Local roundup: Ledyard advances to ECC baseball semifinals
Groton — Nick Smith’s bat and Anthony Viteritto’s right arm helped 13th-seeded Ledyard advance to the Eastern Connecticut Conference semifinals.
Smith hit a go-ahead two-run double with two strikes and two outs in the top of the ninth inning as the Colonels edged No. 12 Bacon Academy in Wednesday’s quarterfinal round, 6-4, at Fitch High School.
“That was probably the most exciting game since I’ve been a coach,” Ledyard head coach Scott Chiasson said. “We started out going ahead 3-0 (in the first inning). They came back and scored three (that inning). We scored one, and then they came back and scored one. It just became drama after drama.”
Ledyard (11-11) will play top-seeded Waterford in the second game of a semifinal doubleheader at Fitch (7 p.m). The first game will be No. 3 Montville against No. 7 Norwich Free Academy at 4 p.m.
Viteritto came on in relief and pitched the final six innings, giving up just two hits and striking out 13. Chiasson said he hadn’t pitched more than three innings a game this season.
“Anthony, I can’t even say enough about him,” Chiasson said. “He stepped it up and basically put us on his back.”
Austin Brandt added two hits and two runs for Ledyard.
In other games:
• Michael Burrows pitched six scoreless innings as No. 1 Waterford beat No. 9 Plainfield 9-0. Burrows (6-1) struck out six and allowed six hits. Alex Petchark doubled and drove in three runs, Justin Keating was 3-for-4 with two RBI, Jake Mangual doubled home a run and Burrows drove in two runs for Waterford (20-1).
• Wheeler wrapped up its season with a 4-3 win over Putnam in 11 innings. Dylan Wilkinson singled home Josh Lapid with the game-winning run for Wheeler (5-15).
H.S. track and field
• Daniel Cole finished fourth in the 3,200 (10:08.90) and fifth in the 1,600 (4:38.94) for the Old Lyme boys at the Shoreline Conference championships at Coginchaug.
Old Saybrook won the meet with 191 points and Old Lyme was seventh (32).
Will DeMott was runner-up in the 400 (51.82) and Corey Knepshield took fourth in the 800 (2:01.74), for Old Lyme. Also, James Kolb, Casey Blue, DeMott and Knepshield, placed fourth in the 4x800 (8:32.13), and DeMott, Kolb, Knepshield and Blue were sixth in the 4x400 (3:43.78).
In the girls’ meet, Samantha Lee placed fifth in the 400 (1:01.26) and Jenna Peduzzi was sixth in the 800 (2:32.11) for Old Lyme.
Old Saybrook scored 156.5 to win the girls’ title. Old Lyme finished 11th (16).
Julia Smith, Maggy Biega, Lee and Peduzzi finished sixth in the 4x400 (4:33.81) for Old Lyme.
H.S. softball
• Kenya Capers had four hits, including a two-run home run, with five runs and three RBI as New London ended its season with a 15-4 win over Windham. Naralee Suarez had two hits, including a double, with two runs for New London (4-16) and Shaiann Rosado hit two doubles. Jocelyn Cooper added two hits.
• Waterford beat Griswold 9-3 in the ECC tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday. Sara Buscetto (two RBI), Shea Spellman, Mackenzie Merriman and Avery Kosma had two hits each and Emily Borysewicz drove in two runs for Waterford.
H.S. girls’ golf
• Woodstock Academy’s Roxanne Garceau shot a 38 to earn medalist honors and helped the Centaurs repeat as Eastern Connecticut Conference champions at Quinnatisset Country Club. Stonington’s Elizabeth Crandal was second (49) and Hannah Slocum of Norwich Free Academy and Wateford’s Sydney Tabor tied for third (51). NFA finished second in the team scoring (225).
H.S. boys' golf
• Old Saybrook beat Wheeler 162-205 in a nonleague match. Kyle Savino of Old Saybrook was the medalist with a 37. Mike Anderson led Wheeler (8-7) with a 43 and teammate Jake Umphlett shot a 46.
• Bacon Academy beat New London 5-2 in an ECC Medium Division match. Jordan Rogers (46) and Tim Glavan won their matches for New London (9-12, 2-8). Jack Hanrahan of Bacon was the medalist with a 45.
College baseball
• Anthony Kay went the distance as No. 3 UConn won its opener in the American Athletic Conference tournament at Clearwater, Fla., beating No. 6 Memphis 6-2. The Huskies (34-22) have won 10 straight games. UConn plays No. 7 South Florida on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Kay (8-2) allowed nine hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Freshman John Toppa was 3-for-4 with four RBI, Bryan Daniello doubled twice and Willy Yahn had two hits for UConn.
• Al Jordan Johnson and Tyler Pina of Mitchell College named to the ABCA All-New England team. Johnson, the former Fitch High School standout, made the second team and Pina was a third-team selection. Johnson, a senior, was 7-1 with a 3.17 earned run average and struck out a career-high 66 in 59.2 innings. Pina, a junior, batted .372 with 26 RBI. He led Mitchell in runs scored (35), doubles (12), homers (2) and stolen bases (9).
College sailing
• Coast Guard Academy advanced to the finals of the College Sailing Sperry Women's National Championship in San Diego after placing first in the Western semifinals during two days of races. The Bears scored 84 points, finishing ahead of Yale (136) and Brown (147) in the top three. Nikole Barnes and Anna Morin competed for A Division team and Dana Rohde and Hannah Herring combined to race in the B Division for the Bears.
Rhode Island took first in the Eastern semifinals with 120 points. Vermont (132) and Boston University (152) took second and third.
The top nine teams in each division will compete for the national championship. Races begin today and finish on Friday.
Youth lacrosse
• Nine girls from local high schools will be participating in the U.S. Lacrosse Women's National Tournament at Lehigh University this weekend. Elena Hynes, Hailey Gordon, Nancy Harrington and Olivia Facchini of East Lyme, Sydney Cowell of Old Lyme, Katie Kelly on NFA, Megan Larmann of Ledyard, Shay Ventresca of Montville and Jacklyn Lavoie of Waterford will be playing in the tournament and East Lyme coach Phil Schneider will be coaching one of the teams.
Local golf
• Tom Hansen had a hole-in-one at the Cedar Ridge Golf Course in East Lyme on May 5. He did it on the 196-yard, 14th hole and Shaun Bach was witness to it.
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