Ellington takes control of NCCC baseball race

May 7—STAFFORD — Ellington High baseball coach Jim Pointek made sure his players took a look at the NCCC standings before their game against Stafford Friday.

He wanted to make sure they understood what was at stake when they took the field at the Arute Athletic Complex.

Ellington entered the game in first place at 7-1 in league play. Stafford was second at 6-1. If the Knights won, they would control their own destiny in the conference regular season title race.

Ellington took care of business, plating four runs in the fifth inning and holding off a late Stafford charge to secure a 5-3 victory.

"Now we're in the driver's seat in the conference," Pointek said. "We don't need help. I'm proud of these kids for winning this game and putting themselves in this position."

Ellington (9-3, 8-1 NCCC) will clinch the league title with road victories over Windsor Locks Monday and East Windsor Wednesday.

Stafford (9-5, 6-2 NCCC) visits Suffield in a league game today.

Evan Robbins earned the victory. The junior lefthander allowed three runs on six hits in six innings of work. He struck out six and walked five. Ryan Delaney threw a scoreless seventh to close out the Knights' victory.

"I'm really happy for Evan," Pointek said. "He's always around the zone. He's such a crafty, smart pitcher. And it's nice when you have Delaney in your back pocket who is rested and ready to save the game. He's a competitor. He's a bulldog. His baseball IQ is through the roof. He's an easy guy to coach."

Sam Formus took the loss. The junior lefthander allowed five runs on eight hits in five innings of work. He struck out five and walked five. Attley Stevens threw two scoreless innings of relief.

"All of our goals are still in front of us," Stafford coach Scott Martin said. "We had an opportunity to have everything in our hands and because of that, this loss stings a little bit. But going forward, we need to learn from this loss and keep battling. We have to have a short memory."

Stafford took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth on a Mason Wilson sacrifice fly to center but Ellington answered with four in the top of the fifth.

The Knights loaded the bases with no outs and tied the game at one on a passed ball. They took a 3-1 lead on a Delaney two-run single to center and extended their advantage to three on a Stafford throwing error.

Ryan Gilluly cut Stafford's deficit to 4-2 with a RBI double to left in the bottom of the fifth but Robbins responded with a RBI single to left in the top of the sixth to restore the Knights' three run advantage.

Collin Gudeman tripled to left to lead off the Bulldogs' half of the sixth inning and scored on Wilson's RBI double to center two batters later.

A walk put Stafford runners on first and second but Robbins picked off Wilson and struck out Andrew McGann to end the threat.

A walk and an Ellington error put Stafford runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh but Delaney got a flyout and a strikeout to close out the Knights' victory.

"We made a lot of mental mistakes but I'm proud of the way we kept fighting," Martin said. "Their pitchers did an excellent job keeping us off balance. We've been scoring most of the year and they kept us off. Our pitching did enough to keep us in the game but we just couldn't get a big hit in a big spot."

SOMERS 9, COVENTRY 4. Cody Palazzesi had two hits and drove in three runs in Somers' NCCC win.

The Spartans (10-3) scored four runs in the third inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. It was their second win over the Patriots (9-5) in two days, having beaten them 7-5 in Somers Thursday.

Adam Grenier and Joe Lesko added two hits each to back winning pitcher Kaede Wood, who allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings-plus while striking out nine.

Gavin Covell and Nate Cordner had two hits each for Coventry. AJ Rooks struck out six in 4Ï innings in taking the loss.

Somers hosts East Granby Monday, the same day Coventry takes on the Hartford Public/HMTCA co-op at Hyland Park.

ROCKVILLE 10, EAST WINDSOR 0. Jacob Niemcyzk tossed five innings of one-hit ball for Rockville in a six-inning NCCC win. He struck out four.

Steve Kozak scored two runs and drove in four for the Rams (7-7). Alex Stoner had two RBIs while Joe Stawski and Nolan Finan scored two runs each.

Ryan Lee had both hits for East Windsor (4-7).

The Panthers are scheduled to play at Bolton today. Rockville entertains Bolton on Monday,

EAST GRANBY 8, BOLTON 3. James Fagnant, Matt Fagnant, and Aiden Cosgrove hit home runs in East Granby's NCCC win.

James Fagnant finished with three hits for the Crusaders (9-4), who have won seven of their last eight. Joe Medeiros was the winning pitcher.

Bryan Diehl and Cal Bulley each had a hit and an RBI for Bolton (0-12). Ben Post pitched a complete game, striking out two, in a losing effort.

The Bulldogs are scheduled to host East Windsor today.

RHAM 6, E.O. SMITH 5 (8). A throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning proved decisive and gave RHAM the CCC East win in Hebron.

The Raptors (10-1) trailed 4-2 after five innings. Ethan Munroe's RBI double in the sixth made it a one-run game and Fayz Baig's RBI double in the seventh tied it.

E.O. Smith (5-7) regained the lead in the top of the eighth but RHAM loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning. Bradley D'Amico hit a groundball but the shortstop threw wide of first base allowing the tying and winning runs to score.

Sean Connolly was the winning pitcher for the Raptors, who play at Middletown Monday.

WINDSOR 10, EAST HARTFORD 7. Sixth-ranked Windsor made it 13 straight wins by holding off visiting East Hartford in CCC interdivisional action at Barry Chasen Field.

The Warriors (13-0) led 10-0 before the Hornets (3-9) scored seven times in the fifth inning to get back in it. But they would get no closer as Windsor's Ryan Cramer threw 2Ï innings of scoreless relief behind starter and winner Nate Acabchuk for the save.

Eli Fangiullo was 3-for-3 with two runs scored for the Warriors. Mason Glickman had two doubles and scored twice. Brandon Cosgrove also had two hits and two runs scored.

Windsor hosts once-beaten No. 5 Newington in the first of a home-and-home Monday. The teams play again in Newington on Thursday.

For daily updates on high school sports in JI's coverage area, follow Kyle Maher on Twitter: @KyleBMaher, Facebook: Kyle Maher, and Instagram: @KyleBMaher.