Bethel Knocked out of CIAC Tournament by Enfield

Even a half-hour lightning delay could not stop the thunder from the bat of Justin Thomas.

The left-handed slugger drove in six runs on three hits, including a pair of triples, powering Enfield High School to a 12-4 victory over Bethel in the second round of the Class M baseball tournament Wednesday.

Fifth-seeded Enfield (16-5) advances to the quarterfinals at Beehive Field in New Britain Saturday, where the Raiders will take on No. 20 Montville (14-8).

Enfield jumped to a 5-0 lead off Bethel starter Chris Galvin in the first inning and never looked back. Avery Boissy led off with an infield single, Dan Critz reached on an infield error, and both runners scored on a triple to left by Thomas. John Cerrato singled in Thomas, and after a pair of fielder's choices, Matt Nicewicz doubled home Joe Turcotte. Nicewicz scored the fifth run on a wild throw to third on a pickoff attempt.

"We came out swinging, we put the ball in play, and when they made a mistake, we capitalized," Enfield coach Jay Gaucher said.

Nicewicz singled home Cerrato in the second inning off relief pitcher Michael Crimi, then the Raiders had two runners on base in the third when a bolt of lightning halted the game for 30 minutes. When play resumed, Wildcats reliever Andrew Guercio worked out of the jam, picking a runner off third base and retiring the side on a popup.

In the fifth, Boissy drew a base on balls with one out, one of four walks he drew in the game. After a strikeout, Boissy stole second, and scored on a single by Thomas. Cerrato singled to center and Dan Cezus walked to load the bases, then Thomas came home on a dropped pickoff throw to third base.

Meanwhile, Turcotte was cruising along on the mound for the Raiders, but finally began to tire in the sixth. With one out, Avery Rizzuto singled and scored on a triple by Zachary Albin. Alex Amaru doubled in a run, Tyler Slavick singled, and Amaru came home on a grounder by Nick Spinella.

Enfield answered right back with four more runs in the sixth off Albin. Boissy drew a bases-loaded walk that brought in Tony Romano, and Thomas cleared the bases with a triple to deep center field.

Cerrato came on to pitch the final inning for Enfield, and was greeted by a double by Jonathan Sorice, who then stole third and scored on an infield grounder by Guercio.

Turcotte pitched six effective innings to earn the victory for Enfield, allowing seven hits and three walks while striking out three.

"Joe Turcotte threw a tremendous game, we had some good hitting, Justin Thomas came through today," Gaucher said. "Our whole lineup came through. When we win, we get great production from top to bottom of the order. Matt Nicewicz had another big hit - he started our rally (Tuesday, a 10-2 win over Weston). I'm proud of these kids."

Bethel finished with an 11-8 record. "It was a rocky start, and we don't play well from behind," Wildcats coach Ray Turek said. "Our guys played hard start to finish, we manufactured some wins with our hustle, and up to today, we did a good job doing little things and had some success."