Baseball Review //
Record-Journal Expos Rebound Against Mets, Beat Graphics, Fall to Bankersk
(GHTBL)
Photos from the Mets-Expos game on 7/15/25 can be found here :::
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Photos from the Graphics-Expos game on 7/17/25 can be found here :::
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Photos from the M&T Bank-Expos game on 7/18/25 can be found here :::
Coming soon!
After going on a bit of a losing streak during the first week of July (coming back from the 4th of July weekend break) the Record-Journal Expos have managed to rebound this past week. Though they were supposed to have four games in one week, the first game against the East Hartford Jets at McKenna was postponed due to weather. This brought the start of the week for the Expos back to Ceppa Field, in which they met the first place Middletown Mets.
Exactly one week before this, the Expos lost to the Mets at Ceppa in a 15-1 game which saw three different Mets players hit homeruns. This game wasn't as high scoring and felt like more of a pitching duel. JD Tyler was able to hold the Mets to only two runs this time, while Alden Halfinger gave up three, which was just enough for the Expos to win. This game was a great way for the Expos to rebound and start off the week on the winning track.
Off on Wednesday, the Expos would travel to Northwest Park to take on the Rainbow Graphics for the first time in what was just a great game. With Max Giacco on base, AJ Hendrickson hit a deep blast to center field to score him and make it 1-0 right away. Max Adams would drive in Hector Gonzalez to make it 2-0 in the top of the second.
But in the bottom of the second inning, the Graphics would tie it. With two outs, Bryan Rodriguez drives in the first Rainbow Run, while Matt Costanza would double in Dan Orzech to tie it all up. As it felt like the Expos were winning, scoring two runs over two innings, just like that it disappeared in a flash.
In the bottom of the third inning, Stanley Cipkas tripled to deep left field- a real hit it where they're not shot- and Tyler Repoli would score. Eric Anderson would single in Cipkas, making it a 4-2 ball game in favor of the Graphics. Just like that, the tables had been flipped.
Top of the sixth and Jon Remillard would single to get on base, as Max Adams did the same and sent Remillard to third. Brendan O'Connell (who hit a HR the week prior in a loss to the Phillies) would drive the ball up the right side and with one out it was a 4-3 ball game.
Dante LaRosa would walk to load the bases and at this point the pitching changed for the Rainbow Graphics. John Griffin started this game for the Graphics and did well, giving up only two runs, but Joe Pishka would come in and ultimately end up responsible for the rest of the runs though after the BB to LaRosa Christian Steiner came in to close out the game.
Max Giacco would draw a walk and this game became tied at 4-4. Following a strike out for the second out, Brendan O'Connell would score on a wild pitch in a moment which gave the Expos the lead, 5-4. Dante LaRosa would follow suit in something I've never seen before as he also would come home on a wild pitch and the score remained 6-4, Expos win.
It's kind of wild to think though that the Graphics were up 4-2 and then the game was tied and the Expos went up by two because of BB / WP / WP. Don't ever let anyone tell you that baseball is boring. And as much as it would have been cool to see someone smash a dinger, this truly just felt like the idea that it's better to play smart and take a walk to score a run rather than hit a pitch you don't like and pop up. The result between someone coming in and hitting a three run homerun and what happened is the same in the end.
The next night- Friday now- the Expos traveled to Wethersfield to take on M&T Bank. For context, there is someone else out there in an alternate universe writing about the M&T Bank team (like me, but a bank employee perhaps) and they will tell you in many more words that the Bankers crushed the Orioles on Sunday 11-0, they had a great comeback walkoff victory over the Orioles again on Wednesday and they beat the Greeners 5-2 on Thursday. This game was part of a three game homestand for the Bankers.
Now, I want that winning streak of M&T Bank put into perspective here. The Expos started this game the way they had been- scoring one run in the top of the first, as Joseph Rodriguez Rosa drove in Tyler Casey In a similar manner, Cooper Johnson would drive in Brendan Lynch for a 1-1 game after one inning.
In the bottom of the second inning the Bankers came back in a way that the Expos just couldn't recover from. Braiden Alaimo hit a solo homerun to make it a 2-1 game. Greyson Pizzonia would double to right field to bring in two more runs and then after the Expos' catcher drops a pitch Pizzonia would come home to put the Bankers up 5-2.
The top of the third saw that same Expos' catcher get HBP with bases loaded to bring in the third and final Expos run, making it a 5-3 game. Charlie Hesseltine started this game but came out after four innings. Dimitri O'Donnell would take the mound and give up a whopping eight runs over the course of one inning.
At this point, this felt like the game that would never end. I didn't know how many runs the Bankers put up in the sixth- after they were up 10-3 by my count I stopped keeping score and just walked around the outfield- but I do know that Braiden Alaimo hit a second homerun during this game, a deep shot to center onto the track which sits behind this field.
This was a game that was very well pitched by Michael Pelletier and I must also give credit to Brendan O'Connell for coming in to pitch for the Expos to stop the proverbial bleeding of Bankers runs in the sixth inning. This really should've ended as a 5-3 game but I know the Bankers aren't complaining.
As we begin what is the second to last week of the regular season the GHTBL has a series of two games each night- on both Monday and Wednesday- at Dunkin Donuts Park to benefit The Miracle League of Connecticut, which you can read about here. The Expos play the Rainbow Graphics on Wednesday during that event and it really does feel like one of the strongest highlights of the entire GHTBL season every year.
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