The St. Paul and Holy Cross baseball teams both saw their Class S state tournament runs come to an end on Tuesday at Berlin’s Sage Park.
The sixth-seeded Falcons saw a four-run lead disappear and lost 6-4 to the second-seeded Patriots from the North Central Connecticut Conference. In the second game of the doubleheader, the top-seeded Crusaders were upended by the fourth-seeded Spartans from the Berkshire League.
Here’s what happened in each game:
Coventry 6, St. Paul 4
The Patriots scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and one run in the sixth inning to overcome a 4-0 deficit and beat the Falcons. Cole Lalli picked up the win in relief for Coventry, which plays Shepaug in the Class S state final on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Middletown’s Palmer Field. Walker Sharp took the loss for St. Paul, which ended the season with a record of 19-7.
The Falcons struck for four runs in the top of the fifth inning to claim a 4-0 lead. Consecutive infield singles by Shaun Remillard, Ryan Daniels and Julian Thayer loaded the bases with one out. A Ryan Parent pop up dropped in to score the first run. Sean Crean’s grounder was misplayed for an error and a 2-0 lead. Josh Cofrancesco’s two-run double made it 4-0 St. Paul.
Coventry got a leadoff double against Ethan Rembish for its first hit of the game. Two walks and one out later, an RBI bloop single put the Patriots on the board, 4-1. Sharp got the second out, but a two-run single and two-run double put Coventry ahead, 5-4. An RBI single against reliever Remillard in the sixth made it 6-4.
Crean and Thayer were each 2-for-3 with a run scored while Cofrancesco had his double and two RBI. It was the final game for St. Paul seniors Crean, catcher Chris Mills and pitcher Dylan Gagnon. Crean and Mills were three-year starters, and Crean was a four-year player.
Shepaug 2, Holy Cross 1
The Spartans scored a run in the top of the fifth inning to claim a 2-1 lead, and the Crusaders couldn’t get the equalizer against Jack Kennedy and Chance Dutcher.
Shepaug plays Coventry in the Class S final on Saturday. Holy Cross ended the season with a record of 23-4.
The Crusaders struck for the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning. Will Greene led off with a single, then stole second base with one out. He moved up to third base on Tim Zupkus’ flyout to right field, then scored on Brian Parzyck’s single for a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans picked up a run in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1-1. Shepaug was unable to get a run off of Austin Brown until the fifth inning, when an RBI double gave the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
Holy Cross got the first two batters to reach in the bottom of the fifth inning, but they wound up stranded at second and third. The Crusaders again had two runners on in the sixth inning, but they were stranded at first and second. One last runner was stranded in the seventh.
Connor Goggin and Corey Fappiano each had two singles while Parzyck, Will Greene and Joe Bonvicini each added a single. Brown pitched the first 6 1/3 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits. He struck out six and walked four. Zupkus threw 2/3 inning in relief.
It was the final game for an incredibly successful group of Holy Cross seniors. Those seniors are: Will Greene, Fappiano, Goggin, Zupkus, Zack Lerner, Bonvicini, Brown, Kingsten Zenick and Parzyck.
