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| Naugatuck leadoff batter Sean Miller-Jones. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file) |
Crack, crack, crack.
Those were the sounds reverberating around Torrington’s Fuessenich Park in Game 1 of the Tri-State World Series on Tuesday night.
It wasn’t thunder from a late August storm. Those noises came from the bats of the Naugatuck Dogs’ No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 batters.
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| Naugatuck No. 3 batter Kyle Murphy. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file) |
Sean Miller-Jones, Kyle Murphy and Devin Murphy all homered in the first inning as Naugatuck jumped on Tri-Town ace Miles Scribner for four runs in the bottom of the first inning, then piled on three more in the second. The Dogs never looked back and coasted to a 13-2 victory over the Trojans. Here’s the full story from Peter Wallace, a correspondent for The Register Citizen and my buddy from my early newspaper days.
There was a distinct Holy Cross High School influence in Naugatuck’s Game 1 win. Kyle Murphy had the homer along with two doubles, three RBI and three runs scored. Devin Murphy had a homer, double, single and four RBI. Ryan Plourde, the No. 2 hitter, drove in two runs and scored three more. Ryan Russell added a home run in the sixth inning.
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| Naugatuck No. 4 hitter Devin Murphy. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file) |
Combine those four guys with the red-hot Miller-Jones (three hits, RBI, 3 runs scored), plus Mack Cianciolo (three hits, two RBI), and you have the recipe for a Game 1 shellacking.
Naugatuck even excelled on the mound after some early adversity. Bryan Wyrebek, a former Bristol Eastern player, pitched the first inning but left due to injury. In came Kevin Murray, who continued the strong pitching he displayed in a semifinal win over the Bethlehem Plowboys.
Tri-Town is a proud baseball team, and it come ready to play and try to even the series tonight at 7 at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium. If no one can quiet the Naugatuck bats, the Dogs could be celebrating their first Tri-State championship.
NOTE: I will be at tonight’s Game 2 at Municipal. Look for in-game photos and video on Instagram, along with updates on Twitter. There will be photos and a story from the game up on this website at a later time.
