third time, Semmel came on in relief and shut Berlin down. Telly Colarossi led off the fifth with a double, bringing Mella to the plate. Mella was way behind the first two pitches, but started his swing earlier on the third and ripped the game-winning double.
"We brought in some older guys to pitch to us in practice. They're a lot faster, so we start our swings a little earlier now," Mella said. "This was a good start and we're hoping to carry it on."
Semmel had to battle through the top of the sixth. He surrendering a single on a 10-pitch at-bat, then retired the next three batters for the win. But he went over 20 pitches and will not be available to pitch in North Stamford's next game.
North Stamford will take on Shelton National Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Orange.
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