Surprising NFA upsets Waterford to win ECC baseball title
Groton — Even the coach wasn't so sure this could happen. Luke Gabordi was big on "maybe" and "possibly" before the game began, knowing what faced Norwich Free Academy in the championship game of the Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball tournament Friday at Fitch.
Opponent: Top-seeded Waterford, which tap-danced on NFA during the regular season, 17-1. The Waterford that hadn't allowed a run in the tournament.
NFA starter: Caleb Bierman, who cracked later that suggesting he'd even pitched 10 innings all season was "generous."
And then the game happened.
Error here ... dunk shot single there ... believers starting to believe ... and suddenly, there was this giant, red pile of humanity celebrating the title.
NFA 7, Waterford 4.
"This means a ton," Gabordi said. "This tournament is very important to us. It's a strong conference. We played four nights in a row. I'm so happy for the kids. I'm ecstatic."
Bierman worked five innings and allowed four runs, more than keeping his team breathing.
NFA, once behind 4-0, rallied for three in the fifth to tie the game, highlighted by Andy Grant's two-run, two-out single. Brody Adams' RBI single snapped a 4-4 tie in the sixth, followed by Bierman's pop fly single that produced two insurance runs.
"I wasn't even sure I'd hit there," Bierman said, alluding to Gabordi's decision to nearly pinch hit for him. "What a night for us. We've come a long way in the last month."
Tyler Briggs worked a scoreless sixth for the seventh-seeded Wildcats (13-11). He struck out the side in the seventh to end it.
"The huge part of our team right now is the character these kids showed," Gabordi said. "Any team that has a nine-win season with high expectations that's all of a sudden down 6-0 in a play-in game (Tuesday to St. Bernard), that's where you could see some kids put their cleats in the bag. Instead, it was the exact opposite.
"When you go through a season with a lot of frustration, at some point there's just nothing left to say. You just have to play better. And when things don't go well, it's like, well, they haven't gone well all year. Just play through it."
Adams and Colby Jakan had two hits apiece for the Wildcats, while tournament Most Valuable Player Robert Thorburn hit a long double to right.
Waterford's 4-0 lead came thanks to a four-run third, highlighted by Mike Burrows' two-run single. The Lancers (21-2) made five errors.
"We didn't make the plays and that's the first time I can say that all year." Waterford coach Art Peluso said. "The pitching (Walker Sutman and Alex Petchark) was fine. We got up 4-0 and stopped making plays. And give credit to NFA. They hit the ball well and played better than we did."
m.dimauro@theday.com
2016 ECC BASEBALL AWARD WINNERS
Following is a list of the 2016 Eastern Connecticut Conference baseball all-star and sportsmanship award winners:
Large Division
First team — Pitchers: Andy Grant (NFA), Dylan Feeney (East Lyme); Catcher: Miles Coe (East Lyme); Infield: Bennett Coe (East Lyme), Matt Spang (East Lyme), Austin Prevost (Bacon), Justin Marceau (Fitch); Outfield: Matt Shane (Bacon), Luke Saccone (Ledyard), Matt Abbey (East Lyme); DH: Hendrick Khoury (Fitch).
Honorable mention — Nick Smith (Ledyard), Nick Traystman (Ledyard), Evan O'Connor (Woodstock), Zach Lawrence (Bacon), Brendon Byam (Bacon), Colby Jakan (NFA), Caleb Bierman (NFA), Cam Milton (NFA), Jake Parizo (Fitch), Hunter Nadeau (Fitch), Alex Tryon (East Lyme).
Sportsmanship award — Andrew Brown (East Lyme), Greg Cooper (Fitch), Tim Beacham (Ledyard), Jack Archambault (Woodstock), Yamil Dip (NFA), Peter Stanavage (Bacon).
Medium Division
First team — Pitchers: Mike Burrows (Waterford), TT Bowens (Montville); Catcher: Colby Greenhalgh (Plainfield); Infield: Mike Rocchetti (Waterford), Alex Petchark (Waterford), Aiden Brennan (New London), Jeremy Sagun (Montville); Outfield: Jeremy Santos (New London), Dave Carpenter (Plainfield), Gabby Cortorreal (New London); DH: Justin Keating (Waterford).
Honorable mention — Dan Castelpoggi (Waterford), Kevin Johnson (Waterford), Freddy Pacheco (New London), Kyle Whipple (Stonington), John Moody (Stonington), Tom McDonald (Montville), Dylan Horn (Plainfield), Jeff Nicolosi (Plainfield), Drew Daley (Killingly), Ben Desaulnier (Killingly), Cory Sipos (Killingly).
Sportsmanship award — Billy Keane (Stonington), Dave Kumiega (Plainfield), Jake Mangual (Waterford), Juan Otanez (New London), Michael Kurasz (Montville), Evan Zanauskas (Killingly).
Small Division
First team — Pitchers: Ryan Skaff (Lyman Memorial), Brody Labbe (Windham); Catcher: Colton Bender (Lyman Memorial); Infield: Joel Garcia (Griswold), Mike Dellaporta (Wheeler), Connor Svab (St. Bernard), Jake McAneny (Lyman Memorial); Outfield: Brandon Yeaton (Griswold), Marc Malchiodi (St. Bernard), Steven Gerovitz (St. Bernard); DH: Bryce Mileski (Griswold).
Honorable mention — Sergey Bibeau (Lyman Memorial), Lucas Bazzano (Lyman Memorial), Andrew Perry (Lyman Memorial), Josh Gurnack (St. Bernard), Bryan Guetens (St. Bernard), Cam Winarz (St. Bernard), Gage Coleman (Griswold), Jacob Kandolin (Windham), Chris Munzer (Wheeler), Dylan Wilkinson (Wheeler), Alex Angelo (Tourtellotte).
Sportsmanship award — Roger Moyer (Lyman Memorial), Max Gregory (Griswold), Tony Discuillo (Wheeler), Cam Winarz (St. Bernard), Rosario Brown (Windham), Hunter Angelo (Tourtellotte).
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