GRANBY — A complete-game, five-hit effort from Carter Matthews lifted the Granby baseball team over Hampshire Regional, 2-1, on Tuesday. Matthews struck out four and walked none.
“Coming into it, I felt really comfortable. I was in a groove just doing my warm-ups. I came out here and just locked in. Stuck with the curveball, it was on point today,” Matthews said.
It was a clean game all-around, as the Rams (3-2) committed just one error over the seven innings.
“A successful team is pitching and defense and obviously that’s what we had today,” Granby coach Jim Woods said. “Carter did a good job getting ahead of the hitters and attacking them, pitching to contact, and we made the plays for him.”
Matthews allowed the earned run in the first inning. Opposing starting pitcher Greg Sarna-McCarthy led off with a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a passed ball. Garrett Antosz drove him in from third with a RBI groundout in the next at-bat.
From there, Matthews created virtually no jams and cruised through the next six innings.
“It is a confidence booster because all these guys are brand new varsity players,” Woods said. “I like the way Carter did what he did and (the team) looked like they played without a lot of pressure.”
Granby tied the score in the bottom of the third inning. Matthews opened the frame with a single and immediately stole second. A couple pitches later, he broke for third and slid in with ample time to spare.
Josh White came through a couple batters later with a screaming line drive up the middle that struck Sarna-McCarthy on the mound. The ball rolled to the first base line, Matthews scored and White reached first base. Sarna-McCarthy had to exit the game with a leg injury and was relieved by Jake Vishaway.
Granby’s Kyle Murdock started the fifth with a walk. Matthews bunted his teammate to second and Nolan Sullivan advanced him to third, setting up White with a chance to give Granby the lead.
The junior lifted a high, shallow fly to center field that popped out of the glove of Hampshire’s center fielder. Murdock scored to give Granby a 2-1 lead.
The Rams did just enough with five hits and the error.
“It’s somewhat typical of what we’ve been doing,” Woods said. “The error helped us out obviously scoring the second run.”
For the Raiders (3-2), Antosz, Mike Baldwin, Nick Pellegrini and Jake Constantine each had 1-for-3 games.
Josh White and Michael White each went 2-for-3, while Matthews finished 1-for-2 for the Rams.
“Close games, they make or break seasons,” Matthews said. “It’s big. Gotta keep the confidence and try to win more games.”