This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Brookfield Rallies Past Ridgefield In Season Opener

The Brookfield Boys Baseball Team Opened The Season With 14-8 Win Over Ridgefield At The Harbor Yard In Bridgeport.

After taking a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning, things weren't looking too good for the Brookfield High School Baseball team.  Ridgefield had responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, and then scored three more in the 3rd, chasing BHS starter Eric Meyer for a 6-1 lead.

Relief pitcher Ryan Berry came in and settled things down for the Bobcats, then the bats finally came to life. 

RHS starting pitcher Dan Zarnik was cruising along into the 5th when leadoff hitter Austin Yusko got things going with a double.  Center fielder Janko Cornelius followed him with another double and the hit parade was on to an eventual 14-8 victory.

Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Bobcats produced six consecutive hits to start the 5th and came up with eight overall as they batted around the order.  By the time the inning was over they had put up six runs to take a 7-6 lead, chasing Tigers starter Zarnik and knocking out reliever Jon Boucher.

"I think we got complacent with the lead," Ridgefield coach Tony Wilmot said.  "We had a chance to turn six into seven and seven into eight but we left the door open for them to get going."

Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Ridgefield did rally to tie the score in the bottom of the 5th inning but Brookfield blew the game open with five more runs in the top of the 6th, batting around for the second consecutive inning.  This time it was walks that doomed the Tigers and a rarely seen double steal play. 

With a runner on third and two outs, BHS third baseman Evan Mosingo drew a walk. He then got into a run-down between first and second long enough to allow Cornelius to score from third.  Two more walks followed to load the bases and pinch-hitter Bryson Herr delivered a two-run double to break things open.

"Coming into the season we knew defense was our Achilles heel," Wilmot said.  "But I was surprised more by our sloppy play and haphazard approach.  Our baseball IQ wasn't very high today."

"We've been working on ways to produce runs," Brookfield coach Dan McKee said of the rarely seen double steal after a walk.  "Sometimes the little things can lead to big things."

"I haven't seen that since little league," Wilmot added.

Brookfield belted out 14 hits to go with their 14 runs while Ridgefield had 11 to produce their eight runs.  Most of the Tigers damage came early off Bobcats starter Meyer.  Reliever Berry provided a big lift for the team.

"He is starting fresh," McKee said of Berry who is coming back from a broken arm injury.  "He's coming back strong and has the stuff to be a one or a two.  When we are healthy and right, we have a great staff."

The season opener was played at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, the site of this year's state championships.  McKee was excited to start the season there to give his team a chance to play in a big time setting.  He's hoping they will be able to make it back here and have some familiarity with the field conditions.

"The guys have really bought into the system," the coach said.  Getting an opening day win against a Ridgefield squad that embarrassed Brookfield 22-0 two seasons ago was "very sweet."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?