With one swing of his bat, Casey Cerruto saved top-seeded St. Paul baseball from an upset home loss Wednesday in the second round of the Class S state tournament.
Cerruto hammered a pitch deep into the woods in left field and gave the Falcons (23-1) a 3-1 victory in eight innings against No. 16 St. Bernard-Uncasville. St. Paul hosts No. 9 North Branford on Saturday.
Ryan Daniels singled with one out in the eighth, then moved up to second when the throw back in from the outfield was mishandled. That led to an intentional walk to Mario Izzo, setting the stage for Cerruto’s homer. Brendan Foley was tremendous, yielding a single hit over seven innings with 12 strikeouts. Daniels finished 2-for-4 with a double while Jamie Leggett went 2-for-3.
Aidan Whitten was the hard-luck loser for St. Bernard. He gave up just four hits through the first seven innings, and his sacrifice bunt in the eighth put Guiseppie Satti (reached on an error by Cerruto) in scoring position. A hit-and-run single by Luca Muscarella gave the Saints a 1-0 lead that wound up being short-lived.
PHOTO CAPTION: Casey Cerruto saved his biggest swing for last Wednesday, lifting St. Paul to a dramatic 3-1 win in eight innings with a walk-off, three-run homer. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
