Norwalk tops Greenwich; into final
STAMFORD — As players celebrated around them, legendary former Norwalk baseball coach Pete Tucci hugged first-year baseball coach Ryan Mitchell on the third-base line of Cubeta Stadium and said “Thank you for keeping the tradition going.”
Tucci and Mitchell, Tucci’s former player and assistant coach, both know the history of Norwalk baseball as well as anyone else and know what it means for the team to be where they are.
Norwalk has never won a CIAC state baseball title and has not appeared in a championship game since 1995.
Now, the No. 24 seeded Bears are one game away from making history after beating No. 4 Greenwich 7-5 in the CIAC Class LL semifinals at Cubeta Stadium on Wednesday night.
“This town is really special to me. Really, really special to me,” Mitchell said. “I have bled green since I knew what green was. To learn under, in my eyes, the greatest coach in Connecticut history in Pete Tucci, and to have him come over and say ‘you’re keeping the tradition going,’ that’s what it’s about. I‘m proud because Norwalk is a great town with a lot of pride and it is a great baseball town. The job is not finished.”
Norwalk will play No. 18 Westhill Saturday at noon at Palmer Field in Middletown for the Class LL title.
The game started as well as it could for the Bears.
The first batter, Brendan Edvardsen led off with a home run over the left-field fence.
The Bears got one more in the first when Jaden Echevarria plated Eddy Garabito with a single to left, putting the Bears up 2-0 after one.
Greenwich got two back in the bottom of the second with Cage Lasley and Chris Mingione scoring on separate groundouts.
Norwalk came right back with three in the third with runs scoring on a wild pitch, bases-loaded walk and infield single by Edvardsen.
Greenwich then answered with three of its own in the bottom of the third with Ryan Perez homering to right, Mingione hitting a sacrifice fly and John Zola plating a run with a single.
The second two runs of that inning were unearned after a flyball was dropped.
Greenwich would not score again after tying the game 5-5 after three.
Norwalk took the lead in the fourth on a two-out single to left by Dan Miller, scoring Dan Arnold who led off the inning with a walk.
The Bears would tack on an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
Norwalk starter Alistair Morin worked into the sixth before giving way to Javier Gonzalez who shut the door by leaving men stranded at second, and third in the sixth and working a 1-2-3 seventh for the save.
“It was a great game and Norwalk deserved it, there is no question about that,” Greenwich coach Adrian Arango said. “When we got to the final four, I knew I’d be happy either way. Obviously we wanted to play for a championship Saturday but it doesn’t take away from our season. Our kids left their hearts on the field. Credit to Norwalk, their pitchers, Javier who is like a family member to me, came in and did a great job.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME Alistair Morin, Norwalk:
Morin admittedly did not have his best stuff Wednesday night but battled through five-plus innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and striking out seven for the win.
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“This is huge for us and huge for the school but we can’t really celebrate yet, but I’m pumped,” Morin said. “Honestly not a lot was working for me on the mound. It wasn’t my best day. I trust the guys behind me and I trust myself. The off-speed was there and it wasn’t, the fastball was there and it wasn’t. It’s tough like that, but you have to stay focused and locked in on the major goal. This is the best team I have ever played for.”
NORWALK 7, GREENWICH 5
NORWALK .................. 203 100 1—7 7 0 GREENWICH ............... 023 000 0—5 5 1 Batteries: N—Alistair Morin (W), Javier Gonzalez (6) and Jaden Echevarria; G—Nathan Jones, Matt Chioditti (L, 4) and Felipe Echeto.