RCP aiming for state title repeat

MIDDLETOWN >> It’s state championship time in American Legion Baseball.

Reigning champion RCP -Rocky Hill, Cromwell and Portland -- will take on Stamford in the first game of a best-of-three series tonight at 6:30 at Palmer Field to determine the state champion and which team goes on to represent Connecticut at the Northeast Regional in Bristol that begins Wednesday.

RCP has been there and done that. But that doesn’t mean it’s old hat.

“We took care of business in the regular season by winning the zone title, which was our first goal,” RCP coach T.J. Grande said. “Winning the zone sets a team up

well for the state tournament in that you don’t have to play that single elimination round.

“Our team is experienced and they like to play in big games. I think we’re set up well for the weekend, but if Stamford beats us two out of three, then all credit to them. But I think we’re ready.”

Cole Ogorzalek will pitch the opener for RCP and pitching is one of the club’s strengths.

“We got through South Windsor [three game sweep] on pitching and defense,” Grande said. “We didn’t hit as well as I would have liked, but we took advantage of the other teams’ mistakes.”

RCP won two walk-off games, scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth to beat Tolland 3-2, then scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh to beat New London 1-0. The winners took advantage of some New London sloppiness to win 6-2 Tuesday to earn a berth in the championship series.

Stamford got here with a tense, dramatic 1-0, 13-inning win over Cheshire Wednesday night. Stamford went for the clincher Tuesday, but Cheshire rallied for a 4-1 win over ace Grant Stone to force the Wednesday game.

“We really want this championship,” Stamford coach Kevin Murray said.

Stamford (30-4) won the Zone 4 race, then was extended to three games by Greenwich in the best-ofthree zone series last week. Stamford won its first two games of the Super Regional, but then after a day off, lost to Cheshire, forcing that thriller Wednesday.

The second game of the series is Saturday at 11 a.m. That game will be followed by the 17 and under Junior state championship game at 2:30 p.m. If a third game is needed in the senior series, then it will be Sunday at noon and that game will be followed by the 15 and under Prep state championship game at 3:30 p.m. All games are scheduled for Palmer Field.

The senior Connecticut champion will play the Massachusetts runner-up at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Muzzy Field. Host team Bristol will play the Rhode Island champion in the night game Wednesday.

The double elimination event which features Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, two teams from Massachusetts -- a reward for high Legion participation -- Connecticut, Rhode Island and Bristol. Rochester, N.H., is the only state champion decided thus far.

The winner advances to the Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C.

Paid attendance for the games at South Windsor and Middletown thus far is 1,339.

All games beginning tonight and through the World Series will be nine innings.