(Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
Second-seeded Holy Cross baseball looks for its second straight Class S state final appearance when it plays sixth-seeded Notre Dame-Fairfield on Tuesday in a semifinal game at Muzzy Field. The Crusaders and Lancers play at 3:30 p.m.
Holy Cross won a 2017 Class S semifinal game against Housatonic at Muzzy. The Crusaders did it with pitching, and they will again look to their bevy of arms against the Lancers.
Holy Cross beat No. 31 Morgan of Clinton 8-1 in this year’s first round behind a complete game from Austin Brown. Brown gave up one run on three hits, struck out seven, walked one and hit one on 87 pitches. He threw 62 of those 87 pitches for strikes.
Fran Phelan, Jr., took the ball against city rival and No. 18 seed Sacred Heart in the second round, and he never gave it up. Phelan gave up two runs on seven hits, struck out five, walked one and hit one on 103 pitches. He threw 72 of his 103 pitches for strikes.
It was Brown’s turn again in Saturday’s Class S quarterfinal against No. 7 Immaculate, and he again delivered in a 3-0 victory. Brown threw another complete game three-hitter. He struck out five, hit one and didn’t walk a batter. Brown threw 54 of his 81 pitches for strikes.
Holy Cross has also done well on offense and come up with key hits. Will Greene, Phelan, Tim Zupkus, Connor Goggin, Corey Fappiano and John Greene each had two hits in the win over Morgan. Will Greene doubled twice and drove in two runs while Zupkus also had two RBI.
Will Marshall’s two-run single helped open up the Sacred Heart game. Phelan (run scored) and Will Greene each tripled, and Brown had an RBI double. Goggin singled and scored twice for the Crusaders.
Brown again came up big at the plate for Holy Cross against Immaculate. After Corey Fappiano tripled in the bottom of the fifth, Brown brought him home with an RBI single. Phelan later extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth with a two-run double.
Notre Dame-Fairfield is coming off of a 7-1 win over third-seeded St. Paul on Saturday. Dillon Higgins gave up one run on six hits and struck out five, and he also had a two-run double. Tyler Romano was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Jacob Rainey had an RBI double and Pete Minore chipped in an RBI single.
Higgins also played well in Notre Dame’s 6-0 win over No. 27 Gilbert in the first round. He was the winning pitcher, and he went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. In that same game, Bob Karosy hit a pair of solo home runs, and Rich Kerstetter had two hits with two runs scored.
The Lancers topped No. 11 Old Lyme 11-6 in a second-round slugfest. Karosy was again a hot hitter for Notre Dame. He went 3-for-3 with a home run, a double, three RBI and three runs scored. Kerstetter was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Austin Allen added three hits, an RBI and a run scored.
Note: I went back as far as CIAC tournament brackets have been kept for baseball, which is 1981. Holy Cross and Notre Dame-Fairfield have not met in a baseball state tournament.
