Windsor
Windsor started the season losing five of its first seven games, but even at that dismal part of the season, coach Jamie Richardson never lost faith and always thought the situation would improve.
What gave Richardson hope was that four of those five losses were to Division I teams — Brattleboro, Hartford, Burr & Burton and Rutland — and the fifth loss was to Division II Otter Valley. “I’m not discouraged,” Richardson said after his team took a thumping from Brattleboro.
That positive attitude was adopted by the players, too.
“We’re playing with a lot of confidence now,” said Saturday’s winning pitcher, Nick Kapuscinski. “Our hitting and pitching is coming together.”
The hitting was what impressed Richardson on Saturday. The Jacks had stumbled a bit during the last few games, losing to Bellows Falls and Springfield before rebounding with a win over Mill River.
“We must have left 20 men on base in those two losses,” Richardson said. “Today. the hits were there when we had men on base.”
It was also a pivotal game for Springfield (6-10), which entered the game needing a win and a Fair Haven loss to Bellows Falls later Saturday to get a home playoff game. Now, however, the Cosmos will hit the road for its first tourney game, which coach Richie Saypack thinks could be at Mount Abraham.
Saypack called it a “if-er” game.
“If we did this and if somebody else did that we would have had a home game,” he said. “It didn’t happen.”
Windsor got most of its offense from the top of the order, as Jake Meagher, Seth Balch and Kapuscinski, the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 batters, were 9-for-13 with eight tuns scored. Meagher, the slender leadoff batter, was 3-for-3 and scored five times. Three times he scored on Balch singles.
Springfield got itself in a lot of trouble, as the three pitchers it used walked eight and Windsor stole six bases.
The game was 2-2 after Springfield batted in the second inning, but at that point the Jacks took control with three in the bottom of the second, three in the fourth, four in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Kapuscinski, meanwhile, was moving along. He gave up two unearned runs in the second and another run in the fourth. He left after six innings, allowing five hits with six strikeouts and just one walk. He threw 84 pitches. Robbie Slocum pitched a clean seventh.
Tim Hildreth, who took the loss for Springfield, was followed to the mound by JJ LeCouffe and Gabe Considine.
If there was on big hit in the game, it came in the Windsor second with the game tied at 2. With two down and runners on second and third, Meagher slashed a double inside the left-field line scoring both runners and putting the Jacks in the lead for good.