Waterbury Career Academy baseball got a chance to play a game at Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford on Thursday, and the Spartans made the most of their opportunity.
Jose Zambrana legged out an inside-the-park grand slam to lead WCA to a 25-0 win over Bulkeley/Weaver. The co-op, which has a new coach, is winless and has been struggling all season. Bulkeley/Weaver still honored a previous agreement to take on WCA in a game at Dunkin Donuts Park this season.
Jonathan Castro (double) and Will Carrillo each had three hits, four runs scored and two RBI for the Spartans. Celestino “Tino” Toucet had two hits, four runs scored and an RBI while Jacob Torres added two hits, three runs scored and an RBI. Julio Toro had three runs scored, and Mark Cummings had two runs scored and two RBI. Toucet and Zambrana combined on a one-hitter on the mound.
To spice up the experience, WCA brought 92 students to the game on buses to watch the Spartans in action.
“It was nice to look up and see all the parents and the teachers and the fans and the students up in the crowd,” coach Joe Russo said. “The kids loved it, it was a great experience. I’m very happy for them.”
WCA’s fans cheered loudly as the Spartans scored run after run.
“It was a great feeling hearing the fans cheer like that,” Russo said. “I told the kids I was loving it just as much as they were. This is great, this is as good as it gets.”
WCA improved to 6-7 with the win. Two more wins for the Spartans means automatic qualification for the Class M state tournament.
“We’ve had a little bit of ups and downs. We lost a couple one-run games, we lost an 11-inning game,” Russo said. “Six wins, we’re pretty happy with that. We still got seven games to go, and we like where we are.”
Gallery
Here are my photos from Thursday’s game.
