Baseball Moves To 3-0; Plus: Boys LAX, Girls Tennis and Girls Golf

Baseball (3-0, 1-0):

In a game of rallies, the Bobcats rallied last to come up with their third straight win to open the season, knocking off Joel Barlow (2-3) 7-5 on a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon in Redding. 

"Good start for us," Brookfield head coach Dan McKee said.

Junior Bryson Herr came on in relief to earn the win and Herr came up with the game-winning hit in the seventh inning to help his cause. With two out and a runner on first in a tie game, Herr smoked a ball down the right field line for an RBI triple and he would come home to score an insurance run on a throwing error on the play.

"Good guy, throws strikes," McKee said of Herr, who came on and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning before shutting the Falcons down for the final two innings. "Smart player, couldn't ask for more."

Herr was aided by a sensational defensive play by center-fielder Janco Cornelius. On a potential go-ahead sacrifice fly to center, Cornelius came up throwing and delivered a perfect ball to the plate, leading to a run-down and the final out of the inning, ending a three-run game-tying rally for Joel Barlow in the fifth.

"That was huge," McKee said of Cornelius' throw to the plate.

Cornelius led the game off with a single and scored to give Brookfield a 1-0 lead. They would fall behind 2-1 in the second inning before rallying for two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth for a 5-2 lead. Starting pitcher Dave Long battled through the first four innings, pitching in terrible conditions. He would leave the game in the fifth inning with Barlow rallying.

"It was nice seeing Dave," McKee said of Long making his first start of the season. "He worked hard, got the outs he needed, the defense played pretty good."

Long led off the fourth inning rally with a walk and followed first basemen Austin Yusko's single in the fifth with a single to help spark the two rallies for the Bobcats. He would come home to score in both innings.

Brookfield had 11 hits in the game, with every player reaching base at least once.

"This year everybody has been swinging the bat really well," McKee said of his team that has scored at least six runs in each of its first three games. "We cut down on the strikeouts by half from last year and everybody is making contact."

BROOKFIELD 020 030 2—7 11 3

BARLOW           020 030 0—5 7 3

Batteries: Br—Long, A.J. Cresci (5), Herr (5, W) and Evan Mozingo; Bar—Logan Barer, Mark DelVecchio (5, L, 0-1) and Casey Saunders. SO: Br—Long 2, Herr 1; Bar-—DelVecchio 3.  BB: Br—Long 4, Cresci 2. Bar—Barer 4, DelVecchio 1.

Highlights: Br—Cornelius 3-for-4, Yusko 2-for-4; 1 RBI, Long 2 Runs Scored, Matt Gernert 1 RBI, Mozingo 1 RBI; 1 Run Scored, Herr Triple; 1 RBI; 1 Run Scored. Bar—Alex Kowalski and Jake Lightman had two hits each. Keiran Geyer 3 RBI, Sam Knell 2 RBI.

Boys Lacrosse (2-2, 2-1):

The Bobcats suffered a tough 19-4 non-conference loss at home to Brien McMahon (4-0) on Friday.  McMahon is currently ranked number two in the Class L state rankings.

Girls Tennis (3-2, 2-1):

The Lady Bobcats traveled to Milford on Friday and lost only their second match of the season, falling 6-1 to Lauralton Hall (3-2, 3-1). Sophomore Jess Becker picked up the only win for Brookfield.

Lauralton Hall 6, Brookfield 1 (at Eisenhower Park):

Singles: Suzanne Fitzpatrick (LH) def. Rebecca Vulcano (B) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2; Mary Kate Fornshell (LH) def. Kayla Carlucci (B) 6-2, 6-0; Paige Palmero (LH) def. Mary Petruska (B) 6-3, 6-0; Jess Becker (B) def. Mary Alice Devaney (LH) 6-2, 6-1;

Doubles: Emily Janik/Shelby Halliday (LH) def. Mackenzie Morehouse/Kayla Beazer (B) 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); Morgan Ferguson/Colleen O'Connell (LH) def. Shelja Patel/Tabitha Lewis (B) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Girls Golf (0-2):

The Lady Bobcats began their first season with a loss on Thursday. This marks the opening of the inaugural run for the program, which will go through growing pains as it looks to develop a winner. They fell to Masuk (3-0) and Newington (2-2) in a three-team match.

Masuk 205, Newington 257, Brookfield 300 (at Whitney Farms, par 36):

M—Jamie O'Meara 46, Monika McCarter 48, Suz Rowan 57, Carlie O'Meara 54.

N—Sara Siviski 61, Courtney Oushana 65, Jin Chang 62, Natalie Zaleski 69.

B—Shannon Pugliese 69, Tiffany Gillotti 75, Morgan Odell 78, Jessica Dineen 78.