Last modified: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 2:49 AM EDT Joe Swindells deals for Post 93 on Monday. (Staff photo by MARK STOCKWELL) Post 93 opens playoffs with win BY JAMES SCHNEIDER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO - Joe Swindells had never faced any of the batters on the Milton Legion Baseball team before Monday night. After his performance for Post 93, none of the Milton batters will be eager to see him again. Swindells was magnificent for the Foxboro Legion Team in the opening game of the District 6 playoffs, pitching a complete-came shutout as Foxboro won 2-0 at Foxboro High School. Swindells scattered four hits, striking out six while throwing 100 pitches. "Honestly he's probably the best guy we've faced all year," said Milton coach Pat Bryan. "I knew going in we'd probably face him. He's got good stuff, a live fastball, and he made big pitches when he had to." Swindells faced his biggest challenge in the top of the fourth, when a leadoff single and a four-pitch walk put runners on first and second with no outs. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over to second and third Swindells bore down, striking out the next batter swinging before getting a lineout to second base to end the inning. "Watching them, they were fouling a bunch of pitches off which just tells me they can't catch up with the fastball," Foxboro coach Billy Travers said. "So I called more pitches than usual today. I kept calling fastballs away, away, away." After Swindells escaped the jam, Nick Thrasher broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the inning with a deep drive pulled over the left-field fence for a homerun. It was the first hit that Milton pitcher Mike Bortolotti allowed. "Just a hit at that time (was important) ...that's a bonus that it was a homerun," Travers said. "It gives you a monster lift." Bortolotti was a hard-luck loser for Milton, pitching six innings allowing just four hits and two runs. "That's playoff legion baseball, you're going to face good pitching every night," Travers said. "It's going to be tough hitting now." Foxboro increased its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning. John Garabedian hit a one-out single and took second base on an attempted pickoff that went well wide of first. Thrasher (2-for-3) followed with a sharp single through the left side of the infield that put runners on the corners with one out. Chuck Erickson then hit a ground ball that Milton attempted to turn two on, but the throw to first base was not in time and wide, allowing Erickson to move up to second and scoring Garabedian. Milton pinch hit in for its first batter in the top of the seventh, and the new batter promptly drove the first pitch he saw into the outfield for a single. "I knew it was going to be a tough inning," Swindells said. "I knew I had to keep doing what I was doing, keep throwing strikes." But Travers' decision to send Swindells out for the seventh instead of using his closer paid off, as the Mansfield product worked his way out of a jam to escape with the victory. Swindells got the next three batters on a fly out to center, a fielder's choice, and a groundout to the shortstop to give Foxboro a 1-0 lead in this best-of-three series between the two and three seeds in the District 6 playoffs. The two teams play tonight (5:30) at Milton. Brain Swanton will take the mound for Foxboro against Jeff Rowan of Milton. Milton 000 000 0-0 4 3 Foxboro 000 101 x-2 4 2