Wizards can’t stop woes at home

MONDAY, JULY 2, 2012

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Both the Newark Pilots and Watertown Wizards entered Sunday’s Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game in search of a big win.

But as has happened so often at home this season for the Wizards, the visiting team left town with a victory.

Daniel Thorpe pitched seven solid innings and shortstop Josh Crowdus collected four hits and drove in three runs for the Pilots, who surged past the Wizards, 12-5, at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

“We needed this win, we needed to get our bats going again and our confidence back,” Crowdus said.

Slumping Watertown (8-14), meanwhile, was dealt its third consecutive setback and its 11th loss in 13 home games, including eight straight.

“Unfortunately, for some reason we’re not playing good at home this year,” third baseman Brandon Roush said. “But it’s going to change soon so we can get on the right track.”

The Wizards better put that run together soon because they reach the midway point of the regular season on Wednesday, the July 4th holiday.

“It’s a tough one to handle,” said center fielder Brandon Cipolla. “Coming off those two games against Amsterdam, they’re a really good team and we battled pretty good. And then to face these guys who aren’t as good — and play worse — it’s just tough to come on the field every day as see this kind of stuff happen.”

Thorpe scattered five hits, allowing five runs and four walks while striking out six as he improved to 4-0 for second-place Newark (13-9).

“The last two or three games, we’ve been playing the two best teams in the league,” Watertown manager Nathan Kafka said. “It’s tough, but we’ve got to beat those teams as well. We can still make a push — I’m not worried about it — but we’ve got some work to do, that’s for sure.”

After Newark took a 1-0 lead on Brent Langston’s home run to left field in the first inning, the Wizards took the lead with two runs in the second as Jordan Enos doubled and scored on an RBI groundout. Christian Hickman then doubled and came home on Edgardo Salas’ single to left field.

Thorpe settled down and held Watertown scoreless for the next three innings.

The Pilots tied the game in the fourth as Austin Logan doubled and scored when Chris Doyle reached on a fielder’s choice.

Newark then scored four runs over the next two innings, propelled by Crowdus’ two-run double to the left-center field gap in the sixth.

Watertown drew within 6-4 as Salas belted a two-run home run over the left field fence, but the Pilots manufactured three more runs in the seventh, all unearned, to lead 9-4.

Roush singled in a run in the bottom of the inning, but Newark scored two more runs in the eighth and added one in the ninth.

Right-hander Mike Peters out of Alcorn State took the loss as the starter in his first appearance for the Wizards, allowing four runs on seven hits in five innings.

“Putting up five runs is a good amount of runs, we should be able win a ball game here and there,” Cipolla said. “And when you’re not getting the defense in the field for our pitchers and we need to keep people off the bases and not walk people. It’s tough to win in this environment. Hopefully, we can turn that around really fast.”

Salas went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs for Watertown, which plays at Oneonta today and hosts Elmira on Tuesday, both at 7 p.m., before traveling for holiday matinee Wednesday at Cooperstown at 3 p.m.

“It’s going to take that one game to turn it around and once we start coming together, we’ll be able to put some wins together here,” Roush said.