Baseball: Suffield's Dultz, Gomes lead the way in win over Ledyard
Jun. 2—The Suffield High baseball team's reward for knocking off Tolland on the road Tuesday was a home game in the Class M state tournament second round Wednesday.
The Wildcats made themselves at home.
Austin Dultz was 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs and Nick Gomes pitched into the sixth inning as No. 21 Suffield downed No. 28 Ledyard 8-4 at Kulas Field.
The Wildcats (13-8) will play in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2014 Saturday when they travel to Redding to take on No. 4 Joel Barlow.
Suffield scored three times in the first inning and a five-run fifth made it 8-0. Ledyard did all its scoring in the sixth.
Gomes struck out eight in 5Î innings before Matt Sinofsky came on to get the final four outs. Sinofsky also had two hits and two RBIs.
Brayden Wuestner had two hits and an RBI for the Colonels, who advanced to the second round with Tuesday's 5-4 win over No. 5 Abbott Tech as Nate Petriel hit a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh. Ledyard completes its season at 10-13.
WATERFORD 8, ELLINGTON 3. Evan McCue went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs as No. 11 Waterford jumped out to an early lead to beat sixth-ranked host Ellington in a second-round game.
The Lancers (17-8) took a 5-0 lead by scoring three runs in the first inning and two in the second. Ellington responded in its half of the second as consecutive hits from Cam Thomas, Mike Bontempto, Ryan Wheeler, and Jack Lomot pulled it within 5-3.
But the Knights would get no closer as Waterford added two runs in the third and one in the fourth. Justin Saad was the winning pitcher, going five innings.
Evan Robbins was the losing pitcher. Will Lally pitched 4 Ï innings of one-run relief to keep the Knights within striking distance. Robbins and Cody Murphy each had two hits while catcher Josh Einsiedel was a defensive standout.
Ellington graduates Bontempo and Zac Killoran from its team that swept the NCCC regular season and tournament titles and finished 19-5.
Waterford hosts No. 19 Jonathan Law on Saturday.
Class S
SOMERS 15, TOURTELLOTTE 4. Third-ranked Somers spotted No. 14 Tourtellotte a 4-0 first-inning lead before bouncing back and rolling to a second-round home win.
The Spartans (18-5) will be back home Saturday to take on No. 22 Old Lyme in the quarterfinals. Somers is seeking its first semifinal berth since 1997. It is 0-3 in quarterfinal appearances since with the last one coming in 2018.
Somers made five errors in the first that led to four unearned runs. But the defense and pitcher Cody Palazzesi settled in from there and blanked the Tigers (12-11) the rest of the way.
Tommy Lesco drove in five runs to pace the Spartans' offense. Alex Maia contributed a key pinch-hit two-run single. Kaede Wood and Colby McCormick also had strong days at the plate.
OLD LYME 5, COVENTRY 0. Aidan Ward pitched a two-hitter as No. 22 Old Lyme won on the road for the second straight day to reach the quarterfinals. He walked none and struck out three.
The Wildcats (12-11) will play at No. 3 Somers on Saturday.
Old Lyme took the lead in the third inning and broke it open with a three-run fifth. Owen Snurkowski had two hits and two RBIs to lead the Wildcats.
Losing pitcher AJ Rooks and Matt LaFountain, the last starter remaining from the Patriots' 2019 Class S state championship team, had the hits for Coventry, which finishes 17-7.
