Pomperaug High School shortstop Ryan Loiselle tags out Garnell Bell of Notre Dame of Fairfield last Thursday on a stolen base attempt. The Panthers have been making the plays in the field, but have now gone scoreless in three straight losses, sending the team to 9-5 on the season. (Ken Morse photo)
#MIDDLEBURY #PHS
By Ken Morse Special to the Middlebury Bee-Intelligencer
The Pomperaug High School baseball team is in a slump of major proportions as they dropped three games this past week and fell to 9-5 on the season. What is alarming about the losses is the offense has failed to score in the last 21 innings.
The Panthers wasted a superb pitching performance last Monday in Stratford as Ryan Dunfee went six innings and surrendered just three hits, but Pomperaug dropped a 2-0 decision.
Stratford managed to plate one run in the fourth and another run in the sixth to account for all the scoring in the game. Dunfee managed to get the only hit for the Panthers as every ball they hit was right at a fielder.
“There really is no explanation,” said Pomperaug head coach Mike Eisenbach. “It’s not like we are striking out every time up. We are getting our bat on the ball. Maybe we’re not hitting it as hard as we could, but they (the hits) are right at fielders who are making the plays.”
On Saturday the frustration continued as Pomperaug fell to Newtown by a slim 1-0. Dunfee again pitched well enough to win, scattering five hits through six innings. The Panthers managed just three hits, one each by Matt Brophy, Brian Dagostino and Sherman Mitchell.
Pomperaug has now racked up a streak of futility at the plate, getting just four hits and no runs over a 21-inning three-game span.
“Newtown scored on a sacrifice fly, and we could only put together just three hits,” said Eisenbach. “Ryan again gave us a chance to win, but we just couldn’t get it done at the plate.
“Our defense pulled of a pair of double plays, and our catcher, Brian Dagostino, threw out a pair of runners on the base paths.
“I thought we came out with a better approach at the plate, but the results just weren’t there.”
The height of the frustration came last Thursday when Notre Dame of Fairfield right-hander Nolan Nemcheck threw a no-hitter at the Panthers as the Lancers pulled out a 3-0 win.
Grant Wallace gutted out the first couple of innings, leaving the bases loaded in each of the first two innings. Garnell Bell singled and scored on an RBI from Pete Minore to hand Notre Dame a 1-0 advantage in the first inning.
Wallace went five innings and scattered nine hits but held the Lancers in check until Notre Dame plated two more runs in the fifth to open up a 3-0 cushion.
Nick Albano went the final two innings for Pomperaug. Notre Dame was looking for more when the Panthers’ right fielder, Josh McGettigan, made a catch with his back to the plate to end the sixth inning.
Although Pomperaug hit the ball on the nose at times, they never threatened. Connor Sullivan, Dagostino and Chris McFarland hit deep fly-ball outs in the first three innings for the Panthers.
In the fourth inning, Mat Brophy and Andrew Minchella hit back-to-back fly balls to center field that failed to produce a hit. In the sixth inning, McFarland became the only base runner for the Panthers, reaching on an error.
Nick Hebert showed he’s as tough as nails, coming to bat in the bottom of the sixth and flying out to deep center field. Just an hour earlier, Hebert was getting stitches in his forehead after an unfortunate pre-game mishap.
Pomperaug will look to break out of the slump this coming week at New Fairfield on Monday. The Panthers will be at home on Wednesday to take on New Milford and will conclude the week on Thursday at Barlow.
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