Milford pitcher Tyler Milbert delivers during Friday's game against Jutras. For more photos, see the Photo Album.
MILFORD – Ed Coulombe knew what to expect when his Jutras Post 43 baseball team played Milford Post 23 at Keyes Field on Friday.
Unfortunately, his starting nine weren’t as prepared.
Two days after Jutras handed Milford a 9-3 loss at Gill Stadium, Post 23 returned the favor, handing Post 43 a 7-5 loss in an American Legion game. Milford (3-4) scored three runs in the first inning on a hit batter, a single, a walk and an error and scored three more in the fifth on three walks and two hits to win its third game of the season.
Jutras pitchers Daniel Osorio and Nate Knoeting combined to allow eight hits, but also walked eight and the defense made two errors.
On the other side, Milford pitcher Tyler Milbert scattered 10 hits and two walks over nine innings. Milbert struck out just two, but both came in the final innings, including a punchout of Beau Breton, with runners on second and third, to end the game.
“I actually felt stronger,” Milbert said of the final three innings. “I knew I had the defense behind me. They hopped on us early in the other game and they beat us down pretty bad. Coming out here and splitting (the season) with them, it’s a confidence booster.”
Coulombe tried to impress upon his team that Milford would be ready to go at the start.
“I told our kids to be patient at the plate,” he said. “Our kids were a little too rambunctious. Give Milford credit; they came here to play. Our starter threw a (three)-hitter, but he walked six or seven batters and we made two errors. You can’t have that.”
The first-inning errors hurt Jutras (4-2), but a base-running mistake in the top of the second ended what could have been a big inning.
Jutras pitcher Daniel Osorio had five strikeouts but walked seven on Friday.
With one out, Eric Bukowski and Knoeting had back-to-back singles to put two runners on base. James O’Brien followed with a grounder to third. Milford third baseman Pat Tapone fielded the ball cleanly and threw to second for the first out.
But instead of heading to third on contact, Bukowski went back to second, arriving at the base after the ball and after Knoeting. The umpire called Knoeting out on the force play, but Bukowski assumed he was out and headed off the field. Once he left the base path, he was called out to end the inning.
“Horrible,” Coulombe said of the play. “We didn’t come to play. It’s hard, you try to tell them (Milford is) going to be motivated. We didn’t come to play and they did.”
Despite that, Justras pulled within 3-2 in the third inning and tied the game 3-3 in the fifth inning.
But in the bottom half of the inning, Post 43 left the door open and Post 23 burst through.
Matt Caravella led off with a single, and Milbert followed with a towering popup that Kneoting, who was playing first, had trouble handling. The ball dropped in, but Jutras was able to force Caravella out at second. Macyn Clifford followed by hitting a hard line drive to center that Breton was able to handle for the second out.
But Chris Larro and Tampone both walked to load the bases and end Osorio’s day. Kneoting came in and walked Heddy to bring in a run, making it 4-3. Mike Tenore followed with a two-run single to put Milford up 6-3.
Milford's Larry Tenore slides safely into third base as Jutras' James O'Brien fields the throw.
“In retrospect, that might have been a curse,” Coulombe said of tying the game early. “We beat Londonderry in the bottom of the ninth by scoring four. Maybe they thought it was going to be easy to come back. We knew Milford wasn’t going to lay down.”
Tenore hit a solo home run in the seventh to make it 7-3 before Jutras added a run in the eighth. Post 43 got the leadoff runner on in the ninth, but hit into back-to-back fielder’s choices. Josh Lefferiere, who scored three runs, walked to put two runners on and Matt Blakeman doubled to drive in a run to make it 7-5.
With the go-ahead run at the plate, Milbert got behind Breton, but battled back to record the final out on a 3-2 pitch.