Dolan helps lead Windham baseball past Milford

WINDHAM – On a cold April afternoon, Adam Dolan didn’t waste any time making sure the Windham High School baseball team would leave the field a winner.

Dolan drove in what proved to be the game-winning run with a two-run single in the bottom of the first, and pitched a complete game to lead the Jaguars to a 3-1 victory over Milford on Thursday.

Dolan allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out three. Only one Spartans runner reached third base, and Milford didn’t get its first hit until a leadoff double by Ryan Britton in the fourth.

But even that hit turned into a positive for the Jaguars. Britton crushed a ball to the left-center field gap, but was thrown out at third on a perfect relay from Windham’s Matt Carbonello in center to shortstop David Carbonello.

“That was clutch,” Dolan said. “I saw (Britton) rounding second and the ball was to our shortstop, so I knew he was going to get him. I was stoked when we got that out.”

It was one of a handful of opportunities on which the Spartans (0-2) were unable to capitalize.

“That was a miscommunication on my part,” Milford coach Steve Claire said. “The breaks that you hope to get in a baseball game weren’t there, but that’s baseball.”

Milford got a break early, when Matt Carbonello dropped a flyball off the bat of Connor Borne to start the game. The two-base error put a runner in scoring position, but Dolan fought through to end the inning and retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced.

“That’s typical of him,” Windham coach Derek Lee said. “This is his third year playing varsity and he was pitching as a freshman. He’s got a much better head on his shoulders this year as far as being mentally in the game. He doesn’t let things rattle him anymore.”

Logan Danforth took the loss for Milford, allowing two earned runs on six hits and four walks to go with three strikeouts. The Jaguars (1-1) did most of their damage in the bottom of the first.

David Carbonello walked to start the inning, but with one out, he was thrown out trying to score on a slow grounder to third. After a single by Connor Hopkins, Dolan laced a single down the right field line to score two runs and get himself an early lead.

“He’s one of the best in the business at going to right field,” Lee said. “That’s his thing.”

“I was seeing the ball well,” Dolan said. “It looked big to me and I just hit it down the line. I was just trying to put it in the outfield. We needed to get a run in and I knew the game was going to be close the whole time. I did what I could.”

Milford cut the lead in half in the fifth. Jesse Roode drew a two-out walk and stole second before Borne crushed a double to left field to make it 2-1.

But Windham pushed the lead back to two in the bottom of the sixth, as Hopkins led off with a walk, went to second on an error and scored on a two-out single by Connor Moynihan.

That extra run made a difference for Dolan, especially when Milford’s Bret Stagnone led off the seventh with a base hit. Joe Small followed by grounding into a double play and Dolan got Drew Jepson to ground out to end the game.

“That was big (scoring in the sixth),” Dolan said. “I want to get runs. I don’t like pitching only up by two. That extra run gave me room to work with. Knowing that I have an extra run, I like that.”

Despite the loss, the game was a step forward for Milford, which lost to Con-Val 14-1 on Monday.

“A much more crisp game than we played on Monday,” Claire said. “We hadn’t been outside very long and you could tell that on Monday.

“But (Thursday) they came to play. It starts on the mound and Logan pitched a very good game. He had good control. I was pleased, not with the end result, but with the way we played.”