And Ingram turned out to be right, as he hit a sharp grounder down the right-field line to drive home Emory Davies with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Twisters a 2-1 win over the Middletown Giants. The win gave Torrington a 1-0 edge in the best-of-3 series.

"With the game as tight as it was I knew there was a good opportunity the game would come down to me," said Ingram. "(Middletown pitcher Ryan Aldrige) threw me a fastball away and I got a good swing on it."

The Twisters did all their damage in the ninth with two outs.

Middletown pitcher and former Litchfield High School pitcher Chris Blazek started off the frame by striking out Brandon Roberts and Chris Kelly. Blazek then surrendered consecutive bloop hits to Emory Davies and Armand Gaerlan and was pulled by Middletown manager Al Leyva.

Ingram worked Aldrige (the new pitcher) to a 2-2 count before delivering his heroics.

"This team has had timely hitting all year," said Ingram. "We are not going to score 15-16 runs but we get the job done when it counts."

The game featured a classic pitching duel between both teams No. 1 starters (Dennis Robinson for Torrington and Mike Parisi for Middletown). The Twisters carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth when Middletown’s Tim D’Aquila hit a bomb over the left-field fence to tie the game.

"Before I went up (Leyva) said ‘get on any way you could’," said D’Aquila. "I went up hacking and made good contact. I didn’t think I hit the ball far enough but it carried pretty well."

The home run by D’Aqulia -- only his second of the year -- was the only blemish on Robinson’s record. The right-hander allowed just five hits in nine innings of work. He struck out 10 and walked two.

"I felt strong and threw the ball where I wanted for the most part," said Robinson, who hadn’t pitched since a 12-1 loss at Newport on July 28. "Once the game went along I got stronger and felt more comfortable."

"Dennis threw just one bad pitch," added Twister manager Gregg Hunt. "He threw the ball great and gave us what he’s given us all year."

Parisi was just as impressive for Middletown. In eight innings, he allowed no earned runs with just three hits and eight strikeouts. However, the lone run he gave up was his own undoing.

After allowing a one-out single to speedster Larry Best, Parisi immediately tried to pick Best off. But his throw went down the right-field line and Best moved all the way to third. With the infield in, Zak Farkas hit a slow roller that went under shortstop Jeff Carroll’s glove to score Best with the game’s first run.

Brandon Roberts (1-for-3 with a single and walk) was the lone Twister to reach base twice.