New Canaan, Norwalk clinch, but two spots remain up for grabs
There was little doubt the FCIAC baseball season would come down to the final day.
Coming into play Wednesday, there were six teams alive for the final three playoff spots.
As the schedule worked out, four of the teams were set to face off Wednesday with Ludlowe playing Staples and Wilton visiting St. Joseph.
Unfortunately, Wilton’s bus broke down and that game got postponed to Thursday and Wilton was eliminated when Staples beat Ludlowe.
Staples stayed alive by beating Ludlowe 8-0 behind a 4-hitter by senior pitcher Chris Kennedy.
Staples now has to beat McMahon Thursday at 5:45 p.m. and get some help.
The other contenders were facing teams already in the playoffs with New Canaan at Westhill and Norwalk hosting Trumbull.
Norwalk and New Canaan came in to their games knowing if they won, they would clinch.
New Canaan did its job and got in the tournament, smashing Westhill 20-5 behind 17 hits and three strong innings of relief from Aidan Gray.
New Canaan and Westhill are now both 9-6, but since the Rams beat the Vikings, they will get the No. 5 seed with Westhill dropping to sixth.
Norwalk however, lost to Trumbull Wednesday night 4-3, falling to 8-7.
However, Norwalk qualified for the playoffs by virtue of Ludlowe losing, so the Bears are in no matter what.
Here is how it will break down Thursday: If St. Joseph (7-7) beats Wilton, St. Joseph and Norwalk (8-7) will be in; if the Cadets lose and Staples (7-7) wins, it will be Norwalk and Staples in.
If both Staples and St. Joseph lose, Norwalk and Staples will be in.
Both for the eighth playoff spot and for the seeding of other teams in the tournament, tiebreakers are head-to-head and then quality wins, which is determined by which team has a win against the highest seeded team.
In a few scenarios Thursday, the league might have to dig even deeper into the tiebreakers.
If a team or a particular seed cannot be determined by a quality wins, the FCIAC rules read: “If a tie can still not be broken a coin flip will be used to determine the rank order for the playoffs which could include eliminating a team from the top 8.”
Though they were both already in, Danbury beat Ridgefield Wednesday, leaving the two teams tied at 12-3.
The winner of Thursday’s game between Warde (11-3) and Trumbull (11-3) will be in a three-way tie for first place with Danbury and Ridgefield.
The loser of WardeTrumbull will be the No. 4 seed and still host a quarterfinal game.
Whoever wins that tiebreaker will be the No. 1 seed in the FCIAC Tournament which is scheduled to begin Friday afternoon at the home fields of the higher seeds.
The semifinals are scheduled for Monday at Cubeta Stadium in Stamford at 5 and 7:30 p.m. with the championship game set for Thursday at 7 at Cubeta.