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| Jack Drewry pitched six innings of three-run ball, and he had a homer and a two-run single at the plate to help Wolcott clinch the NVL Iron Division title on Monday. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
For the second time in three seasons, Wolcott baseball has won the NVL Iron Division title.
The Eagles made it official with a tight 4-3 win over chief Iron rival Watertown on Monday afternoon in front of a nice crowd at Wolcott High School. Wolcott exacted a bit of revenge on the Indians, who won 11-10 in Watertown on April 28 on a Dan Graziano walk-off, two-run homer.
The Indians used another long ball, this time a two-out, two-run shot off the bat of Robert Johnston, to pull to within 4-3 of the Eagles in the top of the fifth inning.
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| Wolcott shortstop Ethan Gillotti shadows Watertown’s Justin Guerrera during Monday’s game. The Eagles won 4-3. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69) |
From there, Wolcott held on behind the pitching of starter Jack Drewry and ace reliever Dane Hassan. Drewry retired the last four batters he faced, then the ball was handed to Hassan. Hassan faced a pair of 3-1 counts in the seventh. On the first 3-1 count, Hassan got Graziano to fly out to Tom Marciano in right for the first out.
The second 3-1 count came with two outs against the ultra-dangerous Justin Guerrera. In two games last week, Guerrera hit for the cycle then nearly did it again the next day, coming up a single short.
Guerrera took a 3-0 strike to make the count 3-1, then got under a Hassan pitch and hit a fly ball to right. Marciano squeezed it for the final out, and Wolcott had its NVL Iron Division crown. The Eagles improved to 15-3 (7-1 NVL Iron).
Drewry has been good on the mound and at the plate, and he got Wolcott on the board Monday with a solo homer to right field for a 1-0 lead. In the third, Drewry was at it again, this time with a two-run single to plate Hassan and Nick Trager, who had singled and doubled respectively with one out. Drewry’s hit made the score 3-0 Eagles. Drewry scored on an interference call to make the score 4-0.
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| The NVL Iron Division champions. (Photo credit; Anita Bandeira Warren) |
Watertown got a run back in the top of the fourth on Larry Zapata’s RBI single. In the fifth, Guerrera lined a single to center with one out, then Johnston hit a towering two-run homer on an 0-1 pitch to get the Indians to within 4-3.
If Wolcott was extra tense in the final two innings, it may have been because of bad memories of what happened on April 28. Watertown trailed 8-3 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, but rallied and won on Graziano’s home run.
This time, there would be no Indian comeback. Drewry finished strong, then the ball went to Hassan, and the Eagles collected another win. It’s been a good formula on the mound for Wolcott, and it helped the Eagles clinch the NVL Iron title.
Wolcott celebrated its seniors and the division crown with a pizza party following the game. One goal down, but the Eagles are hoping to be far from done.
GALLERY: My photos from Monday’s game.
