There were three thrilling games involving local teams in the first full day of high school state tournament action Tuesday.
In one, the local team threw out the potential tying run at the plate to end the game. In the other games, the local team won in walkoff fashion. Here’s more on each of those games, plus more:
CLASS L SOFTBALL
No. 22 Bristol Eastern 6, No. 11 Nonnewaug 5: The Lancers cut down not one, but two potential tying runs on the way to the road victory over the Chiefs in Woodbury.
Eastern (12-9) will play at sixth-seeded Rockville (17-4), a 6-0 winner over No. 27 Torrington, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lancer catcher Sarah Lacouture threw to third baseman Grace Browne, who tagged out the potential base stealer. With two outs in the seventh inning, center fielder Emily Valentine came up firing and threw a strike to Lacouture at the plate for the game’s final out.
On offense, Lacouture had two hits and an RBI while Hailey Beebe (2 RBIs) and Jaz Browne (RBI) had big two-out hits.
CLASS M BASEBALL
No. 13 Wolcott 7, No. 20 Lewis Mills 6 (8): Josh Dunne singled home Drew Rocca in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Eagles the walk-off win over the Spartans and former WHS coach Ron Cyr.
Wolcott (14-8) faces fourth-seeded Rocky Hill (18-3), an 8-1 winner over No. 29 Morgan-Clinton, on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Griswold Middle School. Unfortunately for the Spartans, Tuesday wasn’t the first time they have lost to the Eagles on a walk-off hit. Wolcott beat Lewis Mills, 6-4, in a 2011 Class M second round game on Matt Meier’s two-run homer in the seventh inning.
CLASS L BASEBALL
No. 8 Bristol Central 5, No. 25 Daniel Hand 4: The Rams trailed the Tigers by three runs, but rallied for the walk-off win at Muzzy Field.
Central (15-6) will host ninth-seeded Notre Dame-West Haven (16-7), a 20-0 winner over No. 24 Cheney Tech-Manchester, on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Muzzy.
Nate Pirog pitched 6.2 innings for the Rams in the win over the Tigers. He gave up a single earned run on six hits and struck out four. Central trailed Hand, 4-1, but was able to come back and claim the victory.
CLASS S SOFTBALL
No. 16 St. Paul 3, No. 17 St. Bernard 2: The Falcons knocked off the Saints in Bristol, and their reward is a game against the top seed.
St. Paul (13-9) plays at No. 1 Coventry (20-2), which had a first round bye, on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
No. 8 Holy Cross 16, No. 25 Wright Tech-Stamford 0: The Crusaders rolled to the easy win over their first round opponent at home.
Holy Cross (17-6) hosts No. 24 Stafford (10-11), a 20-0 winner over No. 9 Windham Tech, Wednesday at 4 p.m.
CLASS S BASEBALL
No. 1 St. Paul 19, No. 32 Terryville 2: Cole Raymond, Logan Rembish, Jonathan Remillard, AJ Corrado and Cal Chance each had two hits for the Falcons in their home win over the Kangaroos.
St. Paul hosts No. 16 Canton, a 14-0 winner over No. 17 East Windsor, on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The Falcons closed their regular season with a 12-2 win over the Warriors in a game that was rescheduled.
Rembish (4) and Corrado (3) were the big RBI guys while Raymond (4), Remillard (3) and Chance (3) touched home plate several times apiece. Raymond, Remillard and Corrado all doubled. Jamie Leggett, Dom Napoletano and Ryan McKenna combined for 11 strikeouts on the mound, and Leggett grabbed his seventh win of the season.
ELIMINATED: Kennedy baseball; Kaynor Tech baseball; Holy Cross baseball; Kaynor Tech softball; Wolcott softball; Holy Cross girls tennis; and St. Paul girls tennis.
