In 2021, the Danbury Westerners went 7-1 in the playoffs en route to winning their first NECBL Championship. Unlike that postseason run, the Westerners entered the 2023 postseason under .500 at 21-22 and on a four-game losing streak. Competing against the Vermont Mountaineers in the playoffs for the first time ever, Danbury bounced back with a complete performance from both sides of the ball while stamping an exclamation point on a strong July. The Westerners supported Braden Quinn’s six shutout innings with six runs off Nolan Sparks, taking game one over the Mountaineers 8-2 at Montpelier Recreation Field.
“We win when it matters,” manager Conor Farrell said about his eighth career postseason victory.
Danbury takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three first-round series in the NECBL playoffs with the win, their first against Vermont this season. The Mountaineers were not alone in terms of a higher seed getting upset, as the top-seeded Newport Gulls and fourth-seeded Mystic Schooners both fell at home.
Jason Claiborn got the Westerners rolling immediately, clubbing an opposite-field single on the first pitch of the playoffs. With two aboard after a hit by pitch, Bobby Zmarzlak got Danbury on the board with an opposite-field single of his own, bringing in the Eastern Connecticut State rightfielder ahead of the throw home. Sparks limited the damage with two in scoring position, striking out the next two batters he faced.
Vermont created their own two-runner opportunity in the bottom half, getting runners on the corners on George Rosales’ opposite-field double and Nate Stocum’s five-pitch walk. Unlike the Westerners, however, neither runner touched home plate as Quinn struck out two Mountaineers swinging. Billy Gerlott bashed a leadoff double two pitches into the second, doubling Danbury’s lead on Aiden Jolley’s deep RBI triple.
Replacing Matt Ruiz in the infield in the bottom half, Bam Talavera worked a one-out walk in the third, scoring from second after Jace Jeremiah’s throw went right through Nathan Goranson’s glove at first. Will Cook dropped a pop fly in foul territory with two down in the bottom half, temporarily distressing Quinn before a flyout sent Vermont down in order.
Getting a second chance because of some defensive miscommunication on a pop fly behind home plate in the fourth, Jakobi Davis blasted his first home run of the summer just over the right field fence. While touching all four bases following his solo shot, the Cornell centerfielder gave the bullpen a wave, like the Westerners had done so many times before.
“To have the support of my guys behind me after I hit that [home run] was awesome,” Davis said after the game. “It was a happy surprise.”
Sparks could not settle down following the leadoff jack, allowing three straight singles and a run on the latter base knock that concluded his night. Ben Adams recorded the Mountaineers’ first out on his first pitch in relief, additionally finalizing the Rochester righty’s line after Jeremiah’s throw from second soared into foul territory, bringing another runner home. The St. John’s lefty’s wild second pitch moved Talavera 90 feet closer, subsequently surrendering Danbury’s fourth run of the frame on Harrison Feinberg’s loud RBI double. Vermont’s miscues continued when Cook reached on a dropped third strike and ended on the very next pitch on Gerlott’s double play. Quinn walked two of the first three Mountaineers he faced in the bottom half, stranding them both with two more punchouts.
“To have one in the playoffs is very special,” Wyers said about his solo shot.
Although he struck out two following a leadoff walk in the bottom half, Carter Kelsey could not maintain the Westerners’ shutout as Aaron Whitley walloped a two-out, two-strike, two-run shot beyond the left field wall. While that could have sparked a late rally, both the Seton Hall righty and Matthew Spada did not make that a reality in the final two innings as Danbury took a critical first game on the road.
“I think it gives us a huge momentum boost,” Davis noted about the upset win. “It was just a testament to all of the talent that we have on this team and, when we are all clicking together, the damage that we can do.”
Quinn grabbed his third straight win as a Westerner and first in the playoffs with six scoreless innings and eight punchouts on 92 pitches, getting revenge against Vermont after they bested him on July 5. Sparks suffered the loss after allowing six runs (five earned) on nine hits.
“The kid has been working his tail off,” Farrell commented about the UConn lefty, who has thrown three straight quality starts. “Braden Quinn does what Braden Quinn does.”
Danbury looks to sweep the first-round series against these same Mountaineers in their own house, the Roadhouse at Rogers Park, in game two on August 1. Complacency is not an option ahead of the potential series-clinching contest, something that Farrell knows heading into a crucial home game.
“We have to do the same thing we did tonight,” Farrell said about game two. “When we play a complete game, no one can beat us.”
Michael Szturma gets the bump versus Vermont’s Colton Book with first pitch in the Hat City scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Information regarding the Danbury Westerners’ postseason schedule can be found on their website and the NECBL website.