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Salem Blue Devils Baseball '09

Thu, Jun 04, 2009 04:00 PM @ Salem
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Final
Timberlane 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 4
Salem 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Timberlane breaks through for Class L win

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Thursday, June, 04 By Hector Longo
Staff writer


SALEM, N.H. - Timberlane baseball coach Jamie Fish rolled the dice.


His junior right-hander Matt Faia gladly accepted the challenge and made his coach look like a genius.

With the memory of a hoop pounding lingering in the back of his mind, Faia perplexed Salem for six scoreless innings as the ninth-seeded Owls knocked off the No. 8 Blue Devils, 4-1, in the Class L playoff opener.

"We played Salem in the basketball playoffs and got our bell rung," said Faia, who surprisingly got the nod over righty P.J. Singster. "They stomped us. Beating them here feels pretty good. I got goose bumps out there in the seventh-inning."


The gamble now yields huge quarterfinal dividends for the Owls, who can send Singster into battle against Goliath, No. 1 Trinity High, in tomorrow's (1:30 p.m.) quarterfinal at Gill Stadium.

"I guess I threw everybody a bit of a curve ball today," said Fish. "Matt's pitched very well for us, and I just went with a bit of a gut feeling."

Faia, who improved to 5-2, mixed in a fastball, curve and screwball to keep the Salem hitters guessing nearly the entire route.

He only struck out a pair but allowed only five hits over six innings.

When Salem hit it hard, the errorless Owls made the plays.

Singster came on after Faia encountered his only real trouble of the day in the seventh, surrending singles to Darren Brown and Josh Treff (RBI) and hitting Sam Fazioli in the back.

Singster put out the fire, inducing a pair of ground outs and a pop out to protect the Owls first-ever Class L playoff win.

Offensively, Timberlane swung it fast and loose, rapping 10 hits on the day.

A Zach Fox infield hit scored an aggressive Matt Caiazzo from second base for a 1-0 lead, and Nick Mascioli drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 2-0 in the second. A Salem error and sacrifices from Singster and Caiazzo pushed the margin to 3-0, which was plenty for Faia.

Jake Lambert(4-3) took the loss for Salem, which was bidding for a repeat trip to the Class L finals.

Game Statistics:

Timberlane (4):  Zach Fox cf 4-0-1, Matt Faia p/2b 4-0-2, Nick Mascioli ss 3-0-1, Cam Fagan 3b 4-1-1, Matt Sheehan c 3-1-1, Lucas Alper rf 3-0-1, P.J. Singster 2b/p 3-0-1, Matt Caiazzo lf 2-1-1 Jon Faia 1b 3-1-1, Totals 29-4-10

Salem (1):  Jordan Estevez ss 4-0-0, Matt Gioia 2b 3-0-0, Josh Heil cf 3-0-2, Joe Morin dh 2-0-0, Jake Lambert p 0-0-0, Nick Poore p 0-0-0, Darren Brown rf 2-1-1, Sam Fazioli 1b 1-0-0, Josh Treff c 3-0-1, Shaun Yelle lf 3-0-0, C.J. DeMarco lf 3-0-1, Totals 24-1-5

RBI:  T - Fagan, Mascioli, Singster Caiazzo; S - Treff

WP: M. Faia; LP:  Lambert

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