DeLuca fires one- hitter
RIDGEFIELD — As if he had been there a million times before, Ridgefield sophomore Matt DeLuca walked off the mound with little external emotion moments after finishing off his first postseason start in style.
Though inside must have been a whirlwind of excitement, a one- hitter is about the norm of what DeLuca has produced thus far in his career with the Tigers.
DeLuca’s latest gem came in the biggest spot yet as No. 3 Ridgefield edged No. 6 Newtown 1- 0 in a pitcher’s duel with Nighthawks senior Kyle Roche on Saturday. Reaching the Class LL semifinals for a second straight year, Ridgefield will face Amity in the next round.
“I’ve been coaching high school baseball for 25 years and I’ve never seen a sophomore with that much composure,” said Ridgefield coach Paul Fabbri. “For him to go out and throw like that — secretly I was hoping for rain so we could have ( ace Alex Price) in a relieving role. For DeLuca do that again against a team as good as that … kind of blows my mind.”
DeLuca hadn’t thrown in two weeks thanks to the Tigers’ early exit in the FCIAC tournament, but that didn’t prevent him from lowering his already miniscule ERA against the Nighthawks. A fifth- inning single from Harry Eppers was all that separated DeLuca from his second nohitter of the season.
“My curveball was locating well, my other pitches were working and my defense made all the plays,” DeLuca said. “( The plan) was to throw inside, not let them get on base and pound the strike zone.”
The Tigers plated their lone run in the bottom of the fifth as a leadoff double from Nick Cullinan set the stage. Pinch runner Cole Blackwell took third on a throw from home plate that went towards second after a pitch.
“That’s baseball,” Newtown coach Ian Thoesen said. “It’s just the way it is. I think we didn’t get the key hit and they did; they played a little bit better than we did today. We were guessing a little today and ( DeLuca) was putting us away with his curveball.”
Though Roche — who fired a four- hitter in his last start for the Nighthawks — got the first out on a short grounder, Ben Cohen crushed a ball to deep right field that was enough to score Blackwell from third on the sac fly. DeLuca pitched a perfect sixth and seventh innings to seal the win.
“I was talking with third basemen Pete Columbia before the game and he just goes ‘ coach I thought we were going to be 6- 14 this season,’” Fabbri said. “It’s pretty satisfying but I think the kids want to keep winning and get to Saturday.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Matt DeLuca, Ridgefield: Has yielded just three earned runs in close to 40 innings pitched in his debut season.
TWO- HITTER?
Newtown junior Todd Petersen laced a double to start the game in the first, but was later ruled out when it was determined he didn’t touch the bag at first base.
QUOTABLE
“No, I did not,” DeLuca said of if he ever thought a state playoff win was in his future this soon. “I’m so thankful for my coaching staff to believe in me to pitch in a quarterfinal in a state game; I was pretty nervous.”