Senior Legion Tigers win in walk-off fashion

Erick Starkey
Posted 6/15/18

A head-first slide by Gabe Mitchell into home plate in the bottom of the seventh, off a hit from Daniel Wayland, completed the rally for the Torrington Tigers Senior Legion baseball team, in a 7-6 win over Bridgeport, Neb. on Tuesday.

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Senior Legion Tigers win in walk-off fashion

Posted

TORRINGTON – A head-first slide by Gabe Mitchell into home plate in the bottom of the seventh, off a hit from Daniel Wayland, completed the rally for the Torrington Tigers Senior Legion baseball team, in a 7-6 win over Bridgeport, Neb. on Tuesday.

The Tigers fell behind early in the first game of a double-header Tuesday, allowing the Bombers to score in the first and second runs, heading into the third down 2-1. Torrington knotted the game at two with another run in the third inning.

Bridgeport looked to take control with two runs in the top of the fourth, with Torrington adding another run in the bottom of the frame, heading into the fifth down 4-3. The Bombers tacked on another two runs in the fifth, followed by another Tiger run in the inning.

Both teams were scoreless in the sixth, sending the first game of the double-header into the seventh inning with the Tigers trailing 6-4. Torrington started off the rally with two scores in the bottom of the seventh and Mitchell got on base and worked his way to third. Wayland went to the plate and knocked a single just into the outfield, allowing Mitchell to slide into home before the throw to win in walk-off fashion.

“It was that never-quit mentality,” manager Andy Brown said. “Baseball is a funny game. You are in it no matter what until the last pitch is thrown – you keep the intensity up and fight until the end.”

Wayland went 1-for-4 at the plate with his walk-off RBI single. Sam Firminhac and Jackson Jones both went 2-for-4 in the batter’s box and they scored two runs apiece.

“That first game we fought back and stayed tough,” Brown said. “We got the walk-off win so that is always exciting for the club. It’s a momentum builder.”

The Tigers were able to capitalize on that momentum in the second game of the double-header, striking first with a run in the first inning. Bridgeport exploded for four runs in the top of the third frame, but Torrington rebounded with two runs of its own in the third to cut the lead to 4-3.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers had an explosion of their own, putting four runs up on the board to wrestle away the lead, putting the score at 7-4. Torrington added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth to extend its lead to 8-4 and the team blanked Bridgeport in the final two innings to seal the win.

“We promote riding that momentum in baseball,” Brown said of using a walk-off win to help the team in the second game. “When you have the momentum on your side, it’s really important. We just kept that going and kept a positive mindset. We just kept playing hard.”

Cameron Murphy had a stellar day on the mound, pitching all seven innings for the complete game, with four earned runs but six strikeouts. He also helped himself out at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three doubles. He scored three times and knocked in an additional two runs. Mitchell hit 2-of-3 at the plate and scored two runs as well.

“We couldn’t have asked for much better from our pitchers,” Brown said. “We learned how to minimize the big innings. We gave up one big inning but that was the only inning they scored runs. The overall view of the pitching is that I’m very pleased.”

The two wins Tuesday made it three-straight for the Tigers, including their win over Rawlins on Sunday.

“These were two huge wins for us,” Brown said. “We needed it just to kind of start moving in the right direction.”

The Tigers took on Morrill, Neb. on Wednesday, but results and stats were unavailable to the Telegram at press time.

Torrington also had a home game Thursday at home against Wheatland after press time. The team returns to action Tuesday in a road double-header against Laramie at 5 and 7 p.m.

“We are in the heart of the season so we should be starting to move in the right direction and improve every day,” Brown said. “Get better every day is kind of our motto. Every game is a stepping stone to the state tournament.”