For five innings, it looked bleak for the Chatham Cougars varsity baseball team. Morristown-Beard pitcher Jackson Kirsch was cruising along, holding the Cougars scoreless up until that point.
But then Chatham (4-6) erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth frame en route to a 7-4 victory on Tuesday evening at home.
The Colonials (4-6) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead and extended their advantage to 3-0 in the top of the fifth.
But then came that pivotal bottom of the sixth inning for the Cougars. Junior Andrew Bergman knocked out Kirsch with a run-scoring base hit to cut the deficit to 3-1.
A single by senior Ben Gorski made it 3-2, and a double by Owen Walewander scored Bergman for a 3-3 tie.
Junior Ryan Drum kept things going by lining a base hit to the outfield for a 4-3 advantage, while Thomas Lamar singled in a run to increase Chatham’s lead to 5-3.
Senior Luke McCorry doubled to swell the Cougar advantage to 6-3, and Bergman walked with the bases juiced to complete the seven-run outburst.
Reliever Anthony Gonzalez struck out the side, sandwiched in between allowing an unearned run, to seal the victory for Chatham in the bottom of the seventh.
Bergman went 1-3 with a walk, two RBI and a run scored, and Drum stroked 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored as well.
— Jerry Del Priore
Brooklyn Sports World/NY NJ Sports World 