Area teams had a so-so day on Saturday in the quarterfinal rounds of the NVL softball and baseball tournaments.
The Wolcott softball and Holy Cross baseball teams were the only winners in five attempts. The third-seeded Eagles downed sixth-seeded Torrington, 5-0, and the third-seeded Crusaders ousted sixth-seeded Oxford, 9-2. Wolcott and Holy Cross will each play in semifinal games on Monday, the Eagles at Seymour High School and the Crusaders at Municipal Stadium.
Top-seeded St. Paul baseball was upset at home by eighth-seeded Watertown, 10-7. Fourth-seeded Wolcott baseball was downed by fifth-seeded Torrington, 7-3. In softball, seventh-seeded Holy Cross fell to second-seeded Naugatuck, 13-1.
Here’s a little more about each game:
No. 3 Wolcott softball 5, No. 6 Torrington 0
Sofia Gugliotti fired a complete game with 14 strikeouts against just three hits.
Jordan Chamberlain and Kayla Nuehlen each had two hits and Lizzie Francisco added a hit and RBI. The Eagles will play second-seeded Naugatuck on Monday.
No. 2 Naugatuck softball 13, No. 7 Holy Cross 1
Alyssa Colangelo had two hits and scored the lone run for the Crusaders. Next up is the Class S state tournament, where Holy Cross is currently the No. 13 seed.
No. 3 Holy Cross baseball 9, No. 6 Oxford 2
Logan Bessette led the Crusader offensive attack with three hits and four RBI.
Zach Laferriere (double) had two hits and two RBI and Luke Daddona doubled, drove in a run and scored another. Pat Giancarli reached base four times (2 walks, reached on error, reached on fielder’s choice) and scored four times. Giancarli also stole three bases. Tom Galusha tallied two hits and a run scored.
Galusha fired a complete game and gave up two runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked three.
No. 8 Watertown baseball 10, No. 1 St. Paul 7
The Falcons led by three runs entering the top of the fifth inning, but the Indians rallied for runs, and Cam Guerrera’s two-run homer put his team ahead for good, 8-7.
The fifth inning began with an infield error on a ball hit by Sam Weidemier. John Biolo doubled, then Henry Marino smacked a two-run double to get Watertown to within a run, 7-6. Guerrera’s two-run homer gave the Indians the lead, then they added two more runs in the seventh inning on Peyton DeFeo’s two-run double.
St. Paul trailed 3-0 after two innings, but fought back to a 3-3 tie in the third inning. Devin Kulas singled, Jamie Leggett singled and Ryan Daniels walked to load the bases with two outs. Casey Cerruto’s bases-clearing double tied the game.
Watertown went ahead again in the fourth, 4-3, only to see St. Paul answer with four runs in the bottom frame to go ahead, 7-4. Shaun Remillard and Owen Davis had back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Steve Morelli singled to load the bases, then Kulas drove in a pair with a double. Wild pitches allowed two more runs to score, and the Falcons had a three-run lead. It didn’t last, and St. Paul will next play in the Class S state tournament, where it is the No. 1 seed.
No. 5 Torrington baseball 7, No. 4 Wolcott 3
A six-run fifth inning hurt the Eagles in their home loss to the Raiders.
Aiden Martinez smacked a three-run home run in the sixth inning to plate all the Wolcott runs. Gavin Brissette tallied a ground-rule double before the Martinez homer. The Eagles next play in the Class M state tournament, where they are currently the No. 14 seed.
