(Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
Third-seeded Wolcott baseball found itself in a battle against sixth-seeded Bacon Academy of Colchester during their Class M state quarterfinal game on Saturday afternoon.
The Bobcats pushed across a run in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 3-3, and the score remained that way until the bottom of the sixth. That’s when the Eagles erupted for six runs and finally took control in a 9-3 victory. Wolcott (21-4) will play No. 18 Ledyard (16-10), a 3-2 winner over No. 10 Lewis Mills, in a quarterfinal game Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
The Eagles had just three hits to go with their six runs in the sixth, but they took advantage of five walks, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and a passed ball in the frame.
Nick Trager’s sacrifice fly put Wolcott ahead 4-3. Trey Nastri had a two-run single, then an Ethan Gillotti RBI single made the score 7-3. A bases loaded walk and wild pitch accounted for the last two runs.
Dane Hassan threw 1 2/3 innings in relief of starter Jack Drewry, who went the first 5 1/3. Hassan struck out four batters, including the final one to end the game.
Wolcott trailed 2-0 after a half inning but scored one run in the third and two more in the fourth to tie the game. The Eagles are back in the state semifinal round after a one-year hiatus. Wolcott would love to win the semifinal game and to get back to the state final, which it won in 2016.
Holy Cross, St. Paul baseball
Second-seeded Holy Cross scored three times in the bottom of the fifth inning to back the brilliant pitching of Austin Brown in a 3-0 Class S quarterfinal win over seventh-seeded Immaculate of Danbury.
Brown tossed a three-hitter on 81 pitches, struck out five, hit one and walked none. He threw a first-pitch strike to 17 of the 26 batters he faced.
Brown drove in the first Crusader run when he singled home Corey Fappiano. Fappiano led off the fifth with a triple. With two outs, Fran Phelan Jr. doubled home Pat Giancarli and Will Greene for a 3-0 lead. Giancarli pinch ran for Brown, and Greene reached on a single.
Holy Cross (24-2) will play sixth-seeded Notre Dame-Fairfield (18-7), a 7-1 winner over third-seeded St. Paul, Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
The Falcons fell behind early, then got hurt by a four-run top of the fourth inning by the Lancers. St. Paul strung together its lone run in the fourth on a bases loaded walk from Ryan Parent following three straight singles from Nick Morrell, Julian Thayer and Ryan Greene. The Falcons also loaded the bases in the fifth, but couldn’t score. St. Paul loses Morrell, Greene and Joe Persechino to graduation.
Holy Cross, St. Paul softball
Seventh-seeded Holy Cross is back in the state semifinal round for a fourth straight season after a 7-3 victory over second-seeded St. Paul in Bristol. They will play third-seeded Coventry (20-3) Monday at 7 p.m. at Stratford’s DeLuca Field.
The Crusaders were down 3-0 entering the top of the fifth inning, but they erupted for five runs in that frame against the Falcons and didn’t look back. Hannah Brown had a big day, reaching base four times with three hits, an RBI and a run scored, according to the report from Rick Wilson of the Waterbury Republican-American. Brown’s pop fly fell in for two runs, then a Val Nobrega RBI single tied the game. Later in the frame, Jenna Mowad rocked a two-run double for a 5-3 lead. Hannah Brown had an RBI single in the sixth, then Carley DeFoe added an RBI triple in the seventh.
Nicole Strielkauskas hung in after a rough first inning and kept her team in the game until the fateful fifth. The Crusaders needed a gutsy performance out of their pitcher, and that’s exactly what they got.
St. Paul’s run ended against Holy Cross for the second year in a row. The Falcons (21-5) got a two-run home run from Katelynn Oullette in a three-run bottom of the first. Oullette, Lindsey O’Bright, Abby Aldieri, Alyssa Carlone, Hannah Kosikowski, Ashley Crowley and Jocelyn Olivia will be lost to graduation.
St. Paul boys lacrosse
The tough day for the Falcons continued when top-seeded St. Paul fell 11-1 to ninth-seeded St. Joseph of Trumbull in a Class S quarterfinal.
Nothing can take away from the great season the Falcons (18-2) had, which was punctuated by the first WCLC title, first home state tournament game and first state tournament win in program history. St. Paul will lose senior captains Chris Dionne, Noah Mendoza and Darek Wiecki to graduation, along with Damien Rabis.
Bristol Eastern baseball
Bristol Eastern will have to wait until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon to determine its state tournament fate. The No. 20 Lancers and No. 12 Hornets of Branford were suspended 1-1 after five innings on Saturday after a deluge of rain in Branford. The teams pick the game back up tomorrow at 2 p.m.
