No. 6 St. Paul took care of its second straight NVL opponent on Thursday when it defeated No. 11 Oxford 5-2 at Muzzy Field. The Falcons will play at No. 3 Portland on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a Class S quarterfinal round game.
Julian Thayer had a big day for St. Paul. He was 2-for-2 with a double, sacrifice fly, two runs scored and two RBI. Thayer also recorded the game’s final two outs to pick up the save. Ryan Parent and Sean Crean had RBI singles for the Falcons.
Holy Cross 9, Old Lyme 2
The top-seeded Crusaders downed the No. 17 Wildcats in a Class S second round game at Municipal Stadium. Holy Cross will host No. 24 Terryville of the Berkshire League on Saturday in Waterbury.
The Crusaders scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, then added two runs in the third, one run in the fifth, and four runs in the sixth. Joe Bonvicini singled and drove in two runs while Connor Goggin walked three times, stole three bases and scored two runs. Austin Brown and John Greene each had an RBI.
Brown picked up the win on the mound after pitching the first six innings. He gave up two runs on nine hits, struck out seven and walked one. Bonvicini struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning.
Wolcott 15, Valley Regional 1
No walk-off home run was needed for the top-seeded Eagles in this one. The home team scored nine runs on the first inning and rolled to the win over the No. 17 Warriors.
Jack Drewry, Anthony Ligi and Colby Regan each had a home run for Wolcott, which hosts No. 9 Haddam-Killingworth on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Drewry added a double, and Jeff Nicol also doubled.
Drewry and Ligi each wound up with three hits for the Eagles. Drewry scored two runs and drove in three while Ligi scored a run and drove in three. Regan, Alex James and Trey Nastri all drove in two runs each. Dane Hassan and Reece Ketchum each drove in a run.
Jack Moore gave up four hits, struck out three and walked one in four innings to pick up the win. Tom Marciano, Tyler Chance and Nastri pitched one inning each in relief.
East Lyme 4, Bristol Central 1
The No. 30 Rams were tied in the sixth inning, but the No. 14 Vikings scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to eliminate the visitors.
Gavin Greger had a double and RBI, and Austin Brown added a single for Bristol Central (10-13). Greger pitched the fifth and sixth innings and was tagged with the loss. Kyle Lauretti threw the first four innings and allowed one run on four hits.
The Rams reached the Class L second round by winning games over Maloney and Platt Tech. The win over No. 35 Maloney came in the qualifying round, while the victory over No. 3 Platt Tech was in the first round.
The game was the last for Bristol Central seniors Warren Hamilton, Ryan Rodriguez, Jake Sassu, Howard Rebhun, Peyton Clark, Alec DiLoreto and Jaylen Dias.
Photo caption: Julian Thayer helped lead St. Paul to a Class S second round win over Oxford on Thursday at Muzzy Field. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
