Kody Kerski turned in a masterful performance for the Terryville Black Sox in Game 2 of the Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League World Series against the Naugatuck Dogs on Friday night.
Kerski was phenomenal, but he still needed some offensive punch to come out on the winning end. That offense came in the top of the seventh inning. Terryville scored three runs in the frame to break a 1-1 tie, then added another run in the eighth for a 5-1 victory. The win gave the Black Sox their first Tri-State championship.
In that seventh inning, Justin McCulloch led off with a double, then Christian Callahan added an infield single. A walk to Nick DeLotto loaded the bases. Naugatuck starter Lance Stevens picked up a strikeout, but Ian Schmidt’s sacrifice fly to center field scored McCulloch for a 2-1 Terryville lead. Tyler Wenz followed with a two-run single to plate Callahan and DeLotto for a 4-1 Black Sox advantage.
In the eighth, a Kyle Skidmore sacrifice fly scored McCulloch and put Terryville ahead 5-1. Kerski made sure the lead held up. He went the distance, striking out 15 while walking two. Kerski, who pitched in the Seattle Mariners farm system, yielded a run on four hits and threw 90 of his 125 pitches for strikes. He threw a first-pitch strike to 27 of the 33 batters that he faced.
Stevens was the losing pitcher and went the first 6.2 innings. He gave up four runs on four hits, struck out five and walked five. Stevens threw 65 of 121 pitches for strikes. Jeff Rustico gave up a run on two hits, walked two and struck out one over the final 2.1 innings.
After Kerski and Stevens matched zeroes for the first five innings, Terryville struck for a run in the top of the sixth. A Kyle Tehan single scored Billy Armstrong, who reached base on a walk.
Naugatuck countered for a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, 1-1. With two outs, Kyle Murphy doubled and Ryan Plourde walked. Devin Murphy singled to left to score his brother Kyle and tie the game, but the Dogs left two more runners on to end the inning.
McCulloch led Terryville with two hits, two runs scored, a walk and an RBI. The Black Sox lost one game in the Tri-State playoffs on their way to their first championship.
Brendan Slattery and Ryan Russell each had a single for Naugatuck, which collected just four hits in the game.
