Facing MHS, Eagles Finally Find the Pitches, Gloves

Any video crew staking out the Manchester-at-East Catholic baseball game Thursday aiming to shoot an instructional piece on fielding would have left in disgust. The CCC North rivals combined for nine errors, several other plays were bobbled and neither team came close to making a gem. None of the pitchers were overpowering, either.

This was a day that belonged to the batters, highlighted by a pair of Manchester solo home runs. Yet the Indians’ hitting wasn’t as powerful as the Eagles' and their fielding was even less reliable.

The Eagles’ defense tightened when the outcome was riding on it and their pitching was most effective late in East Catholic’s 10-7 win in the regular-season finale for both teams. Manchester (9-11), which made six errors, will begin play in the CIAC Class LL state tournament next week and the Eagles (17-3) will open up in Class S after a first-round bye later in the week from earning a high seeding.

The Eagles made three errors in the first three innings but none in the last four. Starter Tucker Panciera was relieved with one out in the third and Manchester up 4-2, then re-entered as a pitcher, after moving to left field, with one out in the fourth with the bases loaded. He gave up a two-run double as Manchester regained the lead, at 6-5. After that, though, Panciera took control and improved to 7-2. 

“We were right there in the game despite making six errors,” Manchester coach Marc DiDominzio said. “We have to clean-up our game. You cannot keep giving them opportunities. They will take advantage in some way, sooner or later.

“We need to clean-up our defense, especially going into the one-and-you’re-done of the state tournament. Fielding like that can ruin your season. We’ve been swinging the bats a lot better the last three games. Hopefully, the batters are peaking at the right time.”

Defense wasn’t in question in the first inning when Manchester (6-8 CCC North), which went 2-8 in May, took a 1-0 lead before East Catholic answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. Following a scoreless second inning – with the Eagles still up by 2-1 – the hitting began to pick up, both defenses fell apart and neither starting pitcher could stay sharp.

Manchester scored three runs in the third inning for a 4-2 lead, forcing East Catholic coach Jim Penders to replace Panciera with Mike McMahon. The Indians benefitted from three Eagles errors that inning and one walk, by Panciera. Travis Mistretta drilled a homer to center field off Panciera to tie it at 2-2, then Mike Spencer’s single down the third base line made it 4-2 and Panciera and McMahon switched positions.

The Eagles’ 4-2 deficit turned to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the third. Anthony Fulco had a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3, then Garrett Richardello’s double off the left-field fence gave the Eagles (12-2 CCC North) a 5-4 lead. Spencer’s two-out, bases-loaded double to center in the top of the fourth inning turned the Indians’ 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, East Catholic made it 7-6 on four hits. Panciera’s single drove home Kelvin Sims, who led-off the inning with a double. Then Fulco doubled off the left-field fence to score Panciera for the go-ahead run. In the bottom of the fifth, two Manchester errors and a sacrifice fly to the center-field wall by John Brownell led to a three-run inning by the Eagles and a 10-6 lead. And that’s when the back-and-forth scoring ended.

In the top of the sixth, Jeff Cate hit a solo homer down the left-field line with two outs to close out the scoring for Manchester.

“The first half of the game was not pleasing,” Penders said. “Tucker Panciera – I have to give him credit. He didn’t have his stuff behind him. Most of the [Manchester] hitters he was behind to, a lot of 3-1 and 2-0 counts. They hit the ball very well today.

“It was good to see Tucker come back and finish the game. He got a lot of confidence out of the game. He had to be having some doubts.”

Panciera’s second pitching stint – 3 2/3 innings, two hits, six strikeouts, no walks – was fueled by great location. “I had real good command,” said Panciera, with his left shoulder and elbow wrapped in ice. “I was hitting my spots. I wasn’t throwing the ball where I wanted to the first time I was out there. Once I got ahead of the batters [second time pitching], I could work my off speed pitches and keep them off balance.”