Baseballs took a beating, tempers flared, and there were enough stolen base attempts to alert the authorities as the Sharks fell 8-7 to division foe Danbury Wednesday night.

The Westerners got the best of Sharks ace Austin Peterson via the hot bat of their left fielder Caleb Upshaw. He went 3-3 with a triple, two singles and two runs scored.

The Georgia native through seven games has the second best batting average in the New England Collegiate Baseball League at .444.

The Sharks briefly took the lead in the fifth inning on a Kai Nelson sacrifice fly that brought home Brady Slavens, but in the next inning things started to fall apart. The Westerners loaded the bases twice in the sixth and scored five runs in the process. Two came from walks with the bases loaded. After the top half of the inning Danbury led 6-2.

The Sharks started the bottom of the sixth ready to counterpunch Danbury’s big inning. Jackson Raper hit his first home run of the year on a changeup he smoked into the Adirondack chairs beyond the fence in right, making it 6-2. Then, catcher Nicholas Raposo ripped a double down the left field line, and one batter later designated hitter Alan Burnsed hit one over the fence in lef, making it 6-5 Westerners.

In the bottom of the seventh, after stealing a base and advancing on an infield single, Kai Nelson scored on a fielder’s choice tying the contest up at six.

But in the top of the eighth, the Westerners rallied, and things got chippy. With men on second and third Danbury’s second basemen, Lyndon Weaver laid a perfect bunt down toward third base, and after a close play at the plate, the Westerners recaptured the lead.

After adding another run on a bloop single to center, Westerner center fielder Justin Jordan hit into a fielder’s choice that ended with a collision at the plate, and the Danbury baserunner called out. A shoving match between Weaver and Raposo ensued following the call at home, and both team’s benches were empty.

No one was ejected, but the Westerners believed that if Raposo been in a different position when making the play at home, there might have been a different outcome.

In the end the play at the plate wouldn’t be a factor. The Sharks scored one more run in the bottom of the eighth but couldn’t come up with the tying run in the ninth.

Sharks Nick Raposo was four for four catching runners trying to steal bases. The sharks stole two bases and had 11 hits, but their efforts weren’t enough as they fell to 5-8 on the season.

The Sharks play Friday away against the division-leading Mystic Schooners at Fitch High School Field.