St. Joseph celebrates its Class M semifinal victory over Rockville.
BRISTOL — St. Joseph, the No. 11 seed, used the stellar pitching of Jimmy Evans to squeeze out a 3-0 victory over No. 7 Rockville in the first Class M semifinal game at Muzzy Field Tuesday.
Evans’ three-hit, 10-strikeout gem carried coach Jim Chaves’ Cadets to their first final since winning a state title in 2013. They lost in the semifinals the past two seasons.
In the nightcap, No. 1 Wolcott knocked off NVL rival and No. 5 seed Woodland 3-2. Coach Tary Scott’s Eagles will be playing for a state title for the third consecutive season. They lost to Seymour a year ago and defeated Northwestern in 2016.
St. Joseph (18-8) and Wolcott (22-2) will meet for the championship at Palmer Field in Middletown. The date, to be determined by the CIAC, will be Friday or Saturday.
CIAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT SCOREBOARD / SCHEDULE
Lefthanders matched up in the first game — St. Joseph’s Jimmy Evans and the Rams’ Anthony Mierez.
Handing the baseball to the left-handed Evans was an easy decision. St. Joseph outscored its first three opponents in the tournament 52-1.
Just hours after getting drafted in the 5th round by the @Braves, Stephen Paolini smokes a RBI triple to center field. Have a day! Cadets lead 3-0 mid 6 #ctbase pic.twitter.com/xxJFao5vJu
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 4, 2019
“We consider Jimmy the biggest adult on the entire team,” Chaves said of the Tufts commit. “He is even keeled and you can tell how much he wanted to pitch.”
There were anxious moments, however.
Rockville had a runner on first with no outs in the seventh when St. Joseph left fielder Al Paolozzi robbed Clayton Aafedt with a diving catch.
After a strikeout, Evans hit his counterpart with a pitch to bring pinch-hitter Carl Ufongene to the plate representing the tying run. Evans put the final out in the books on strikes to send gloves flying and St. Joe’s to the state championship game.
St. Joseph wins 3-0 and advances to the Class M State Championship. Jimmy Evans tossed a CG shutout and Stephen Paolini was 2-4 with a RBI triple #ctbase pic.twitter.com/bCE6bqrpoC
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 4, 2019
Stephen Paolino, who just prior to the game found out he was drafted in the 5th round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Atlanta Braves, tripled in the sixth to score Luke Kirby, who had walked for a 3-0 advantage.
St. Joseph scored its first run in the second inning. Carter Courbron plated a run on a fielder’s choice after Charlie Pagliarini and Hadyn Gourley opened the inning with hits.
A Pagliarini single jumpstarted a run-scoring rally with two out in the third. After an infield error on Gourley’s grounder put runners on the corners, Gourley drew a pickoff throw and Pagliarini beat the relay to the plate to make it 2-0.
St. Joseph leads 2-0 through four. Jimmy Evans is dealing #ctbase pic.twitter.com/kw4hbYhFM4
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 4, 2019
“This (win) means everything to our team, our (12) seniors,” Evans said. “I was locating my pitches well today and my defense was fantastic.”
Evans picked off Chris Mierez after he singled in the second. Rockville’s Clayton Aafedt led off the second with a single, but Courbron at shortstop made a great play on a ball up the middle to leave him stranded. A junior, Courbron was as outstanding in getting an assist to end the sixth. Evans struck out the first two batters in the third, and after a Cam Bogli single, Aaron Kirby threw him out at second.
Rockville (18-6) had hits from Mierez, Cam Bogli and Clayton Aafedt. Pitcher Anthony Mierez stranded eight base runners for coach Greg Caron’s Rams. Mierez had three stellar plays in left field, and Joe Kaminski was outstanding at third base.
WOLCOTT RETURNS
Dane Hassan locks down the save and Wolcott wins 3-2 to advance to the Class M State Championship against St. Joseph #ctbase pic.twitter.com/3KPMlD1Pz0
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 5, 2019
Wolcott earned its third straight title game berth , but it took a gutsy play to get there.
Woodland’s Matt Belcher doubled to open the seventh off Jack Drewry, who had eight strikeouts.
After the change of pitchers, and the base runner, the Hawks looked to bunt the runner over. The bat missed the ball — and Wolcott catcher Jeff Nicol fired behind the runner at second. Trey Nastri took the throw and went to third, where Alex James made the tag.
Scott was proud of his team, and of Nicol’s decision to go for it.
Big error gives Wolcott a 3-2 lead after 6 #ctbase pic.twitter.com/bBjcRwwFtN
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 5, 2019
“You gotta take a chance,” he said. “It’s life. If the ball goes into center field, we are still in the game. Last year against Seymour, I don’t think Jeff tries that throw. But this team battles and battles.”
There were still two outs to be had. Dane Hassan struck out the next batter and then covered first on a ball hit into the hole. Tyler Brzankalski;’s toss was just in time.
Wolcott took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth, after it loaded the bases and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder.
The first inning was full of jittery play.
Jack Drewry works a 1-2-3 second inning for Wolcott. Eagles lead 2-1 mid 2 #ctbase pic.twitter.com/wFqOLbMxHQ
— Will Aldam (@AldamWill) June 4, 2019
Coach Mike Kingsley’s Hawks (20-6) brought a run across after an error and Colby Linnell’s sac fly. In the home half, the Eagles got the first batter on via an error. A walk, a hit by Drewry, and two groundouts plated two runs.
Woodland pitcher Juston Butterworth’s two-hop double to the fence in right scored Zack Bedryczuk (single) to tie the game at 2-all in the third. He struck out six and was tested by a couple of errors.
After Trey Nastri and Nicol opened the fourth with singles, Butterworth struck out the next three batters.
Anything you can do…Drewry got out of a two-on jam in the fifth.
BY THE NUMBERS
St. Joseph scored 25, 13 and 14 runs in its first three state tournament games.. Rockville played things closer to the vest, with wins of 7-3, 6-5 and 5-2. Wolcott, after escaping #32 seed Bacon Academy 9-8, posted wins of 15-1 and 8-0 coming into the semis. Woodland had wins of 21-0, 7-3 and 5-2.