Stamford pitcher stymies RiverDogs

Stamford 4 RiverDogs 1

NEWARK, Ohio — There have been few instances in the Columbia Basin RiverDogs' magical 2007 season in which they've been handled by an opposing pitcher.

Saturday was one of those instances.

Mike Sciaretta held the RiverDogs to six hits in a complete-game effort, leading Stamford, Conn., to a 4-1 victory in Babe Ruth World Series pool play at Don Edwards Park. He mixed up his pitches well and got some defensive help from his teammates to work out of a couple jams.

"I was just trying to throw strikes, get ahead in the count," said Sciaretta, who struck out four and walked none. "I knew they could hit, so I had to hit my spots and throw strikes, let my defense do it all."

Stamford, which had its opener on Thursday postponed by a thunderstorm, was especially eager to take the field and relied heavily on emotion against Columbia Basin.

Sciaretta said his team has experience, with several players participating in the 16-year-old World Series in Texas last season.

"We were so excited to play because we didn't get the first game, and we just wanted to play," Sciaretta said.

"They had more energy than us and I won't take that away from them," RiverDogs manager Randy Boruff said. "They're a solid ball club and we didn't play our best."

Stamford, the New England regional champions, broke free from a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fifth. RiverDog starting pitcher Cory Hitchcock got two quick outs in the frame, but then allowed five consecutive hits to give Sciaretta an all-but-insurmountable lead.

"I thought that Cory pitched well until the fifth inning," Boruff said. "He just couldn't finish it off. In order to go to the next level, Cory's going to have to get better at that."

After retiring Michael Slocum and Elvin Caban to begin the fifth, Hitchcock nicked Anas Koummal with an inside fastball.

That opened the door for consecutive singles from Sciaretta, Josh Weiner, Tyler Collins, Kyle Foti and Brandon Romaniello. Hitchcock left after the fifth in favor of Chris Sattler, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks with five Ks.

The Dogs had tied the score just an inning earlier, the only time they capitalized against Sciaretta. One-out singles from JR Jarrell, Edward Rodriguez and Zack Swart loaded the bases, and Mark Garza's fly ball to right field brought in Jarrell.

That was the only chance Basin cashed in, though it could've done more damage against Sciaretta.

In the second, back-to-back singles from Swart and Garza put runners at the corners with one out. But Stamford was prepared for the Dogs' ensuing double steal as second baseman PJ Fabricatore cut off the throw to second and gunned down Swart at the plate. Sciaretta caught Matt Valdez looking for the final out.

After Garza's sacrifice fly in the fourth, Swart tried to swipe second but was thrown out by catcher Romaniello. That took the bat out of Valdez's hands and left Rodriguez stranded at third with the possible go-ahead run.

"We kind of ran ourselves out of the ball game a little bit with guys in scoring position," Boruff said. "(Stamford) played it right both times."

For the second consecutive day in Newark, Basin fell behind early. Koummal and Sciaretta singled off Hitchcock to begin the game. A groundout advanced both runners and Koummal scampered home on a wild pitch.

Boruff credited Sciaretta with a strong performance, but didn't think his squad did a particularly good job of adjusting.

"He wasn't overpowering by any means," Boruff said. "He curveballed to the outside, pitched inside and got us on the handle quite a bit."

And while Boruff praised Stamford for its energy, he's not so worried about his own players showing more outward emotion as he is about them keeping focus for an entire game.

"Emotion comes and goes," he added. "It kind of has a tendency to zap some energy if you've been emotionally high and then it doesn't work out."