For the first six innings, it sure looked like No. 15 St. Paul softball was going to shock No. 2 Thomaston in their Class S second round state tournament matchup.
The Falcons led the Golden Bears 2-1 entering the last of the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon at Thomaston High School. St. Paul has had a rough history recently with Thomaston on the hardwood and the diamond, but here was a chance to exorcise some demons.
Then the Bears did what they’ve been doing over a remarkable four-year run with this senior class. They found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. And they left the Falcons heartbroken.
Sam Brostek’s two-run home run in the seventh inning gave Thomaston a stunning 3-2 victory. The Golden Bears move on to play No. 10 Stafford, which held on for a 10-9 win over No. 7 Waterbury Career Academy.
The loss ended a solid St. Paul season at 14-9.
Wolcott baseball wins a thriller
On the other side of a wild game were the No. 8 Eagles, who came back to beat No. 9 Ellington 13-12 in a Class M second round matchup.
Trailing 12-11 in the last of the seventh, Wolcott catcher Jeff Nichol walked to lead off. Steve Urbanski smashed a double to bring Nichol home to tie the game. Urbanski then went to third on the throw, which forced the Purple Knights to load the bases on intentional walks.
Jacob Gabriel played the role of hero, smacking a single to plate Urbanski with the winning run. Wolcott will play top-seeded Waterford on Saturday at a time to be announced.
There was a ridiculous amount of offense in the game. Waterford led 3-2 after one inning, then Wolcott grabbed a 4-3 lead after two. The Knights tallied a run in the fourth to tie, then erupted for seven runs and an 11-4 lead in the fifth. The Eagles responded with a seven-run explosion of their own, highlighted by a Nichol three-run homer, to tie the game at 11. Ellington regained the lead at 12-11 in the sixth, only to see Wolcott come back and win the game.
Gabriel finished with three hits, including a home run, and five RBI. Nichol had his three RBI and three runs scored while Urbanski scored three times and drove in two runs. Matt Warren drove in a run and scored twice while Ray Bartoli added a RBI. Urbanski, Warren, Bartoli, Gabriel, Eric Gillotti and Nichol all had multi-hit games.
Mastropietro and Spina fall in semifinals
Wolcott’s Matt Mastropietro and Matt Spina finally met their match in the Class M doubles semifinals.
Mastropietro and Spina lost 6-4, 6-0 to No. 9 seed Miles Conlin and Daniel O’Neill of Branford at Yale University on Wednesday. Mastropietro and Spina were the No. 12 seed. They had a first round bye, then won matches in the second, third and quarterfinal rounds.
“Tough loss for boys tennis doubles today,” read the Wolcott Athletics Twitter account. “Proud of Spina and Mastropietro for taking Wolcott tennis further than it has ever been! Great work!!!”
Bristol Eastern baseball thunders forward
The top-seeded Lancers blasted No. 16 Windsor 14-1 on Wednesday at Muzzy Field for a second straight Class L quarterfinal appearance.
Eastern’s reward is No. 9 East Haven on Saturday at a time to be determined.
The location on the CIAC Tournament site says Bristol Eastern, but the
Lancers have played the first two tournament games at Muzzy Field.
Zach Marquis had a huge game at the plate, and Tyler Troth pitched well for Eastern.
Holy Cross softball wins, baseball loses
The top-seeded Crusaders encountered stiff resistance from No. 17 Tourtellotte, but came away with a 4-2 win and a Class S quarterfinal berth.
Alexandra Lombardo’s two-run single drove home Hannah Brown and Allie Brown for a 4-2 lead, then Sarah Lawton was able to escape trouble in the circle in the top of the seventh inning to preserve the win. Lombardo
went 3-for-4 with a run scored in addition to the two RBI. Val Nobrega
had two hits and a RBI for Holy Cross, which will host No. 9 Wheeler today at 2 p.m. at Holy Cross High School.
Baseball wasn’t as lucky. The second-seeded Crusaders saw their season end in an 8-5 home loss to No. 15 Gilbert of the nearby Berkshire League. The Yellowjackets led 8-4 into the seventh inning, then held on for the win.
A young Holy Cross team saw its season conclude with a record of 19-6.
St. Paul girls tennis eliminated
The No. 10 Falcons also saw their season end in a 5-2 loss to No. 2 Valley Regional in a Class S quarterfinal matchup in Deep River.
St. Paul saw a great run end with a record of 14-6.
Falcon baseball moves on
Behind the pitching of Connor Crean and the bat of Ryan Greene, No. 4 St. Paul advanced to the Class S quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over Notre Dame-Fairfield.
Crean struck out 12 in a dominant performance, and Greene provided some offense with a two-run home run. The Falcons will host No. 12 Portland on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
St. Paul boys lacrosse gone
The No. 10 Falcons went on the road to No. 7 North Branford and came home with a 20-13 loss.
St. Paul, which made its first-ever Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference championship game this year, finished its season at 11-8.
Bristol Central softball, baseball downed
Both Ram squads saw their seasons come to a close on Wednesday.
No. 7 Bristol Central softball lost 7-6 at home to No. 23 Darien of the FCIAC, a day after beating No. 26 New Canaan of the same conference by a score of 8-4. The Rams ended their season with a solid 16-6 record.
No. 20 Bristol Central took two long road trips in a span of two days. The Rams won at No. 13 Greenwich on Tuesday, then lost 4-0 at No. 4 New Milford on Wednesday. Central baseball ended its season at 12-10.
Kaynor Tech softball loses close one
The No. 15 Panthers were eliminated 3-2 by No. 2 Wilcox Tech in a Class M second round matchup.
Kaynor Tech ended the season at 15-6 (regular season and state tournament included in the record).
QUICK NOTE: Golf qualifiers are to be posted by the CIAC by 5 p.m. today. Check back on the CIAC Tournament website for further details.
