Enfield Wins Opener, But Falls In NCCC Baseball Tournament Finals

Top-seeded took advantage of an early-game injury to ace pitcher Justin Thomas, building a 5-0 lead en route to a 7-2 victory in the championship game of the NCCC baseball tournament Friday at in Windsor Locks.

Ellington made it to the finals by coming back to defeat Stafford 6-5, while Enfield cruised by 6-0 in the opening game.

The left-handed Thomas, who will play Division 1 ball at Quinnipiac University next season, had to be relieved after just a few batters due to a broken blister on his pitching hand.

"Justin is a tough pitcher, and no disrespect intended, we took advantage of the situation," Ellington coach Keith Tautkus said. "We hit the ball pretty well and got the lead, then we made some good defensive plays when we had to."

The Purple Knights jumped to a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by winning pitcher Mike Cleary. Ellington added two in the second on a pair of walks, a double by Garrett Palmer and singles by Joe Leslie and Jake Gagne.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone every day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

Singles by Neal Janiga, Matt Kramer and Palmer and a walk to Brandon Rhodes led to two more runs in the third, giving the Knights a 5-0 advantage.

Enfield, the number two seed, finally broke through with two runs in the fifth. With the bases loaded, Thomas was hit by a Cleary pitch to bring in Mike Crowley, then Janiga came on in relief and plunked John Cerrato to force home Tony Romano. Ellington escaped further damage by turning a double play off a Dan Critz grounder.

Avery Boissy thwarted an Ellington rally in the fifth, ranging behind the second base bag to throw out Troy Russell with a pair of runners in scoring position.

The Raiders let a golden opportunity slip by in the sixth. Sal Spadaro led off with a single and moved to third on a wild pickoff attempt, but Janiga struck out two batters and retired the side on an infield groundout.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Knights put the game away with two insurance runs, as Palmer singled to bring in Cleary and Janiga.

After walking Boissy to open the seventh, Janiga retired the final three hitters, including two by strikeout, to preserve the victory.

"I'm disappointed for my seniors that they went through three or four years and didn't come away with an NCCC conference or tournament win," Enfield coach Jay Gaucher said.

Both teams will be competing for the Class M state championship beginning next week. Ellington (18-2 regular season) draws a first-round bye as the number two seed, and will host the winner of the Stonington/Seymour matchup Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Enfield (16-4), the sixth seed, hosts Norwich Tech in the first round Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.

Enfield Advances to Finals With 6-0 Shutout of Windsor Locks

In the semifinals of the NCCC tournament Friday, John Cerrato and Tony Romano combined on a three-hit shutout as blanked 6-0.

Avery Boissy provided the only run Enfield would need in the third inning by singling, stealing second and scoring on an infield error.

An infield single by Tyler Griffith in the fourth brought in Dan Critz, then Enfield took advantage of some sloppy Windsor Locks play to post four insurance runs in the sixth. Critz provided a highlight by deftly avoiding a tag by Locks pitcher Casey Vogt on a play at the plate. Boissy crushed a triple for Enfield's only hit of the inning.

Boissy and Griffith each had two hits for Enfield. Vogt, Mike Gentile and Jonathan Oliveira had the Windsor Locks safeties.

Windsor Locks (13-7 regular season) enters the Class S state tournament as the number 12 seed, hosting #21 Bolton Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.