Bartlett tops Grafton in baseball opener 9-4

Bartlett's Connor McCarthy swinging away.

Photos and text by Steev Riccardo

Webster - The Bartlett Indians used some timely hitting and the combined pitching of Evan Anderson and Steven Brennan to defeat the Grafton Indians 9-4 in their home opener at the Bartlett High School Field on Friday.

Senior shortstop Luis Caro got hit by a pitch on the first pitch he faced and ending up scoring on a ground out by centerfielder Nick Kobel to give the Indians a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

After Grafton tied the game on an error in the top of the first, the Indians put three runs on the board, highlighted by a double by senior right fielder Connor McCarthy and led 4-1 after three innings.

Meanwhile sophomore righty Anderson was coasting along until he had a rocky fourth inning and gave up a couple of runs but still pitched himself out of further damage and preserved the Indians’ lead at 4-3.

Luis Caro gave the Indians an insurance run when he smacked a double, making it 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Junior Steven Brennan took over for Anderson, who left with a high pitch count in the fifth and despite allowing a run to make it 5-4, did a good job of preventing any further damage.

The Indians added three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, highlighted by a Justin Caro double to make it 8-4.

Nick Kobel had two RBI's in the win.

Kobel singled home Luis Caro in the sixth inning for the Indians’ ninth and final run and his second RBI of the game, and Brennan took care of business in the seventh, securing Bartlett’s first win of the season.

Evan anderson on the mound.

Anderson’s numbers were respectable, giving up only two hits on one earned run, striking out seven, while walking six Grafton batters in four innings.  Brennan gave one hit and one run, striking out one batter and walking three in three innings.

The win was the first for Indians’ rookie manager Jonathan Way, who said afterwards, “It was awesome. These guys worked hard, it’s really their win.”  

Way was generally happy with the way things went and praised his pitchers and fielders. “They threw strikes. That is what we talked about, getting ahead and throwing strikes, they have a great defense behind them. We worked during spring training on solidifying our defense. That is going to be our game, throw strikes and make the plays behind the pitching.  We got in a little bit of trouble walking guys, but when the pitchers got ahead, we did really well.”

The Indians’ manager was also quick to point out the importance of Luis Caro in both the field and in a leadership role. “You got to look at your shortstop to be a leader, he is one of our best hitters, he can fly on the base paths, he sets the tone for the entire team. He really is a solid ball player and we feel confident having him in our leadoff spot.”

Caro, who played a solid two-way game for the Indians, banging out a pair of hits and collecting an RBI, attributed his and the team’s success to “hard work’ they put in during the pre-season.

Anderson, 1-0, said “It felt really good to win, especially after struggling last year.”

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