Schools

Watterlond, Kennedy Lead East Granby Past Avon [Video]

Crusaders defeat Falcons 3-2 on Watterlond's complete game, Kennedy's walk off hit.

EAST GRANBY - starting pitcher Brian Watterlond was masterful and Connor Kennedy drove in the winning run on a walk-off single, as the Crusaders earned a rare 3-2 victory over Avon on Wednesday afternoon.

“Great one for the kids,” East Granby head coach Bob Bromage said.

Mixing a hard fastball with a sharp breaking ball, Watterlond allowed two runs on just three hits, while striking out six in seven innings of work. Not bad for a team that was supposed to be thin on pitching.

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“He pitched a heckuva game, “ said Bromage. “EJ [Lavoie] pitched a heckuva game against Granby [a 5-3 loss], but we let up five unearned runs and lost the game. If we had played defense, we would have had another good week.”

Against Avon, Kennedy provided the heroics on offense, breaking a 2-2 tie with one out in the seventh inning by rapping a ground ball up the middle and into centerfield to drive in Noah Fersch (2-for-3, three runs) from second [See accompanying video].

“Connor Kennedy is a super two-strike hitter,” Bromage said. “He’s come through all year. I was pretty confident we were going to get a run.”

East Granby (5-7) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on Lavoie’s sacrifice fly that drove in Fersch.

Avon leveled in the top of the first when Dan Sheiker drove in Alex Mangome with a single to make it 1-1.

The Crusaders regained the lead in the bottom of the third when Lavoie doubled home Fersch with two outs.

Avon again tied the score in the top of the fifth as Sheiker scampered home on Noah Hahn’s fielder’s choice to make it 2-2.

All of which set up Kennedy’s heroics in the bottom of the seventh.

Avon High pitchers Matt Mascoli, Mitch Capello, Brandon Feinberg and Sean Smith combined to go 6 ⅔ innings for the Falcons (6-6), allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out two.

“We played good defense, we made plays in the field, we pitched OK, and we didn’t hit,” Avon High head coach Marty deLivron said. “We took too many called third strikes. We just didn’t do anything with the bats.”

Avon travels to Enfield on Friday, also at 3:45 p.m. East Granby is scheduled to face Coventry on the road at 3:45 p.m. Friday.

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