No. 6 St. Paul baseball was down 2-0 entering the top of the seventh inning of its Class S quarterfinal round game against No. 3 Portland at Portland High School.
The Falcons were down to their last three outs of the season. They had just three hits, and Highlander starter Bryan Dinnis was in control. St. Paul started the seventh with back-to-back doubles, however, then kept rolling to a 3-2 comeback win over Portland. The Falcons will play No. 2 Coventry (21-2) on Tuesday at 1 p.m. in a semifinal game at Berlin’s Sage Park.
St. Paul began the seventh with a bang. Julian Thayer and Ryan Parent smacked back-to-back doubles, the latter scored Thayer, to make the score 2-1. Sean Crean was hit by a pitch, then he and pinch runner Joe Crowley moved up to second and third on Josh Cofrancesco’s sacrifice bunt. After an intentional walk to Chris Mills, Walker Sharp (two hits) singled to center to score Crowley and Crean for a 3-2 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Thayer retired Portland 1-2-3 to finish the game. Thayer went the distance, gave up two runs on four hits, and struck out eight. The Highlanders scored both of their runs in the bottom of the second inning, but the Falcons were able to pull off the comeback.
Holy Cross 6, Terryville 5, 8 innings
The top-seeded Crusaders scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game against the No. 24 Kangaroos, then won it with a run in the last of the eighth. Holy Cross (23-3 overall) faces No. 4 Shepaug Valley (19-4) of the Berkshire League in a Class S semifinal on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Berlin’s Sage Park.
John Greene led off the eighth with the double, then Will Greene singled his brother home to win the game. The Greenes also combined to tie the game in the sixth inning. John Greene singled to lead off, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on Will Greene’s single to knot the game at 5-5.
John Greene finished 4-for-4 with three runs scored while Will Greene was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Tim Zupkus had a solo home run, and Brian Parzyck doubled and scored a run. Zack Lerner and Austin Brown each had an RBI, and Corey Fappiano scored a run.
What can’t be underestimated is the relief effort of Lerner. Lerner pitched 6 2/3 innings and gave up one run on two hits. He struck out seven, walked two and hit two. Lerner threw 101 pitches in his relief outing, 65 for strikes. Lerner replaced started Joe Bonvicini with one out, four runs already in, and a runner on first. Lerner put out the fire on two pitches, getting a 4-6-3 double play–Fappiano to Will Greene to Bonvicini–to end the inning.
Wolcott 8, Haddam-Killingworth 0
The top-seeded Eagles got a combined shutout from Brett Adams (6 innings, 3 hits, 11 strikeouts, 2 walks) and Tom Marciano (1 inning, 1 hit, 1 strikeout) against the No. 9 Cougars. Marciano also had a double, run scored and RBI.
Wolcott (24-2 overall) will play NVL foe Woodland Regional (20-5 overall), the No. 5 seed, in a Class M semifinal on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Muzzy Field in Bristol. Trey Nastri was 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI while Anthony Ligi was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Jeff Nicol doubled and walked, scored two runs and drove in a run. Dane Hassan doubled, scored a run and drove in a run. Reece Ketchum had an RBI, Alec Calabro singled and scored a run, and Mitch Lanza and Ryan D’Ettore added a run scored. Nastri, Hassan and Lanza each stole a base.
Wolcott scored a run in the bottom of the second inning, added six more in the fourth, and tallied one more in the fifth. The Eagles totaled eight hits in the game.
Photo caption: Julian Thayer ignited the seventh inning rally in St. Paul’s comeback win over Portland. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69, file)
