Jake Taylor, the veteran catcher for the Cleveland Indians in the movie “Major League,” had a famous line late in the season: “Well there’s only one thing left to do. Win the whole thing.”
St. Paul baseball is thinking along the same line as Taylor, who was played by Tom Berenger. The Falcons have a singular goal in mind entering the Class S state tournament, and that’s win the whole thing.
The Falcons (21-1) have bad memories of what transpired last June at Middletown’s Palmer Field. St. Paul, which was the top seed last year, lost 8-0 to third-seeded Coginchaug Regional of Durham in the state final.
St. Paul once again owns the top seed in Class S, but this time around, the Falcons want to finish the job and hoist the championship plaque on the final weekend of the high school baseball season. St. Paul’s road to redemption begins Tuesday with a 3:30 p.m. home game against No. 32 Terryville (6-11) of the Berkshire League.
A win in the first round brings the winner of No. 16 St. Bernard-Uncasville and No. 17 Parish Hill in the second round on Wednesday. Another win sets up a Saturday home quarterfinal which includes possible opponents like No. 4 Old Saybrook, No. 5 Lyman Memorial-Lebanon, and even No. 12 Immaculate-Danbury. The Falcons beat the Mustangs, 12-8, in a wild semifinal game in Berlin last year. St. Paul defeated St. Bernard, 9-0, in a second round game back in 2018.
The best seeds on the other side of the bracket are No. 2 Valley Regional-Deep River, No. 3 Somers, No. 6 Coventry and No. 7 Oxford. Not to be overlooked is No. 10 Holy Cross, which won its second straight NVL tournament championship on Thursday night.
PHOTO CAPTION: The St. Paul baseball team is looking for redemption at the state level and has one goal in mind…a state championship. (Copyright, Sports on CT-69)
