Ericson leads Centaurs to 8th straight win; records 300th career strikeout
It still may rank behind winning the Class L state championship a year ago but Saturday will be a day that Brady Ericson may remember for a while.
The Woodstock Academy senior joined his teammates in celebrating Senior Day and then went out and recorded his 300th career strikeout on the mound in a 2-1 win over Killingly.
“It’s special,” said Ericson. “Honestly, I didn’t know I was near 300 until (Friday) but I tried to keep it in the back of my mind and pitch how I always pitch.”
Ericson needed eight strikeouts for the milestone and got it in the fourth inning. Ericson went five innings and struck out 11.
“it’s about as individual of an award that you can get in a team sport,” said coach Connor Elliott. "He has battled through adversity and always come out stronger on the other side”
“It couldn’t be much better, a little 2-1 baseball game at home on a Saturday against our crosstown rivals. I’ve been wanting to pitch this game since I saw the schedule come out. I’ve gone against (Killingly) every single game we’ve seen them since I was a freshman. I was hungry to get this one,” Ericson said.
He not only pitched five strong innings but also provided all the offense the Centaurs would need. With one out in the second inning, Kyle Grist singled to center. One out later, Cam Nason picked up the first of his three walks in the game.
That brought up Ericson who sent a line drive to the opposite field. Killingly leftfielder Joey Gould tried to make a sliding catch but failed to come up with the ball. The runners were going on contact with both Grist and Nason scampering home.
In the sixth inning, Ericson dropped what turned out to be a perfect bunt down the third base line.
“I don’t think I ever bunted in my life,” Ericson said. “Coach Elliott looked at me and gave me the sign and I said, ‘Why not.’”
“Coach Troy (Stefanski) has been working with him and he’s a very good bunter. He has great hands. I was very confident that if it was an outside pitch, and they usually pitch him outside, that he could square and put it down the third base line. Everyone plays him deep and he will be safe every time,” the coach said.
The win was the eighth in a row for the Centaurs who finished the regular season with a 13-7 record.
“We started the year 4-6 but finished up 9-1 even though we played nine games in eleven days. It’s a testament to the kids and not giving up. That’s more than baseball, that’s a life lesson. When things get tough, how do you work? How do you respond? And these guys responded and saw the fruits of that (Saturday) and, hopefully, going forward,” Elliott said.
Prior to the game, the Centaurs honored their eight seniors, Ericson, Graham, Matt Hernandez, Nason, Grist, Bradley Blair, Will Bushey and Haydon Rowland.
“I’ve been a freshman, sophomore and junior and have seen the seniors move on. It’s a sad day but a happy day. You’re sad to see them go but I love all these guys and I had a great time (Saturday),” Ericson said.
The Centaurs will next take to the field on Wednesday. They are the fourth seed in the ECC tournament and will host No. 5 Norwich Free Academy at the Bentley Athletic Complex.
The Centaurs showed earlier in the week that even the weather will not slow them down.
Woodstock was supposed to play East Lyme on Thursday but a predicted rainstorm forced the two schools to move the game up by two days.
The Centaurs went down and took care of business, bringing home s 9-5 victory over the Vikings on Tuesday instead.
Then there was Stonington. The Centaurs got off the bus, got back on to the field, and produced another victory, 7-3, over the Bears.
To do that, everyone has to step up and on Tuesday, several players did and it wasn’t, necessarily, the usual suspects.
Blair got the nod to start against East Lyme and made the most of the opportunity, going 3 1/3 innings and picking up the victory
Blair held the Vikings in check through the first three innings and his teammates gave him some support, plus he helped his own cause at the plate.
The Centaurs would fall behind early, 1-0, but rallied in the top of the third.
Blair led off with a double to center and Woodstock loaded the bases courtesy of a dropped third strike and a hit batter. Hernandez tied the game with a sacrifice fly and after an intentional walk to Ericson; Bushey drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Centaurs ahead to stay.
Logan Coutu followed with a two-run single and the Centaurs added two more on a base knock by Rhys Asikainen to make it 6-1.
The Vikings did dispatch of Blair from the hill with three runs in the fourth inning.
Hayden Maloney put out the fire and turned the game over to Ericson in the fifth inning. The senior ace went the last three innings, giving up just one hit and striking out four to preserve the victory.
The Centaurs gave him a little more breathing room, as if he needed it, with three more runs in the seventh.
Asikainen, Blair (3-for-4 on the day with a pair of doubles) and Nason all had two-out singles with Nason’s base knock scoring a run.
Against the Bears, the Centaurs got things started early as they pushed two runs across without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the first inning.
Trailing 1-0, Woodstock took advantage of three Stonington errors and two walks to take the lead for good, 2-1.
The Centaurs padded that lead in the third thanks to two more walks, a balk that allowed Ericson to score and the third double of the day for Blair. The senior came in to score on a single by his classmate Nason to make it 5-1. The Centaurs added a little insurance in the sixth on a two-run single by Coutu.
Maloney went six -plus on the mound and yielded just six hits with six strikeouts.
The coach was also happy with his team’s defensive play where Hernandez “made a couple of ridiculous tracks on balls hit in the gap or over his head to help his pitcher out.”
Elliott also complimented the play of Graham who caught both of the games despite just coming off an injury.
Ericson hit his first home run of the season and added an RBI double as Woodstock blanked Ellis Tech, 6-0, in Danielson last Monday.
Hernandez also had two hits on the day to back the pitching of Bushey and Colin Ericson who combined on a two-hit shutout.
Marc Allard
Director of Sports Information
The Woodstock Academy
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captions:
Above: Eight members of the baseball team, from left: Bradley Blair, Cam Nason, Matt Hernandez, Haydon Rowland, Tanner Graham, Kyle Grist, Will Bushey and Brady Ericson were recognized during Senior Day. Photo by Collin Singleton/Woodstock Academy. Right: Ericson wasn’t letting go of the ball that he recorded his 300th career strikeout. Photo by Holly Singleton/Woodstock Academy.
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