The Torrington Titans won their season opener, 11-6 over the Wachusett Dirt Dawgs on Thursday night at Fuessenich Park.

Torrington native Conor Bierfeldt homered and drove in three runs in his first game for the Titans. Waterbury native Ryan Plourde (Holy Cross) had a two-run double and two-run single in the game. Torrington pounded out nine hits, including five for extra bases.

Included below are my thoughts from the game, along with the box score.

• The attendance of 602 at Fuessenich Park was a good number for a Thursday night with school not completely out yet. The crowd was into the game, especially on Bierfeldt's two-run homer, as was pointed out by Titan manager Misha Dworkin.
• The music selection was a good one at the game. Quips from Austin Powers got some of the louder laughs from the crowd.
• Titan starting pitcher Alec Palioca was solid, giving up just one hit in six scoreless innings. Palioca was a big reason why Wheaton College made it all the way to the Division III College World Series' championship game.
• Torrington reliever Raphael Martinez struggled in the eighth, giving up three runs on no hits, three walks and a hit batter. The Titans also made two errors in the inning. Dworkin said he is not worried about Martinez's struggles and called the right-hander's arm "electric."
• The Titans showed aggression on the basepaths. Torrington stole a pair of bases and a runner scored from first on Plourde's two-run double in the first inning because he was running on the pitch.
• Torrington travels to North Shore tonight at 7 for a game against the Navigators, who played in the New England Collegiate Baseball League before joining the Futures Collegiate Baseball League this year.

BOX SCORE

Torrington 11, Wachusett 6

At Fuessenich Park

Wachusett                000 000 330—6-3-3

Torrington                303 320 00x—11-9-3

WP: Alec Palioca. LP: Jeff Andersen. 2B: T—Ryan Zielinski, Ryan Plourde, Gus Craig, Jordan Serena. HR: W—Ross Julian; T—Conor Bierfeldt.

Records: Wachusett 0-1; Torrington 1-0.