Tri-State Baseball League playoffs begin best-of-three first-round series Saturday

copyright Kevin Roberts,Staff WriterJuly 31, 2025

The Valley Kraken picked up their first-ever Tri-State Baseball League playoff win in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night at Fuessenich Park.

Brayden Stellato’s RBI single gave No. 6 Valley a 4-3 walk-off win over the No. 11 Winsted Whalers. The reward for Valley is a first round best-of-three series against the No. 3 Burlington Hunters, who had a bye.

In Tuesday’s nightcap at Fuessenich, the No. 7 Valley Ducks scored all 10 of their runs in the bottom of the first inning on the way to a 10-0 blasting of the No. 10 Torrington Thunder.

Valley got two hits apiece from Ty Pelletier (triple) and Chris Oliwa (double), Angel Torres had an RBI double, and Kyle Daddona drove in a pair of runs with his own hit. On the mound, Oliwa, Steve Marinaro and Jamie Coen combined for 10 strikeouts. The Ducks get the No. 2 Tri-Town Trojans, the four-time defending Tri-State champions, in their best-of-three matchup.

The No. 8 Amenia Monarchs opened up their Tuesday wild card game with seven runs against the No. 9 Canton Crushers on the way to an 8-4 win at Doc Bartlett Field. Aidan Hartwell had three hits while Zach Carroll (two RBIs), Calab McCaul and Gavyn Queen each had two hits, and Aidan Damon had a hit and three RBIs to spur the offense. Brodie Rathjen tossed a complete game. The Monarchs play the No. 1 Bethlehem Plowboys in their best-of-three matchup.

The No. 5 CT Sliders used the strong pitching of left-hander Henry Marino to blank the No. 12 Naugatuck White Sox, 6-0, at Municipal Stadium. Marino went six innings and struck out 10. Ryan Montini and Luke Sokolski each doubled to spearhead the Slider offense. The Sliders earned a matchup with the No. 4 Wolcott Scrappers in a best-of-three series.