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| Senior co-captain Mike Dombrowski did his job and got the ball to the outfield. His sacrifice fly in the seventh inning brought home the game-winning run for the Falcons. |
St. Paul senior captain Mike Dombrowski had been in big situations before the top of the seventh inning of Sunday afternoon’s Class S state final against Morgan.
Still, none was bigger than the one in front of him at a windy, sun-drenched Palmer Field in Middletown. There was one out, and the bases were full of his Falcon teammates. Fellow senior captain Jackson Hines was on third base, senior Ben Mazzone occupied second, and junior Andrew Oswianko led off first.
Dombrowski knew what the wrong kind of contact could mean.
“It’s tough when you only have one out there, you don’t want to hit something on the ground and get a double play,” Dombrowski said.
Dombrowski stayed patient, and looked for something he could get into the air. He did hit the ball to the outfield, and his sacrifice fly led to the eventual game-winning run.
“Just hitting it off the bat, I was hoping it was far enough to get Jack in, and it was,” Dombrowski said.
Hines scored easily, and a throw back to third base to catch Mazzone went wild, allowing Mazzone to score for a 4-2 lead.
Fellow senior Connor Crean made the lead hold up in the bottom of the seventh, and he, Dombrowski, and the rest of the Falcons were able to celebrate a long-awaited state championship.
