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July 5, 2009

Clinton County Mariners go 3-0 in tournament

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FAIR HAVEN, Vt. — It was a good weekend for head coach John Flynn and his Clinton County Mariners American Legion baseball team.

The Mariners went 3-0 to take first place in the Granville Tournament, including a 5-2 win over Fair Haven, Vt. and a 2-0 decision over the Champlain Edge, Vt. on Sunday.

On top of that, Flynn was pleased he won all three coin flips for the Mariners to be the home team in every contest.

"We're on a little bit of a roll right now," Flynn said of his 13-7 team. "We've been getting good pitching right along. This weekend, we got good pitching and defense — and that's what I like to see being a former pitcher.

"The second game we played today was a good old-fashioned pitching duel."

Against Fair Haven, the Mariners fell behind, 2-0, in the top of the first inning.

But, Frank Buksa rapped a RBI double in the bottom of the first and Clinton County took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth on Matt Leta's solo home run, Jordan Bezio's RBI single and Will Flynn's RBI fielder's choice.

"We didn't get a lot of offense in the game, but Leta's home run was big because it gave us momentum," Flynn said.

And, Matt Seymour made the lead stand as he went the distance for the pitching victory with a three-hitter. Seymour struck out four, including three while escaping potential trouble in the sixth inning.

"Seymour pitched great," Flynn said. "In the sixth, they had runners on first and second, with nobody out. But, he wriggled out of the jam with three strikeouts."

The Mariners finished with five hits, with Bezio getting two of them.

In Game 2, Will Flynn was up to the task as he tossed a three-hit shutout, with 10 strikeouts and one walk.

"Will has been playing second base for the most part, but he showed his dad something today," John Flynn said. "He pitched a great game and his performance on the mound showed he wants to pitch more.

"They loaded the bases, with nobody out, in the first inning. But, Will got two strikeouts and an infield grounder to get out of the inning and he breezed the rest of the way. He stepped up for us today with Jordan Keysor not available this weekend."

A.J. Gordon, Bezio and Aaron Tenbuuren had the lone hits for the Mariners, who scored both their runs on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"There was a wild pitch on ball four and (Jordan) Bezio scored on the play," Flynn said. "And, when the throw to the plate from the catcher got away, Casey Letourneau scored the second run."

The Mariners will take the momentum into this week's Cooper's Cave Tournament in Glens Falls where they will play their first game in the event on Tuesday.



Mariners 5, Fair Haven 2

Fair Haven 200 000 0 — 2 3 1

Mariners 100 301 x — 5 5 0

Johnson, Patch (4), Kotrady (6) and Gilbert. Seymour and Bosley. WP- Seymour. LP- Johnson. 2B- Buksa (M). HR- Leta (M).



Mariners 2, Champlain Edge 0

Edge 000 000 0 — 0 3 1

Mariners 000 200 x — 2 3 0

Keen, Schneiderman (4), Saba (6) and Fleming. Flynn and Buksa. WP- Flynn. LP- Keen.

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