RCP Legion Team Wins Three in a Row

With only a week left in the American Legion season, the Rocky Hill-Cromwell-Portland team was in third place in Zone 7 and needed three outstanding games to have a shot at the state tournament. Mission accomplished.

RCP swept Hartford at home in a Sunday doubleheader and defeated Plainville on the road 5-2 Monday.

Led by strong starting pitching and a suddenly potent offense, RCP breezed to a 6-0 victory over Hartford in the first game of the doubleheader.

The RCP offense has been inconsistent all season, but came alive against the weak pitching of Hartford. In the fourth, shortstop John McMahon and second baseman Christian Budzic picked up RBIs.  In the fifth, third baseman Paul Francis singled in first baseman Kevin Post.

On the mound, Dan Bouchard’s fastball overpowered hitters. Bouchard, a native of Rocky Hill, struck out eight in six innings of work and gave up four hits, only one of which was hit hard.

“It was easy for me to pitch today,” Bouchard said. “My fastball felt good, and I trusted the guys behind me to make plays.” 

In the back end of the doubleheader, RCP benefited from four errors and five walks by Hartford to win 7-1.

The game was over after two innings. In the first, McMahon scored on consecutive wild pitches by pitcher Mike Soto. RCP added three runs after two errors and a two-run single by McMahon in the second inning.

Corey Armstrong struck out seven and allowed four hits in a complete game effort.

In a game originally scheduled for Friday, RCP beat Plainville 5-2 with help from a Bouchard homerun. It was the first home run for RCP in at least two seasons, according to Head Coach Jay Hickey.

Bouchard’s two-run home run came on a 2-2 fastball in the second inning from Plainville hurler Tyler Duimond. While the home run was undoubtedly exciting, RCP would not take control of the game until the later innings. McMahon singled to score Kevin Radziewicz in the fifth inning and RCP scored twice in the sixth on an error and single by Radziewicz.

Winning Pitcher Paul Francis tossed a complete game and struck out nine batters.

The victory was the team’s third straight and fourth in fifth games, heavily driven by RCP’s suddenly dynamic offense. In all of these wins, RCP has scored at least five runs.

RCP is now 14-6 in 2011, good enough for second place in Zone 7. Though they are too far behind West Hartford to be champions of the zone, RCP can still lock up second place and a berth in the state playoffs. RCP has four games remaining to make states, starting with a road matchup versus Glastonbury Tuesday night.