Fairfield Ludlowe Advances To FCIAC Baseball Championship Game

For the first time in the program's brief history, the Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons will play for an FCIAC baseball  championship.

Steve Guasco tossed a five-hitter and Luke Clifford and Rob Ferrara delivered key hits, as the surging Falcons charged into the final with a 6-3 victory over Westhill at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard on Tuesday night.

Ludlowe (17-5) will meet No. 2 seed Greenwich in Thursday's title clash. The Cardinals advanced with a 13-4 win over No. 6 St. Joseph in Tuesday's second semifinal.

According to Falcons coach Keith O'Rourke, no Fairfield school ever has won a FCIAC baseball title.

"Right now, we're trying to ride on a wave that hopefully will take us the next 2 1/2 weeks (with) nothing but wins and a couple championships hoisted up when it's all said and done," O'Rourke said.

Westhill (13-9) came to Bridgeport with momentum after upsetting top seed and two-time defending FCIAC champion Staples, 7-4, in the quarterfinals Monday. But the Falcons played a crisp, error-free game Tuesday and got a couple timely early hits to back the solid pitching of Guasco, who issued no walks and struck out four.

"This (Westhill) team can swing," Guasco said. "They hit (Staples ace David) Speer yesterday, and he's a great pitcher He's won this tournament a couple times for his team. We just wanted to get out to a big lead. We didn't do that but we got out to a big enough lead and we made the plays." 

The Falcons jumped on Westhill starter Morgan Williams in the second, grabbing the lead on Clifford's two-run,  bases-loaded single through the right side of the infield

After the Viking got one back in the third, the Falcons answered with three in the bottom half. Ferrara drilled a two-run home run over the back fence in left field to extend the Falcons' cushion to 5-1.

"It was a 2-2 count," said Ferrara, who was named all-FCIAC first-team catcher. "He tried to throw a changeup to me. He kind of left it up on the inner half and I
was able to hit it."

Harbor Yard is starting to agree with Guasco and the Falcons. Of course, they didn't always like playing at the home of the Bridgeport Bluefish. Before blanking Warde, 6-0 on May 14, Ludlowe had dropped three straight to its archrivals in Bridgeport.

The chances of Ludlowe being in this position didn't look good after the Falcons dropped their fourth straight game with a  16-6 defeat at Staples on May 10. Since then, however, Ludlowe has been on a roll, reeling off seven straight wins. They could be peaking at the right time.

"Every team I've ever been a part of in my life has had highs and lows in the course of a season," O'Rourke said. "This team had a very low point two weeks ago and we made some adjustments. We aired out some issues that we had as a team and we started the ball rolling again." 

Guasco pointed to the win over Warde as the turning point.   

"It started when we got here for the first time," he said., alluding to the win over Warde.  "We played Warde, and got that off our backs. I think we just carried through the Warde game all the way to this game and if the bats keep swinging the way they're swinging, whoever we're playing on Thursday, it's going to be a good game."

Guasco has won his last two starts at Harbor Yard, tossing a two-hit shutout against Warde. He wasn't quite as dominating Thursday, but, of course, he was facing a stronger team.

The senior still was in control, throwing strikes and pitching quickly, which resulted in a one-hour, 40-minute game. He also got stronger as the contest went on, allowing only one runner after the fourth inning.

"He's a big-game pitcher and he did a great job today, keeping them off balance," Ferrara said.

Westhill's offense came alive a bit with outs in the fourth as Ryan Curto tripled and scored on Sean Kostrich's two-run homer down the left-field line that pulled the Vikings within 5-3.

But the Falcons scratched for an important  insurance run in the bottom half without the benefit of a hit.

Clifford hit a grounder to the right side, but reached when Williams dropped the throw from first baseman Sean Young while covering on the play. Clifford advanced on Mike Kochiss' sacrifice and a wild pitch, then scored on Nick  Rossomondo's perfectly executed squeeze.

The Falcons certainly have benefitted from the pitching of Guasco, who has won all three starts since returning from shoulder tendinitis.

Right fielder Nagy and second baseman Rossomando also were named all-FCIAC, while Guasco earned all-FCIAC  honorable mention honors. Pitcher Zach Garoffolo, outfielder Billy Malone and utilityman Max Senew were tabbed as all-FCIAC Central Division picks.

"We've definitely picked it up," Ferrara said. "Everyone's clicking right now. We got great chemistry. I think that's the biggest thing with our team, so I'd say we're peaking at the right time."