Baseball Review // Record-Journal Expos, 7 South Windsor Phillies, 6 at Duprey Field, South Windsor CT July 3rd 2024 (GHTBL)

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Official box score ::: https://ghtbl.org/event/expos-phillies-3

Additional photos can be found on Facebook here ::: 

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This was my first time at Duprey Field and it's a complex with different fields.  What's funny is there was a Little League game going on a few fields over- some kind of All-Star Game which had music playing- but when I first saw this field and judged the depth of it I thought that it wouldn't be likely for anyone to hit a homerun because of how far back it seemed to go.   So it was a deep field that this game was played on, though there were also little league sized fields here.

The first two innings of this game saw no score and little action.  It felt like it might be one of those pitching games which ended up 1-0 or 2-1, but then in the third inning the Expos scored two runs.  Sebby Grignano singled on, Kyle Hartenstein walked on and then AJ Hendrickson singled on to load the bases.  Both Jon Remillard and Evan Wilkinson were walked and that gave the Expos a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, Michael Lodge would be HBP and then Justin Oquendo singled onto base.   Will Dalton dropped a hit into shallow left field to load the bases with no outs.  With one out, Javier Irizarry doubled, two runners would score and it was tied 2-2 just like that.  But the Phillies weren't done, as Chris Connelly doubled in two more runs, putting the Phillies up 4-2.   Ryan Krompegal would single to bring in Connelly and the inning would ultimately end with the Phillies up 5-2.

The fourth and the fifth innings saw no score and it felt like the Phillies were hanging onto their 5-2 and winning this game.   But in the sixth inning both "Superstar" Luke DiMauro and Sebby Grignano were walked onto base.  Kyle Hartenstein stepped up to the plate and see ya that ball was halfway back to Manchester.

Now, I didn't think anyone would hit a homerun at this field but Kyle Hartenstein did more than just that.  This ball went over the fence, over the road and into the woods quite far away.  I don't always like using certain baseball terms because they feel crude, but this was definitely what is referred to in baseball as a piss missile.  Oh, and it just so happened to tie the game as well.  

The Expos would put up two more runs and though the Phillies tried they just couldn't catch them.   This was a close game and for many of the innings the pitching was just right on so there wasn't a lot of offense, but then when there was offense- oh boy did it come up in a big way.  The doubles and hits the Phillies put together could've given them a win against a different team- which is why I like to think of them as being so unpredictable- but this was just the Expos night to come back and win.

The Record-Journal Expos improve to  7-4 and meet the 3-10 Bristol Greeners on Tuesday night at Ceppa Field.  The Expos are essentially chasing the Orioles and M&T Bank right now, both who only have two losses each,  but it will be interesting to see how things shape up now that we have entered the second half of the season.