Wolcott baseball (7-2) disciplined, but also having fun

One thing Wolcott head baseball coach Tary Scott stresses to his teams is to have fun.

You can say that the 7-2 start these young Eagles have had has been enjoyable.

“Now, they’re finally figuring out the program,” Scott said after a 12-2 home win over Waterbury Career Academy on Monday. “Just have fun.”

This Wolcott team can swing the bats, which it showed big-time in the game against WCA.

The Eagles had 10 hits against the Spartans and scored in two big bursts. Wolcott erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the second inning, then added five more in the fourth.

“They’re very disciplined, they want to get better every day,” Scott said.

Seven different Eagles had a hit, led by three hits, two RBI and two runs scored from Jeff Nicol. Nick Trager had two hits, two RBI and two runs scored while Ray Bartoli blasted a two-run homer and scored twice. Bobby White doubled, drove in two runs and scored once. Steve Urbanski added a hit, two RBI and a run scored. Jack Drewry had a hit, RBI and run scored while Tino Ciarlo also added a hit.

After going down 1-2-3 in the first, Wolcott used patience at the plate and took advantage of a two-out WCA error to strike for seven runs in the second. Trey Nastri reached on an error off a grounder, and Nicol scored from second base with great hustle for a 1-0 lead. More hustle from Urbanski on an infield single allowed Nastri to score and make it 2-0. A two-run single from Trager upped the advantage to 4-0. With the bases loaded, Drewry walked to bring home Urbanski to put Wolcott up 5-0. Nicol followed the walk with a two-run single to make it 7-0 Eagles.

In that second inning, Wolcott forced WCA starter Jacob Torres to throw 45 pitches.

“It starts with confidence,” Scott said. “This team has confidence. They just have to gel.”

The Spartans got two runs back off of Ethan Gillotti on a two-run home run by Justin Torres in the top of the fourth inning. The Eagles had an immediate response.

Trager led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Bartoli then sent the next pitch from Zach Schaffner well over the left field wall for a two-run home run and a 9-2 lead.

“He’s just one humble kid,” Scott said of Bartoli. “Very coachable kid, he’s great with the younger kids.”

Bartoli is one of Scott’s senior leaders, along with White. Both have stepped up big-time this season, according to Scott. The leadership is big for the Eagles, who lost a lot to graduation following their 2016 Class M state championship.

“We had all young kids come back,” Scott said.

Wolcott kept the pressure up after Bartoli’s dinger. Drewry and Nicol had back-to-back singles, then White doubled in both of them to put the Eagles up 11-2. White advanced to third on a fly ball by Nastri. An Urbanski sacrifice fly scored White and made it 12-2.

The two-run homer by Torres was the lone mistake Gillotti made. Gillotti threw the first five innings and gave up two runs on three hits. He struck out five and walked one in an efficient effort. Urbanski and Reece Ketchum threw an inning apiece in relief.

Everybody seems to have a hand in the success of Wolcott baseball. There have to be several arms available, and the Eagles make sure they stay fresh as possible. After the game, assistant coach Dom Angiolillo showed a sheet of paper with the pitch counts and amount of rest required when those thresholds are met. Wolcott keeps a close eye on its pitchers, especially when the schedule gets backed up with several games in one week. The Eagles are scheduled to play three more times this week against Derby, Enfield and Seymour.

Scott would love Wolcott to keep showing the confidence it has displayed. With a combination of youth, experience — Urbanski and Nick Baldwin are the only other seniors on the roster — and confidence, the Eagles have been doing just that.

They have also been having fun, which is a big part of the Wolcott program.

PHOTOS: Click here to see images from Monday’s game.