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| Ray Bartoli gave Wolcott its first state title with a walk-off, two-run home run on Friday night. |
The sound Ray Bartoli’s bat made will reverberate across Wolcott for the rest of time.
The junior right-handed batter smacked a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall at Palmer Field in Middletown on Friday night for a walk-off, two-run home run to give the No. 8 Eagles a 3-2 victory over the No. 14 Northwestern Regional Highlanders in the Class M state title game. The state championship is the first in program history.
Northwestern had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning and was three outs away from its own first title. Wolcott had other ideas.
Junior Steve Urbanski, whose solo homer in the bottom of the fifth had given the Eagles a 1-0 lead, singled to left field. After a Matt Warren lineout to right, Bartoli blasted a Vinny Tancreti offering over the wall and set off a wild celebration.
Here’s the video from Derek Turner of GameTimeCT.
Senior co-captain and ace Isaiah Negretti pitched all seven innings for the win. He had all five for the Eagles in the tournament.
Wolcott head coach Tary Scott believed this is the best team he has ever coached in his time with the Eagles. His team just proved him right. Wolcott ends an amazing season with a record of 20-7, a NVL Iron Division title, and a Class M state championship. Seniors Negretti, Jacob Ramos, Nate Murphy, Brad Grasso, Christopher Hull, Warren, Jacob Gabriel, Eric Gillotti and Philip Olmstead conclude their high school baseball careers with the ultimate prize.
What a run it was.
