The 12-team Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League playoffs are set, and the No. 3 Wolcott Scrappers will have a bye through the first round.
Wolcott finished the regular season with a 15-3 record, the same as the Terryville Black Sox, but won the tiebreaker. The Scrappers started the season 3-3, then finished it with 12 straight wins. As usual, pitching was big for Wolcott, though many contributed with the bat as well. The Scrappers are in the hunt for their second championship in three years. Wolcott will play the winner of the best-of-three series between the No. 7 Tri-Town Trojans and No. 10 Bristol Greeners.
Bristol was one of two other local teams that made the playoffs, the other being the Brass City Brew. Both teams had to come up with wins late in the season to qualify.
The Bristol Greeners earned the No. 10 seed by beating the Litchfield Cowboys and Tribury Twisters this past weekend. Bristol will open a best-of-three first round series against the Torrington Rebels on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at Page Park. Seventh-seeded Torrington will be the home team in that game (Fuessenich Park in Torrington was unavailable). Game 2 of the series will be at Page again on Friday at 5:45 p.m., with Bristol as the home team. Game 3, if necessary, would be at Fuessenich Park in Torrington at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Brass City Brew saw their season come down to the final day. Brass City needed to beat the newcomer Valley Thunder to earn a bid, but Valley wouldn’t go down easy. The Brew snuck by the Thunder by a score of 5-4 in nine innings to earn the final playoff spot. Brass City is the No. 12 seed and will open a best-of-three against the No. 5 Bethlehem Plowboys on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at Gallup Field in Bethlehem. Game 2 is Friday at 5:45 p.m. at Hotchkiss Field in Prospect. Game 3, if necessary, is Sunday at Gallup Field at 1 p.m. The game cannot be played Saturday because Brass City standout Paul Novakowski has his stag for his upcoming wedding.
OF NOTE: Wolcott will also play in the Stan Musial State Tournament, along with the Watertown Blaze, Naugatuck Dogs and Terryville Black Sox, the other three teams that make up the Top 4 in Tri-State. The winner of the state tournament gets to stay close to home. The AABC World Series is at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, along with some games at Torrington’s Fuessenich Park.
