H.S. baseball: Bacon Academy edges Woodstock to clinch ECC Div. II title
May 11—WOODSTOCK — Jack Novak scattered eight hits in a complete-game effort as Bacon Academy clinched the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II baseball title with a 4-1 victory over Woodstock Academy on Tuesday.
Novak improved to 7-0 for the Bobcats (14-1, 6-0), who broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the sixth and then tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh on RBI singles by Dan Shane and Steven Laliberte.
Bacon scored its first run on an RBI single by Luke Pennella in the second. Pennella, Shane and Laliberte had two hits apiece for the Bobcats while A.J Blanchette scored twice.
Novak walked three and struck out five, allowing his only run in the third when Jonathan Smith doubled home a run for the Centaurs (11-5, 5-2).
In other games:
— No. 10 Fitch took over sole possession of first-place in the ECC Division I race with a 14-1, five-inning win over Norwich Free Academy. The Falcons (13-3, 4-1) hold a one-game lead over East Lyme and Waterford (both are 3-2 in the division) after the Lancers beat the Vikings 9-6.
Cam McGugan led the Fitch offense by going 3-for-5 with a double, four RBI and two runs scored while Tate Scherer and Trace Morales each had three hits and an RBI, Ian Anderson had two doubles and two RBI and Matt Robinson had two hits, two runs and an RBI. Morales was the winning pitcher, allowing just one hit and one walk and striking out nine. Bryson Plante had the lone hit and run for NFA (3-12, 0-5).
— Zion Fraser hit two home runs, scored four and was the winning pitcher as Ledyard defeated New London 15-6 in an ECC Division II game. Fraser pitched 6.2 innings and struck out 14 batters for the Colonels (6-10, 3-4) while Nate Keefe had three hits and scored twice, Nate Petriel had three hits and Brandon Wuestner had a pair of hits and scored two runs. Michael Germoso, Henry Santana and Isaiah Plaza all had doubles for New London (7-8, 1-5).
— Ben Darrow singled with three RBI and two runs as Lyman Memorial downed Wheeler 12-1 in an ECC Division IV game that ended after five innings due to the mercy rule. Mike Incontro had a single, two runs and two RBI for the Bulldogs (13-3, 7-0). James Main doubled, tripled and scored for Wheeler (5-8, 2-4).
— Trevin Russ went 4-for-4 and drove in four runs as Killingly clinched the ECC Division III title with a 12-2 win over Griswold. Killingly is 10-6, 6-0 while the Wolverines fall to 5-11, 3-4.
— Bryce Morrissette had three doubles, three runs scored and three RBI to highlight St. Bernard's 12-0 victory over Putnam in an ECC Division IV game. Colin O'Leary finished with two hits, including a triple, while scoring twice and driving in four for the Saints (7-6, 4-3), and Ethan Chavez finished with two hits and two RBI.
— Old Lyme broke open a close game with a five-run sixth inning to defeat Coginchaug 11-5 in the Shoreline Conference. Santiago Rodriguez struck out seven over 5.2 innings to earn the win and Casey Hurtgen record the final four outs to earn the save. Owen Snurkowski went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Wildcats (8-8, 8-8) and Jimmy Creagan was 3-for-3 with two RBI, while Jack Porter, David Evers and Riley Warecke added two hits each.
— Chace Davidson went 3-for-5 with a double, triple and four RBI as Norwich Tech scored the final 10 runs to beat Grasso Tech 17-7 in the Connecticut Technical Conference. The Warriors are 10-5. Jesus Sanchez went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run for the Eagles (7-5) and Randy Vidal was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs.
— Miles Sarmiento drove in five runs as Montville beat Ledyard 18-7 in an ECC Division II game on Monday. Curtis Buecker had three hits and three RBI, Chas Terni homered, Andrew Wigfield drove in three runs and Sarmiento had three hits for Montville (3-12, 1-5). Braydon Wuestner tripled and homered and Zion Fraser and Robert Moynihan had two hits each for Ledyard (5-10, 2-4).
