It has been 40 long years, but it was worth the wait for St. Paul baseball.
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| The St. Paul bench cheers on its hitters during Tuesday’s Class S semifinal game at Beehive Field. |
The fourth-seeded Falcons reached their first state final since 1976 with a 5-2 win over No. 24 Old Lyme at Beehive Field in New Britain on Tuesday afternoon. St. Paul will play No. 3 Morgan for the Class S state championship on Friday or Saturday at Middletown’s Palmer Field at a time to be determined.
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| St. Paul starting pitcher Connor Crean. |
Connor Crean struggled with his command, but Old Lyme also couldn’t hit him. The senior right-hander struck out seven, walked seven, but he also didn’t give up a single hit. The Wildcats took advantage of a couple walks in the top of the fourth inning and scored their two runs on a sac fly and ground out, but Crean and Jackson Hines yielded no more. Hines gave up two hits in relief.
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| Jackson Hines watches his base hit to left field. Hines hit the ball where the fielder wasn’t, thanks in part to a perfectly executed hit and run. |
On offense, St. Paul put together one big inning, tallying five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Nick Morrell drew a leadoff walk, then Hines singled the other way to left field. A good bunt by Ben Mazzone moved both runners up, but Old Lyme was able to get the second out on a pop out. Chadd Richardson was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Mike Dombrowski also walked, bringing in the game’s first run. Zach Parent followed with a two-run single to center field to make it 3-0. A walk to Crean reloaded the bases, then Ryan Greene drew a walk to make it 4-0. Parent scored on a wild pitch to put St. Paul in command, 5-0.
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| Zach Parent stands on first after hitting a two-run single to put his team up 3-0. |
It may not have been a pretty game, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that St. Paul got the win. The Falcons are looking for their first state championship since 1972.
