Hackers vying for another championship

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SportsFillerWeb

NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck Hackers are back in a familiar place — playing in its league championship game.

The Naugatuck-based adult baseball league team will face the Orange Concentration in a winner-take-all game on Aug. 25 at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport. The winner takes the league title in the single-elimination postseason tournament.

After a 17-7 third-place finish in the regular season, the Hackers beat the Milford Monsters, 9-3, on Aug. 3 to advance to the semifinals. It set up a matchup against the Bridgeport All-Stars, who knocked the Hackers out of the postseason in each of the last two years.

“This has been a real team effort this year,” Hackers player-manager Mike Doran said. “We’ve had players take on roles and positions that have brought them out of their comfort zones.”

The Hackers got some revenge from their two previous postseason exits this month. The Hackers defeated the Bridgeport All-Stars, 8-5, last Sunday in Bridgeport.

Mike Fox tossed a complete game with six strikeouts and was the beneficiary of early run support. The Hackers scored three runs in the first.

Fox singled home Steve Webb, who tripled. Later in the inning, Ricky Cool drove in two on a hit.

The Hackers scored five more in the fifth. With the game tied at 3 entering the inning, Jeff Farrell broke open the game with a grand slam that gave the Hackers an 8-3 lead.

The Hackers, sponsored by Slainte on New Haven Road, have earned a playoff spot for nine straight seasons and have won three league championships — in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Title No. 4 could come in a week and a half.