GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO “BAIT”
Cannons Get First Win at New Cannon Yards with Sunday Split Versus Fish

Newington, CT (AP)—An old angler saying goes, nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught. On Sunday the Connecticut Cannons came close to capturing two wins against the reigning CNMSBL regular-season champion Glastonbury Marlins (2-2) in the home opener at New Cannon Yards. The crimson-clad ball club were 4-3 winners in Game One behind pitcher Brian Pinney and led 3-0 in Game Two before the contest turned in favor of the Fish, fully epitomizing “the one that got away” in an eventual 16-3 loss behind hard-luck hurler Mike Calabrese. “It’s good to get that first win under our belts, defeating a solid Glastonbury team in doing so (the Cannons were 0-3 all-time versus the Marlins coming into Sunday),” Manager Matt Celio told reporters in his post-game press conference. “1-3 is not the way we expected to start this season and the outcome of the second game does not in any way reflect how well we played for most of the day (twelve of the sixteen runs were unearned as the Cannons fielded only eight players in the ten-run final frame). We’ve played back-to-back weekends against last year’s finalists and had some success. Our best ball of the season is still ahead of us and the schedule starts to work in our favor over the next few weekends (many minor muscle pulls were reported by Tina Cervasio throughout the double dip so an off weekend for Mother’s Day is most welcome). It’s time to put all the pieces together and send a message to the rest of the league. We’re the big fish in this pond.” Carp-e Diem, Cannon Nation.

Game One was a match-up of two of the CNMSBL’s elite arms as Pinney squared off against Marlins’ ace[hole] John Skinner (apparently he was unfamiliar with the adage "a fish wouldn't get into trouble if he kept his mouth shut" as he berated and bullied his team in a losing effort). Pinney, the hard-throwing right-hander from East Hampton, struggled some with his usual pinpoint control on this windy May day, allowing a pair of runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter in the first but was able to cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the inning with an RBI ground out following back-to-back singles by Jason Maule and Leo Dionicio at the top of the line-up (Celio, explaining the shake-up in the order to reporters before the game, stated “I’m not ashamed to admit I love Leo in my number two hole,” causing puzzled, uncomfortable head-scratching and sphincter squeezes aplenty among members of the press corps). In the second the Cannons would get all of the scoring they needed courtesy of a Maule three-run blast to deep right-centerfield that plated Drew McDowell and Calabrese who had reached respectively on a walk and a fielder’s choice. Pinney (7 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 3 K, 5 BB, 1 HBP) would throw an astronomical one hundred forty-seven pitches over the course of the game but was able to strand runners in scoring position in every inning except the one-two-three fifth, allowing just a single additional run on a Skinner sacrifice fly in the fourth. “Pinney (1-0) put us on his back in the opener,” said Celio. “He dug down deep for something extra and willed us to a win. Our pitchers are impressive—undoubtedly we have the strongest staff from top to bottom in the league—and having Brian on the hill was a real boost for our ball club today. He didn’t show up to lose.”

Calabrese mounted the mound in Game Two, making his first pitching appearance of the 2007 campaign. After allowing a lead-off double to Mario Joyner, Cal settled down and retired the next six batters he faced while the Cannons’ offense provided a three-run pad in the home half of the first on a Maule double, Steve Markie’s RBI single and a two-out two-run base hit by free agent acquisition McDowell, who has paid early dividends for the team (.333 BA, 1 R, 2 RBI). In the top of the third, Calabrese faced Fish second baseman Mickey Bantle who hit a ball back to the box. Cal attempted to bare-hand the come-backer but it bounced painfully off the fingers of his throwing hand causing immediate numbness. After a few practice pitched he proceeded to plunk local radio personality Joe “Doppler” Furey—the second time the WTIC weatherman has been hit by Cannons’ pitchers in two seasons following Tom Luby’s how-do-you-do in 2006—bringing the tying run to the plate with no outs. Cal struck out opposing pitcher Joyner and followed by forcing a foul out by French expatriate Mountsainte Helin to the catcher Markie. Skinner doubled home a run—in the first Cal had to be retrained after the “Skin Flute” flied out to left and loudly lamented about the perceived slow speed of the pitch he had hit—but Calabrese (5 IP, 16 R, 4 ER, 13 H, 3 K, 6 BB, 1 HBP) battled back and induced a soft line drive to the left side of the infield. Luby and Dionicio nearly collided as they reached the outfield grass and the ball bounced out of the shortstop’s glove to tie the game at 3, prolonging the inning. Glastonbury sent twelve players to the plate and scored six times in the frame providing Joyner with a comfortable cushion and the Cannons would manage only one base runner over the remaining course of the contest. Cal (0-1) kept the Cannons in the ball game on sheer strength of will, refusing several times to be taken out of the game, but with Markie and Maule up against time constraints the Cannons were forced to complete the contest with only Chris Barsa and Tom Luby in the outfield and Glastonbury dinked and dunked their way to ten additional runs and the final margin of victory. Cal spoke with reporters at New Cannon Yards on Monday afternoon after his fearless fight: “I have never felt this much pain in my life. I can’t walk or talk. My arms, back, neck, a**, calves, hamstrings, you name it. One hundred fifty-plus pitches in my first outing was not the smartest but I knew we were short some arms (pitchers Mike Patenaude and Ed Poland were not available on Sunday). I can’t sneeze or cough without hurting. I’m popping Percocet left and right…thankfully my son’s mother had some. Hopefully McDowell can start throwing some soon…get Drew ready!”

It has been said that there will be days when the fishing is better than one's most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home. The Connecticut Cannons ventured out and saw both the good and the bad of baseball in their split with Glastonbury on Sunday but in the process perhaps discovered something more meaningful: without question they have the necessary sinkers, hooks, bait and bobs all lined up in their tackle box to be a championship-caliber ball club. Henry David Thoreau expounded: "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." The Cannons are after something more than just regular season recognition. Connecticut went fishing this past Sunday and caught something more than their first 2007 victory. They caught the attention of the rest of the CNMSBL with a win over a very good Glastonbury Marlins team. It’s time for the Cannons to filet the A and this all begins against the A’s in Marlborough on May 20 in a playoff rematch from 2006 (won by the Cannons 13-4). As always, get your RED on and get your game tickets at ctcannons.blogspot.com.

Cannons News and Notes: Calabrese wore Rick Weber’s retired #0 jersey because he forgot his uniform in his South Quaker Lane apartment…he also guaranteed never to drop another pop-up after his miscue against Bristol in the season opener; Pinney’s win was the first of his two-year Cannons’ career (1-1); Maule currently shares the CNMSBL-lead for home runs (tied with Derek Bell and Dixon Mason of Marlborough)…the bomb was the fourth of his regular season career moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the team’s all-time list (Luby, 10; Poland, 8; Weber, 7)…on average, he homers once every 12.5 at-bats; the team's slow offensive start continued as only eight of sixteen Cannons have hit safely through the first four games (Dionicio; Luby; Mark Lynch; Markie; Maule; McDowell; Craig Perrier; Poland)…Maule and Markie have hits in three straight games; Mike Weber and Luby still stand respectively at three and five hits from the century plateau; Luby's outfield appearance in Game Two marked the first time the six-year veteran played a position other than shortstop or pitcher; Cannons’ pitchers have a spectacular 2.92 ERA in 2007; the Managerial staff of Celio and Weber saw their first action of the season on Sunday; music returned to Cannons games for the first time since the team played its home games at Balf-Savin Stadium in New Britain during the 2003 season.