Holy Cross baseball looks to finish dream season with title in Class S final

Top-seeded Holy Cross baseball has been on a mission all season.
There were big goals along the way. The Crusaders notched one when they won the NVL Tournament title. 
Holy Cross takes a shot at an even bigger prize on Saturday afternoon at Middletown’s Palmer Field. The Crusaders take on second-seeded Lyman Memorial-Lebanon at 3:30 p.m. One team will emerge from this clash with its first state championship in the third try.
Pitching has been the driving force for Holy Cross this season, led at the top by Fran Phelan and Chris Flynn. Phelan threw 116 pitches in a complete-game effort Wednesday when the Crusaders beat No. 5 Housatonic Regional-Falls Village in a semifinal at Muzzy Field in Bristol.
Phelan is unavailable to pitch due to CIAC rules, so head coach Mike Phelan will more than likely give Flynn the ball. Flynn is 2-0 in the state tournament and has thrown 12 total innings, five in a second round blowout of East Windsor on June 3. Flynn has full availability.
Nick Hernandez, also a starting pitcher this season for Holy Cross, has full availability. Hernandez worked an inning against East Windsor.
Offensively, the Crusaders look to be way more productive than they were on Wednesday in the semifinal. Holy Cross was no-hit over six innings by Housatonic’s Scott Dignacco, but used walks and errors to push three runs across.
The offensive starts with leadoff batter Adam Razza, a tough out for any pitcher. Phelan has been in the two-hole, and the powerful Matt Bonvicini is behind him at No. 3. Cleanup batter Tim Zupkus can also be a tough hitter to retire. Fifth in the order has been Connor Goggin, followed by Mike Keating at No. 6 and Will Marshall at No. 7. Catcher Brian Parzyck has been batting eighth, followed by Matt Cipriano at ninth. That has been the lineup for Holy Cross in each of its first four state tournament games.
Defensively, the outfield of Goggin, Razza and Zupkus has been terrific. Teams don’t often run on them because of strong throwing arms. 
Parczyk handles the duties behind the plate. At third base is Keating, with Matt Cipriano at shortstop, Phelan at second and Bonvicini at first.
When Holy Cross has put pitching, timely hitting and defense together, it has been unbeatable. The Crusaders hope to be that team one more time on Saturday.