Behind key bases-loaded hits by Kyle Wilcox and Ben Stoller, the Thunder won its seventh straight game at Glander Field Sunday, 10-3 over Blanco’s Bombers.

The win upped the Thunder’s record to 2-0 in the playoffs and 9-6 during the fall season.

Wilcox rapped a sharp, two-RBI single in the third inning that scored Hunter Low and Sean Dardine, and gave the Thunder a 4-1 lead. Stoller, who finished the game with four RBI, drove in another run by smashing a sacrifice fly to deep right field that scored Michael Koch. Wilcox alertly darted home on a delayed steal for a 6-1 lead.

The Bombers used the base running of Garrison Buzzanca to battle back for a run in the bottom of the inning. Buzzanca, who reached on a fielder’s choice, took second base on a wild pitch, third on a passed ball and came home on another wild pitch.

Stoller put the game out of reach in the fifth inning, clubbing a bases-loaded triple that scored Dardine, Koch and Wilcox. Jacob Moore then slapped a grounder to second base that was misplayed, scoring Stoller.

The Thunder had jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead. Wilcox reached on a two-base error and scored when Stoller hit an infield single and went to second on an errant throw. Kaleb Rowe drilled a line single to left center to bring home Stoller. Catcher Rowe also put in a fine defensive performance behind the plate and got the save with two innings of relief work. Wilcox, who got the win, and Koch each surrendered a run in two innings of work. Playing catcher in the last inning, Wilcox threw out runner attempting to steal third base for the final out. Koch also flashed a lot of leather at shortstop, teaming up with Michael Burton and Stoller for a fifth-inning double play, and ranging into left field to snare a popup by Buzzanca in the final inning.

Other Thunder hits were by Dardine, who doubled, and Koch, who singled. Three Bombers – JP Blanco, Mike Lobosco and Mike Scharfenberg – had two-hit games. Blanco crushed a change-up for a first-inning triple to left center and came home on a Lobosco single. Blanco also singled home Dan Poeltl in the sixth inning.

Riding the powerful bat of Ben Stoller and the lightning pitching arms of Kyle Wilcox, Michael Koch and Kaleb Rowe, the Thunder steamrolled to an opening-round 9-4 playoff win over Davis’ Destroyers at Glander Field Saturday.

Stoller, who finished the game with three of the Thunder’s four hits, knocked in two runs with a first-inning single that scored Sean Dardine and Koch. He also doubled to bring home Wilcox during a three-run third inning that boosted the lead to 5-0. Tim McGrath and Dardine each walked and scored on a throwing error in the inning.

While the Thunder offense was doing its damage, Wilcox struck out six batters and no-hit the opposition during the first two inning. Relief pitcher Kaleb Rowe entered in the third inning and struck out the side.

In the fourth inning, the Destroyers came to life when David Gerics doubled and scored on an infield grounder by Patrick Sullivan. Mike Davis also scored, reaching first and scoring on two errors, to reduce the deficit to 5-2. But the Thunder came back with a fifth-inning run when Dardine reached on an error, moved to third on two wild pitches and came home on an RBI groundout by Koch. In the sixth inning, Jacob Moore slashed a two-RBI single that scored Stoller and Rowe. Moore stole the plate on a wild pitch for the final run.

The Destroyers tried to come back in their last at-bat. Nicky Sajovic singled and came home on a walk to Brandon Cooper. Stefan Dullinger also walked to score Gerics. But the Thunder’s Koch refused to break on the pitching mound, retiring the final two batters on force plays at home with the bases loaded.

Koch, Wilcox and Rowe combined for 13 strikeouts and yielded just two hits.

In other fall ball action –

BASEBALL

8/9

Blue Devils 5, Huskies 3 – Michael Parker, Jim Parker and Alex Klang had key hits and combined to pitch six strong innings to lead the Blue Devils. Connor Ryan knocked in a big run with a two out single and Nicholas Chaloux and Stephen Panza each scored key runs. Kevin Finnegan made a nice defensive to help stop a Huskies rally. The Huskies offense was led by Jared Brady, who walked and eventually stole home to score their first run, and Liam Palilla and Declan Sullivan, who had RBI hits. Nick Cirone and Devon Palilla pitched well; Dillon Palumbo made a fine play in the outfield; and Deegan Beauchemin had a great game overall.

Team (#38) 8, Eagles 6 – For the Eagles, Joe Calbo again anchored the defense behind the plate, Chris Calo pitched well and Nick Cagganello went 4-for-4 with two singles, a double and a triple to lead the offense.

Red Tide 17, Navy 7 – The Newtown Navy jumped out in front, putting up four runs in the first innings, and followed with three runs in the fifth, however were unable to hold back the rising Red Tide. After a tough first inning, the Red Tide played super defense thereafter, led by great glove work from (Slammin’) CJ Dunn, Jake (The Glove) Simonson, Colin (The Closer) Morrissey, and Adam (I-Rod) Israel. The Tide rolled on with great pitching by both Curt (Sandman) Williamson and Mike (Big Papi) Davenport, who combined for four scoreless innings and five strikeouts. The Red Tide’s offense was led by Harry (D-Train) Depuy, who went 3-for-4, including a walk, with three stolen bases, three runs scored, a double and a two-run homer. Julia (Roadrunner) Monaco worked out three walks, stole two bases, and scored two runs.

Knighthawks 8, Red Tide 7 – The Knighthawks slipped past the Red Tide in playoff action last Sunday. In the top of the sixth inning, the Red Tide, down by two, was able to score a run and get the tying run to third with two outs but a great catch on a hard hit ball by Joey (The Bandit) Carrino ended the game. Curt (Sandman) Williamson went 3-for-3 with three singles, three stolen bases, two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Tide. Chris (The Cannon) Brown and Timmy (The Flash) Moore played well.

Gators 8, Eagles 6 – In a closely contested first round playoff game, the Gators prevailed on the superb pitching of David Matthews, Jonathan Rospenda, and Nick Eisele. Sean Reilly lead the offensive attack, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while David Matthews went 2-for-2 with a triple and three runs scored. Jonathan Rospenda also collected two hits and Brandon O’Sullivan had an RBI groundout and scored a run. Valentino DiIorio added two stolen bases and scored a run.

Tuscans 12, Gators 2 – The Gators lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Tuscans. Sean Reilly and David Matthews scored the lone runs for the Gators. Keaton McCleary put on a defensive show, including turning an unassisted double play to end the second inning. Daniel Rosado had a good game in the field for the Gators and Brandon O’Sullivan helped on defense with an outfield assist.

SOFTBALL

U14

Blue 13, Pink Panthers 12 – Michelle Margait had two great catches as Natalie Dunn and Brittany Clarke contributed with key defensive plays to lead Blue to the win. Megan Gibbons was aggressive on the base path and Rebecca Reed pitched well. For the Pink Panthers, Taylor Johnson had three hits, including a triple, with three RBI and three runs scored. Linnea Pearson reaching base three times and scored twice and Jenn Callery chipped in with a triple of her own.