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Signs of the Times
The Woodstock Academy baseball team was flying high after its first-round Class L state tournament win over Bristol Eastern Eastern, but the state tournament is fickle and the Centaurs were brought back down to earth after a loss to Wilton in a second-round game ended their season.
Woodstock Academy senior Jacob Hernandez took some time after the Centaurs game with Wilton to hang around in the outfield.
It was a chance to be a part of a team for a last time at Woodstock Academy.
“I’m going to miss this team so much,” said Hernandez. “This team was so much fun to be around. The guys, every practice, every game, they brought the energy and they made it so much fun to play baseball.”
Unfortunately for the Centaurs, the season came to a close as the fourth-seeded team lost a Class L state tournament second round game to No. 20 Wilton, 4-1. The Centaurs finished with a 17-6 record.
Woodstock Academy coach Brian Murphy thought back to the beginning of the season and, putting it in perspective, had only good feelings about the end result.
The Centaurs were beset by numerous pandemic protocol issues at the start of the season and got off to a 1-3 start. They went 16-3 the remainder of the way.
“If you would have told me that in January, I would have taken that. I don’t like losing any games but if you look in the annals of Woodstock Academy baseball, it’s probably the most wins the program has had or pretty close. These guys were a team. The guys on the bench came to every practice and battled. (The loss to Wilton) was not due to a lack of effort. It was a close game, a few balls here and there go a different way and it’s a different ballgame,” Murphy said.
The Centaurs fell behind at the start as Mike Frischetti delivered an RBI single for the Warriors in the first inning.
But Woodstock Academy quickly pulled even. Hamilton Barnes had a lead-off double in the bottom of the first, was sacrificed to third by Hernandez and came home on a groundout by Jon Smith. Zach Roethlein and Jackson Goetz followed with singles, but were left stranded at first and third respectively.
The Centaurs had only two hits the remainder of the game, a Trey Ayotte single in the fifth and a Smith single in the sixth. The Centaurs also had runners on first and third in the bottom of the seventh courtesy of a walk and an error, but could not push either across.
“Getting the key hit was a problem all season. All but two of our games were sub-three run games. We just couldn’t finish, couldn’t get over the hump. We needed that one spark and, sometimes, we didn’t get it,” Hernandez said.
The Warriors got their spark in the fourth when Ryan Van Heyst went yard, sending a ball some 340 feet over the fence in left field.
“We tried to bust the kid inside and he got the head of the bat out. Tip your cap to the kid, it was a first-pitch fastball and he got it. That was the first ball I’ve seen hit out of the park in my six years here,” Murphy said.
Wilton nursed the one-run lead until the seventh when a two-run single by Sam Strazza gave the Warriors a little breathing room.
It was a familiar script for the Woodstock Academy baseball team in its Class L state tournament first-round game against No. 29 Bristol Eastern — Pitch well — Play good defense and make some critical plays — And get just enough offense. Check, check and check and the fourth-seeded Centaurs moved on to the second-round game with a 3-1 win over No. 29 Bristol Eastern.
“We don’t make it easy on ourselves,” Murphy said. “We played solid defensively. Smitty (starting pitcher Jon Smith) battled every step of the way. (Bristol Eastern) is a good team. They hit. They field. We feel fortunate to escape this game.”
Smith allowed seven hits including two in the first inning when the Lancers scored their only run on a double by Ryan Fredette.
The Centaurs would get a couple of defensive boosts over the next two innings, both courtesy of Barnes who was playing catcher. The junior picked a runner off first base in the second inning and, after a missed bunt in the third inning, caught another runner off the first base bag in the third.
“It gets me going,” Smith admitted. “I love Ham. I love working with him. He’s a great catcher and I give all the credit to him.”
The Centaurs finally backed their pitcher in the fourth inning.
Smith started the rally the painful way as he was hit by a pitch. Goetz sacrificed Smith to second and Roethlein singled. Kaden Murphy drove in his 18th run of the season with a groundout and Roethlein came home on a throwing error.
Ayotte then walked, stole his way around to third and scored on an Eddie Niejadlik base hit.
The win may have helped some spirits on the team as the Centaurs were still smarting a bit from their ECC tournament quarterfinal loss to East Lyme.
“That was a tough one,” Brian Murphy said. “We kind of sat for a week and practiced, did what we had to do to stay sharp. We were a little concerned about sitting and waiting because we wanted to get right back at it the next day, but we couldn’t. The guys responded (against Bristol Eastern) and did a great job.”
If there was a lesson from the state tournament for the Woodstock Academy coach, it was how much he yearned for a normal, more competitive-type schedule.
“These are the types of teams I like to play, they make you better. Next year, when we look at our schedule, I would like to play some of the better teams in Connecticut. It raises your level when you go against teams like this,” Brian Murphy said.
The Centaurs will lose several seniors, Hernandez, Ayotte, Tim Billings, Avery Killingsworth and Niejadlik but do have players coming back.
“I’m very optimistic over the next two years of where we will be. We have a good core coming back. We lose some key seniors who were the sparkplug of this team especially Jacob. I’m proud of them. They worked extremely hard. It’s tough to lose a game but as we told them, life will throw you some punches and if this is the worst that happens, you won’t be doing too bad,” Brian Murphy said.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
Signs of the Times
The Woodstock Academy baseball team was flying high after its first-round Class L state tournament win over Bristol Eastern Eastern, but the state tournament is fickle and the Centaurs were brought back down to earth after a loss to Wilton in a second-round game ended their season.