Ludlowe Baseball Looking For Spot In Class L Semifinals

In its first two state tournament wins, the Fairfield Ludlowe baseball team hardly was overwhelming.

The Falcons needed a sixth-inning rally to defeat Darien, 7-4, in the first round, then survived a bases-loaded threat in the seventh to hold off Rockville, 5-4, in the second round.

Still, Ludlowe (20-5) is finding ways to win, and that is a characteristic of any championship team.

Now the eighth-seeded Falcons, who believe they play in the toughest conference in the state in the FCIAC, are about to find out if they truly are a championship caliber club.

They face East Lyme, the top seed in the Class L tournament, in the quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at West Haven's Quigley Stadium.

Since the Vikings (22-2)  play in the eastern part of the state, they are kind of an unknown commodity for the Ludlowe, but the Falcons certainly are aware that their opponent on Saturday has lost only two games all season.

"We just have to come aggressive, like we have the last five playoff games," said Ludlowe catcher Rob Ferrara, who is 4-for-6 in the Falcons' first two state tournament games. "Don't change anything, go at it hard."

Saturday's matchup is a battle of teams who won their conference championship for the first time. While Ludlowe captured the FCIAC title, East Lyme secured the Eastern Connecticut Conference crown with a 4-3 walk-off victory over New London.

After earning a first-round bye, the Vikings again defeated New London, 6-2, in the second round of the state tournament.

Following early-season losses to Fitch (5-2) and Ledyard (8-5), East Lyme enters Saturday's contest riding a 16-game winning streak. Ludlowe has won 10 in a row.

Obviously, one of those streaks is going to end Saturday.  The winner of Saturday's clash takes on either No. 5 seed Notre Dame of West Haven or No. 20 Bristol Eastern in the semifinals on Tuesday.

"We expect to have a battle and have to earn it, for sure," Ludlowe coack Keith O'Rourke said. "If our team shows up and plays well in the different phases of the game, like I've been saying from day one, we're a tough team to beat."

Still, Ludlowe likely will have to play better than it did against Rockville.

The Falcons were sloppy in the field and didn't have the best approach at the plate, according to O'Rourke, after building a 5-2 lead in the third inning.

"You play a game like that every now and then," O'Rourke said. "I feel that we got it out of our system and will have more of a complete effort on Saturday."

Steve Guasco, who has been a late-season revelation, will be on the mound for the Falcons. He is 3-0 in four starts since joining the rotation after missing the early part of the year while recovering from shoulder tendinitis.

NOTES: Ludlowe is one of three FCIAC teams left in the state tournament. Greenwich takes on Bristol Central in the Class LL quarterfinals and St. Joseph meets Montville in the Class M quarters. ... The 20 wins is a school record for the Falcons, who are in their sixth season. Ludlowe finished 18-7 in 2008, when it lost to Law, 7-1, in the Class L finals. Last season, the Falcons were routed by eventual state finalist Berlin, 15-2, in the round of eight. That game also was played in West Haven.