by Zach Kyte
Citizens News

The Connecticut Hackers of Naugatuck won the Southern Connecticut NABA championship for the second year in a row with an impressive 8-0 shutout against the Milefor Steamers on Sunday night.

The Hackers were led by Mike Fox’s dominant performance on the mound and Jacin Perez’s aggressive batting, which helped spur on the rest of the offense.

After two innings of impressive pitching and solid play in the outfield by both teams, the score remained tied at zero.

Fox’s pitching helped set up the offensive game in the bottom of the third for the Hackers. The Steamers pitcher walked Ryan Mazurkivich, and Ryan Strout drew a walk to put two on before Dan Kaminski singled to load the bases. Perez’s impressive at-bat became the catalyst for the Hackers offense, which went on to score eight unanswered runs throughout the course of the game.

The Steamers showed signs of life in the top of the fourth when they stole a base, thanks to a bobbled catch by Perez behind the plate, but that was all the Hackers gave them until the top of the sixth when the Hackers dropped two easy outs. However, Fox’s lockdown pitching prevailed once again.

The bottom of the fifth is when the Hackers started showing off their batting prowess. Jeff Pugliese cranked a triple into deep center field and was quickly driven home by Perez’s double. A Wes Dutton sacrifice bunt moved Perez to third and into a position to score on a single by Nick Pereira. Jeff Farrell then hit a mammoth double into centerfield, only to be followed by a Jim Gomperts triple (which barely missed being a homerun) to put the score at 7-0 in favor of the Hackers.

If the Steamers were going to come back, it needed to happen in the top of the sixth, when the Hackers got sloppy in the field. Even with a pair of errors in the top of the sixth, the Hackers continued to exude poise and confidence behind Fox on the mound.

Kaminski had a solid performance in the bottom of the sixth with a single and a stolen base, but the Hackers could not capitalize on his aggressivness.

The Hackers’ overbearing defense led to a very short top of the seventh, which quelled any real chance of a Steamers comeback, unless they were to mount a huge rally.

In the bottom of the seventh, Nick Pereira hit a shot to left field, but Farrell was called out at first, followed by a strikeout by Gomperts and a ground out by Mike Doran thus rendering Pereira’s double meaningless.

In the top of the eighth, it became apparent as to why the Hackers are the epitome of a complete baseball team. Fox induced a double play from a tag out at second by Pugliese and a catch by Mazurkivich at first. The Hackers clearly were in this game to win, and they displayed that by playing solid defense the whole game and not getting comfortable with the lead or letting the Steamers come together for any sort of rally.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Hackers started nailing the Steamers’ coffin closed when Perez added one more RBI to his three previous ones to make the game 8-0, and ultimately over.

With two out in the top of the ninth, in comical fashion, one Steamers batter delayed the inevitable by fouling over six pitches in a row, refusing to let the game end. Fox put him out of his misery with his eighth and final strikeout to cap an excellent performance.

Fox finished with a complete game, three-hitter, while Perez led the offense with three hits and four RBI’s. Kaminski added three hits as well, and everyone else on the roster contributed championship-caliber performances.

Team:	W:	L:	Pct:	GB:
Connecticut Hackers	19	2	.905	-
Bridgeport All-Stars	18	2	.900	0.5
Meriden A's	14	5	.737	4
Chemscope Blackbirds	9	6	.600	7
Milford Monsters	11	8	.579	7
Devon Dogs	12	10	.545	7.5
PJ's Construction	11	11	.500	8.5
Cleveland Steamers	6	12	.333	11.5
New Haven Indians	6	15	.286	13
Shelton Pirates	6	16	.273	13.5
New Haven County Giants	5	15	.250	13.5
Ansonia Brewers*	2	17	.105	16

*The Brewers have ceased operations as of July 13, 2008*

Offensive:
10 Minimum Plate Appearances:

Batting Average: .437 - Rob Servidas
Slugging Percentage: .556 - Wes Dutton
On Base Percentage: .500 - Jeff Farrell, Rob Servidas
Runs Scored: 17 - Dan Kaminski, Rob Servidas
Singles: 17 - Jacin Perez, Rob Servidas
Doubles: 6 - Dan Kaminski
Triples: 1 - Three Players Tied
Homeruns: 2 - Wes Dutton
RBIs: 12 - Dan Kaminski
Walks: 14 - Ryan Strout
Hit By Pitch: 3 - Jacin Perez, Jeff Farrell
Stolen Bases: 8 - Jim Gomperts, Rob Servidas

ERA: 0.82 - Wes Dutton
Innings: 60 - Mike Fox
Strikeouts: 68 - Mike Fox
Wins: 8 - Mike Fox