Sometimes the first game of the state tournament is the toughest one. The pressure of a one-and-done situation can weigh heavily on a team.
Wolcott baseball was the No. 1 seed entering Wednesday’s Class M first round game against No. 32 Bacon Academy of Colchester. The Bobcats weren’t intimidated by the top-seeded Eagles, and they held a two-run lead in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Bacon Academy was one out away from a stunning upset, but Tom Marciano kept it from happening. Marciano’s two-run double in the seventh tied the game, then Jack Drewry’s walk-off home run in the eighth ended it in a 9-8 Wolcott victory. The Eagles advanced to play No. 17 Valley Regional, a 4-2 winner over No. 16 Killingly, on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
Wolcott improved to 22-2 overall with the win. Drewry went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Jeff Nicol homered, scored a run and drove in three for the Eagles. Alec Calabro homered, singled, scored a run and drove in another. Marciano tripled and drove in three runs for Wolcott, which had 12 hits in the game.
Dane Hassan came on in relief and pitched 4 2/3 innings to pick up the win. Hassan gave up just a single hit, struck out six, walked two and hit a batter.
Bacon Academy scored four runs in the top of the first inning and three more in the third to build a shocking 7-0 lead. Wolcott began its comeback in the bottom of the third inning, scoring five runs. Trey Nastri doubled in Alex James for the first Eagle run, then Nicol homered to bring home Drewry and Nastri and cut the deficit to 7-4. Marciano walked later in the inning to plate Anthony Ligi and make the score 7-5.
Bacon Academy got a run back in the top of the fourth to go up 8-5, then Wolcott answered in the bottom of the fifth on Calabro’s solo homer to make the score 8-6. The score stayed at 8-6 until the bottom of the seventh inning. After a fly out to begin the seventh, Ligi doubled. A strikeout put the Bobcats one out away from the win, but Reece Ketchum was hit by a pitch. Marciano blasted a double to deep left center field to score Ligi and pinch runner Matthew Northrop and tie the game, 8-8.
After a fly out to start the bottom of the eighth, Drewry fell behind 0-2 after a pair of foul balls, but then he got a pitch he could hit, and he not only hit it fair, he hit it far. The ball cleared the right field wall, which allowed Drewry and the Eagles to live another day.
Cover photo: Jack Drewry played the role of hero for Wolcott baseball on Wednesday. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file photo)
