Hartford’s 10th Inning Walk-Off Eliminates Baseball from CNE Tourney, 10-9

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Conference of New England Tournament contest between the fifth seed Suffolk and third seed Hartford was a back-and-forth affair with three lead changes and four tied scores. The Rams continuously tried to escape elimination from the league's postseason, but ultimately it was the Hawks that came out victorious thanks to a one-run, walk-off single in the 10th to end the blue-and-gold's season.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 9 | Hartford 10 
RECORDS: Suffolk (14-25) | Hartford (20-21)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawks flew out in front 3-0 thanks to four hits and one hit by pitch.  

Suffolk, who was without a hit through four innings, changed that in the fifth. Sebastian Lampert led off the stanza with a single to center, but made the out at second when Mike Mullaney put the ball in play. After Cole Hilliardwalked, Max Martin's double to left center score the first Rams run of the day. Colin Flynn plated Hilliard with a base hit to short before Max Iorio's ground-rule double brought in Max Martin to tie things at 3-all. A productive ground out by Chris Cimino allowed Flynn to come in and send the blue-and-gold in front, 4-3. 

Hartford responded to the Rams' run with one of its own in the home half of the inning to level the playing field at 4-all and regained the advantage with one run in the sixth. The host managed to lengthen its lead with one more tally in the seventh to put Suffolk in a 6-4 hole.  

Matters tied once again in the top of the eighth. An error by Hartford's short stop JJ Romatzick allowed Cimino to reach safely and he put on his running shoes when Alex Sorenti-Burns sliced a single to center. A loud out in foul territory off Sam Armbruster's bat plated Cimino, which forced the Hawks to go to their bullpen. Michael Greco came in to shove for Luke Reir. The fresh arm was no match for the Rams as Lampert logged a single to left center that advanced Sorenti-Burns to third in time for a wild pitch by Greco that let the grad student score the tying run.  

Jack Raimo held the Hawks scoreless in the bottom of the eighth to keep things at 6-all. With Michael Feathers on the mound, Iorio slugged a one-out double and Cimino traded places with him with a two-bagger of his own to send Suffolk in front. Sorenti-Burns kept the inning going with a base hit to short before Armbruster added insurance when Cimino scored on fielder's choice.   

Up two, Raimo quickly got the first out of the bottom of the ninth as he sat Ryan Knight down swinging. A single by Patrick Joseph and a double off Cameron Boardman's bat put a pair of runners in scoring position for Tyler Shannon, who cleared the bases with a single to center to force the extra session.  

Mullaney wasted no time to get the Rams' bats going in the 10th as he led off with a double. Hilliard walked and Max Martin single to third to put all the ducks in the pond with no outs. A shallow fly out to left by Flynn would not be enough to bring the first run in, but Iorio did a job as he flew out to right to give Suffolk a 9-8 edge. 

Back-to-back base hits and an intentional walk filled the bags for the Hawks with one out. Once again Boardman came up huge for the Hawks as his single to right field tied the game. Suffolk managed to get an out on the play to put two on the board, which brought Shannon to the plate. He put on his hero cape has he roped a single to left to bring in the game-winning run. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Raimo registered the loss as he gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout in 2.2 innings of relief. 
• Pierce Salbego started and allowed six runs on 10 hits and one walk with eight punchout over 7.0 innings. 
• Featherstone earned the decision. He compiled a three-run, five-hit, one-walk, two-strikeout effort over 2.0 innings. 
• Ryan Sheehy started for Hartford and allowed four runs on four hits and four walks with four punchouts in 6.0 frames. 
• Rier (2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 K, 1.1 IP) and Greco (1 H, 1 BB, 0.2 IP) saw time in relief. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Max Martin went 3-for-5 with one double, one RBI, one run, one walk and one sac fly. 
• Iorio logged two hits, both doubles, for two RBI, to go along with one run. 
• Cimino contributed two RBI, one hit, a double, two runs and one walk. 
• Sorenti-Burns supplied two hits, one run and one walk. 
• Armbruster brought in one run on a sac fly. 
• Lampert added two hits. 
• Mullaney scored two runs and had one hit. 
• Hilliard registered one run.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk wrapped up its fifth overall and fifth straight trip to the CNE Tourney.
• The Rams competed as the fifth seed in the CNE postseason for the first time. 
• Suffolk is 4-10 in the CNE Tournament. 
• On the road, the Rams are 0-8 when playing in the CNE Tournament. 
• A CNE postseason game exceeded regulation for Suffolk for the first time. 
• Suffolk is now 1-4 versus Hartford all-time, 0-3 when playing at the Hawks' diamond. 
• Suffolk and Hartford tangled in the CNE postseason for the first time. 
• The Rams and Hawks needed extra time to decide a winner for the second time in the all-time series. 
• Suffolk moved to 1-1 in extra innings versus Hartford.