Fairfield American LL clinches spot in section final

SOUTHINGTON--The Fairfield American Little League baseball learned from its loss.

After surrendering a three-run lead to Annex of New Haven on Saturday, American (3-1) made sure to avoid another letdown Sunday by scoring at least one run in all six innings against Seymour on its way to an 11-4 victory at Vederame Field.

Fairfield American will play Annex in a rematch on Wednesday night at 7 for the Section 1 title.

"Fairfield has a great team and we all can hit really well," American catcher Biagio Paoletta said.

Paoletta went 2-for-4 and hit one of three Fairfield home runs -- Matt Kubel and Kevin Oricoli had the others. Much of American's offensive production came from the top half of the lineup, where batters one through four accounted for seven hits.

"The type of hitters we have, they put the ball in play," American coach Bill Meury said. "We don't strike out a lot. If you put the ball in play, then there's a good chance you'll put runners on and then that puts pressure on the defense."

American shortstop Will Lucas, who went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, scored on a passed ball in the first inning. Seymour matched with a run of its own. But from then on, American pitcher Ryan Meury settled down. The lefty struck out the side in the second inning, and fanned eight batters total in 3 1/3 innings.

and a third innings of work.

"He pitched a great game," Seymour coach Kevin Baxter said of Meury. "We had a few opportunities early on and didn't take advantage of them. We had runners on base, saw a lot of pitches we just couldn't get to them."

Baxter complimented his own starting pitcher, Tom Herrick, saying that Herrick "battled" and "pitched his tail off." Herrick was a bright spot on the offensive end as well, going 4-for-4 from the leadoff spot.

His effort wasn't enough, however, as American added three runs in the second inning and two in the third. Seymour (1-2) scored a run apiece in the final three innings but was unable to put together the big inning to bring it back.

"Our whole lineup hit today," Lucas said. "And we've got to keep that up for Wednesday."

Seymour finishes up pool play tonight against Annex (5:45).

FAIRFIELD AMERICAN 132 113 --11 11 0

SEYMOUR 100 111 -- 4 9 0

Batteries: FA--Ryan Meury, Matty Clackin (4) and Biagio Paoletta. S--Tom Herrick, Alex Massie, Bob Melms, Brian Jalowiec and Jaylen Kelly.

Home runs: FA--Biagio Paoletta, Matt Kubel and Kevin Oricoli. S--Alex Massie.