Hall Baseball Wins Second Annual West Hartford Mayor's Cup

Any time West Hartford crosstown rivals Conard and Hall face each other, in any sport, the score is impossible to predict. Most bring their A-game to the fierce yet good-natured competition between students who have spent their childhoods playing with each other.

Conard was the home team and had the better record heading into Friday’s game at the University of Hartford, and earlier in the week had popped into the area rankings in fifth place. But Friday afternoon it was Hall that took an immediate lead and never looked back, once again taking home the Mayor’s Cup trophy.

“I want it to be a battle. The worst thing would be if it’s not close,” Hall head coach Jeff Billing said before the game.

Although Hall led by as many as five runs, Conard refused to give up. The Chieftains staged a seventh-inning rally but could not close the deficit, and Hall won, 7-4.

Hall came out swinging, with lead-off hitter Reid Silverhart smacking Max Vogel-Freedman’s first pitch into the outfield for a single. Vogel Freedman’s second pitch earned Hall’s Neil Kelley a double.

Jon Greenfield hit the fourth pitch of the game, and although he was out at first, Silverhart scored. Will Cook walked and then a wild pitch gave Kelley the chance to reach home.

Hall led 2-0 in the middle of the 1st, and Conard could never catch up.
Conard’s John Dinucci, who will play baseball for Bates next year, had his first of two hits for the day, but was left stranded at the end of the inning.

A stolen base, an error, and a two-out RBI single by Kelley put Hall ahead 4-0 midway through the 2nd.

After Hall’s sixth and seventh hits (Will Cook and Lucas Huber), and another run for Hall in the 3rd, Conard coach Ty Bongiovanni sent senior pitcher Charlie Fisher in for relief.

Conard finally got on the board with an RBI double deep to center by catcher Brendan Rossmeisl that scored Dinucci.

Fisher, who will play baseball at Dickinson next year singled and scored in the 4th, which ended 5-2.

A deep hit to left in the 5th was caught in the sun by Conard senior Nick Venora, but Hall senior Zack Dobbins’ RBI single pushed the score to 6-2 before a double play retired the side.

Hall picked up another run in the 6th but despite a wild play in the top of the 7th that included two errors the score remained 7-2 Hall when Conard came up for its last at bats.

Billing got his wish for a good contest as Conard found its groove, adding a few more hits and a pair of runs, but the momentum came too late for the Chieftains, and the game ended with Hall on top 7-4.

Hall senior Jacob Kochen, who pitched a complete game, was named MVP. Second MVP was Hall junior Dan Nunes who was 2-4, and third MVP was Conard’s John Dinucci.

"I give their guys a ton of credit and I give Jeff [Billing] the most admiration in the world for what he's doing. Their guys were more ready to play than ours were," said Bongiovanni after the game.

"Mentally we were not where we usually are today," he said.

Billing said his team was excited about the venue, even before taking home the Cup for the second year in a row. "It's such a great thing that University of Hartford lets us come here ... that Rick Sanford and Steve Meucci put all the effort in to make this happen here," said Billing.

"The atmosphere here feels like you're playing professional baseball."

"Jacob's a bulldog," Billing said of Kochen's pitching performance. "He's a leader of the team; I could not be more proud of him."

Other than pitching, what Billing said Hall did right was: "We hit the ball today."

Although West Hartford Mayor Scott Slifka could not attend this year, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen List took the mound in his place, tossing the first pitch of the game to Conard catcher Brendan Rossmeisl.

The last pitch of the game was thrown by Conard head coach Bongiovanni after the game was officially over. He pitched to team manager Phillip Prieto, who despite his disabilities smacked the ball into the outfield and was called safe at home.