GB pitching his way out of the Tar Pit....

if you've read Garrett Broshuis' blog (link on the right) you know what I'm talking about. GB in his first start was great going 6 IP, allowing 5 hits, one a solo shot, 4 Ks ( a lot for him) and better yet no walks as the Defenders win 6-1 over the FisherCats this afternoon. The bullpen of Kelvin Pichardo, Steve Palazzolo (yes he's that tall), and Justin Hedrick went an inning each to close it out in a tidy 2 hous and 22 minutes.
Hitting star was shortstop Olmo Rosario who played last year in the Cam-Am League. Rosario hit a two run homer in his first EL at bat to put the Defs up 2-0 in the third inning. EME had walked it front of it. Rosario added a single to his line going 2 for 4 on the day and played decent short as the Defs turned 3 DPs.
Adam Witter went yard the next inning for his second HR in as many games. The Defs then broke it open in the 7th with a Carlos Soas 2 run RBI single and a Simon Klink RBI single.
The only negative to the game was three baserunners thrown out. Ben Copeland tripled after the Rosario HR and with no outs was thrown out a home on a grounder to short. Simon Klink was nailed trying to go to second on a throwing error with no outs and a runner on third. And Travis Denker overslid third on Sosa's RBI single.

EME's line looks pretty good; a soft single to right center and a single up the middle with two runs scored on the day. TI still looking for his first base hit.
The defense was good with those 3 DPs and Witter picked a runner off first early on.
All in all a good game for Connecticut.

Misc fan notes: Tried out the new camera today. Will post pics shortly. Small Saturday crowd--nice to see the sun. Barry Gunther is on the DL; expect Dayton Buller to catch Sunday.

More on Rosario and Palazzolo from the Nashua Pride website:

"09/18/07
OLMO ROSARIO'S AND STEVE PALAZZOLO'S CONTRACTS SOLD TO SAN FRANCISCO


The Nashua Pride announced today that the Can-Am League has sold the contracts of shortstop Olmo Rosario and reliever Steve Palazzolo to Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants.

Rosario and Palazzolo are no strangers to affiliated baseball having spent time in the Tampa Bay Devil Ray’s and Milwaukee Brewer’s organizations respectively.

Rosario was the Can-Am League Player of the Year for the 2007 season. The San Cristobal, DR native led the league with 133 hits, was second with a .362 average, third with a .550 slugging percentage, tied for third with 41 extra-base hits, and tied for third with 25 doubles. The shortstop also slugged 12 homeruns, batted in 59 runs, and legged out 4 triples.

In the 2007 postseason, Rosario was among the leaders in almost every statistical category. The former Tampa Bay Devil Ray minor leaguer was first with 13 hits, tied for first with 2 stolen bases, tied for second with 6 runs scored, third with a .419 batting average, tied for third with 2 home runs, fourth with a .472 on-base percentage, and fourth with a .645 slugging percentage.

Steve Palazzolo was arguably the Pride’s top setup man out of the bullpen in the 2007 season. He led the team with a 2.14 ERA and a .208 opponents batting average. The North Reading, MA native was tied for third in the league with 43 appearances. In 54.2 innings pitched, the 6’10” righthander allowed only 41 hits while striking out 63 batters."

Pics from top to bottom are: GB, Justin, Olmo, Kelvin and Steve