Game 6 Recap: Westerners 8, Mountaineers 2

Jahn threw seven innings for Danbury. /NewTimes

A game that was supposed to snap a season-opening skid from the Mountaineers turned out to be quite the letdown.

On the road against the Danbury Westerners -- owners of a pitching staff with a NECBL-worst ERA -- Vermont was held in check. Westerners right-hander Will Jahn retired the first 15 batters he faced and turned in seven strong innings, leading his team to a convincing 8-2 win.

Joey Benitez gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks over four innings as the Mountaineers losing streak reached five. They’ve gone winless since Opening Day, and at 1-5, already sit 3 ½ games back of first place Keene.

Frank Maldonado’s two-run home run highlighted a three-run Westerners second against Benitez, who was hit hard in his first start of the summer. A pair of costly Vermont errors didn’t help the starter’s cause, as only two of the five runs he allowed were earned.

Jahn had his best start of the summer for Danbury, as he faced the minimum over six innings. After retiring the first 15 he faced, he gave up a sharply hit single with one out in the fifth to Vermont right fielder Troy Scocca, but quickly bounced back by inducing an inning-ending double play. He allowed a lone run over seven innings on two hits and a walk while striking out five.

Benitez excelled on Opening Day against Upper Valley, hurling four scoreless innings in relief, but he struggled out of the gate. He only gave up one run in the first, coming on a Giovanni Dingcong RBI double, but was bailed out by bad baserunning decisions. A pair of Westerners were thrown out at the plate -- one trying to score from second on a single to left field, and the other attempting to score from third after a throw down kicked into foul territory.

The big inning came in the second. A one-out, two-base error was followed by a RBI double to right-center by Sebastiano Santorelli. Maldonado’s home run followed a batter later, clearing the short porch in right field.  Eddie Silva drove in another run off of Benitez in the third, lining a two-out RBI single up the middle.

Benitez stopped the bleeding with a scoreless fourth, and reliever Davis Feldman hurled a 1-2-3 frame before running into trouble. Feldman hit the first batter he faced in the sixth, then Santorelli connected for a two-run blast to right-center. It cleared the road beyond the fence, narrowly missing a van turning out of the parking lot. Ryan Nelson capped the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field.

Vermont responded in the seventh, breaking up the shutout bid with a one-out RBI groundout from Ryan Fineman. It came with runners on first and third, and a bobble by Santorelli prevented a potential double play for Jahn to escape the jam.

They tacked on another run against reliever Justin Snyder in the eighth. After putting runners on the corners with one out, Daniel Little dropped down a bunt, but Westerners catcher Nick Gatewood skied his throw to first to bring in a run easily.

It was a tough offensive game for the Mountaineers, as they needed mistakes from Danbury to score. They managed just two hits, lowering their team average to .231 through the first six games. They’ll finish up a Connecticut road trip with a NECBL championship rematch against Mystic tonight. The Schooners are on a similar skid, having dropped four in a row, and sit at 2-4 on the season. First pitch comes at 6:05 p.m.