Hauschild Comes Up Big as the Westerners Defeat Vermont, 4-1
Melissa Barrett
Danbury, CT- After a day off from splitting a doubleheader with division-leading North Adams, the Westerners slowed the Vermont Mountaineers with a 4-1 win at Rogers Park on a warm Friday evening.
Mike Hauschild (W, 4-2, Dayton) picked up the win on a near complete game effort. Hauschild went eight innings, allowing just one run off of three hits, four walks, two hit batters and six strikeouts. That one run came in the top of the second inning off a wild pitch, but after Hauschild settled down nicely. But after walking the first batter he saw in the ninth, fellow Dayton Flyer Ian Gardeck (S, 5) came in and closed things out, only giving up one hit.
Vermont’s Corey Hawes (L, ) got the loss off of one inning of work. He gave up the tie-breaking home run to Dave Ciocchi in the bottom of the sixth. The Mountaineers used a total of five pitchers in their loss, and hit five Westerner batters.
Ciocchi’s home run was his second of the year, first at Rogers Park. It followed a second inning smash by Derek Ingui (Franklin Pierce), also his second of the year. Ciocchi also drove in a run after being clunked by a pitch in the seventh, walking in John Giannis (NC State). Alfredo Rodriguez (Maryland) broke out of his slump, hitting an RBI double in the bottom of the eight, making the final score 4-1.
With the win, the Westerners improve to 16-10 , just one half game behind the North Adams Steeplecats, who still lead the Western Division. The Mountaineers fall to 10-15, fifth in the Division.
Tomorrow Danbury is home again for a game against the third-place Bristol Collegiates. The Westerners will call upon lefty Dylan Clark (0-1, Elon) while Bristol will counter with righty Matt Carasti (3-1).
Also look out tomorrow for the selection of All-Stars for the All-Star game in Newport, Rhode Island on July 18th. Check out to see which of your Westerners will be All-Stars!
