By Ron P. Coderre

As many of the local high school teams are approaching the midpoint of the baseball season, the standings are beginning to take shape.  Last week witnessed Plainfield and Tourtellotte making a statement about qualifying for the CIAC postseason tournament.

The Plainfield Panthers and Tourtellotte Tigers each picked up three victories in a perfect week.  Ellis Tech, long a doormat, is also positioning itself for the postseason with a 2-1 week. 

Putnam, perfect in the Constitution State Conference-East, was 2-1 on the week, while Killingly, which is struggling to post victories was 1-2 in three games.  Hardluck Woodstock Academy lost all four of its games, while Marianapolis’ two game winning streak was snapped by Providence Country Day.

Plainfield Panthers Making Noise in ECC Medium

Plainfield made a strategic move in the Eastern Connecticut Conference-Medium Division with a 2-1 decision over longtime power New London.  Jeff Nicolosi, who is establishing himself as one of the area’s top hurlers, threw a complete game 10-strikeout performance at the Whalers.  

The Panthers opened the week out-of-conference with an 8-5 win over Somers as Alex Fontaine and Izaiah Thompson were the hitting stars.  Thompson drove in three runs, while Fontaine scored twice.  The team closed out the week rolling over Wheeler High School 14-2 as Dylan Horn was the winning pitcher.  He fanned 10 Wheeler hitters. David Carpenter was 2-for-5 with four runs scored for the winners.  Plainfield is 6-2 on the season and 3-0 on the ECC-Medium.

Tourtellotte opened a perfect week with a 6-2 win over archrival Putnam.  Simon Silvia battled his way to victory on the mound for the Tigers allowing only two Putnam hits.  The key to the win came with the team’s knotted 2-2, when senior Alex Angelo walloped a long double driving in Silvia with the go-ahead run.  The Tigers, who are looking to make the postseason for the first time since 2008, received a big lift from freshman Dylan Vincent who delivered a key pinch hit single in a sixth inning rally.

The Tigers picked up a solid 4-3 win in its next game against Ellis Tech.  Joe Bogoslofski was a key offensive operant for Tourtellotte with two hits and three RBI.  Angelo tossed an 8-0 shutout at Windham Tech to close out the week for Tourtellotte.  The Putnam twins, Noah and Logan, were the catalyst in the win.  Noah was 3-for-3 with three RBI and Logan was 2-for-2 with three runs and an RBI for the 3-3 Tigers.

Putnam rebounded with a pair of wins after falling to Tourtellotte.  The Clippers rolled past Grasso Tech 21-7 behind the tosses of winning pitcher Zach Cutler.  Mitchel Barylski had three hits and three RBI to pace the Putnam offense.

The Clippers picked up a key out-of-conference win with an 8-5 win over the Hale Ray Little Noises.  Nick Foucault was the show for Putnam, picking up the victory with nine K’s and going 3-for-3 at the bat with two RBI.  The Clippers are 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the CSC-East.

After falling at the hands of Tourtellotte, Ellis Tech rebounded with a two key wins as they raised their record to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the CSC-East.  It took the Golden Eagles eight innings to get by Griswold 3-2.  The winners pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth as Saige Louis and Caleb Deslauriers had two hits apiece for the Techsters.  Ellis Tech closed out the week with a CSC-East 12-3 win over Parish Hill.  Darius Devanny pitched four strong innings for the win.  Corey Golden and Seth Griggs each had two RBI for the Golden Eagles.

Killingly posted a 5-1 win over Woodstock Academy in a game played at Dodd Stadium.  Drew Daley had a route-going performance for the win.  He limited the Acads to four hits, while striking out eight.  In their other two games the Redmen were held scoreless.  They were shutout by Lyman 9-0 and 7-0 by Stonington.  Coach Dave Austin’s charges are 3-6 overall and 0-4 in the ECC-Medium.

After losing to Killingly, the Woodstock Centaurs continued to free fall, losing three more games.  They were shutout by Norwich Free Academy 6-0, beaten by a good Fitch team 5-1 and lost a thriller to Griswold 2-1.  The Centaurs are 1-5 on the season and 0-3 in the ECC-Large.

Marianapolis lost its first game of the season in a road game in the Ocean State, where they were beaten 6-3 by Providence Country Day.  The Golden Knights are 2-1.

 

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