Plowboys walk-off final birth in semi-finals over Wolcott

Tuesday August 6

Bethlehem Plowboys 3   Wolcott Scrappers 2

Plowboys Survive in Sensational Series

copyright Rick Wilson Litchfield County Sports 8/6/24

BETHLEHEM – Okay Tri-State League what do you have for an encore? The bar has just been set pretty high. Really high. Two ninth inning walk-offs with the edge of night deciding to become an unwanted yet unfixable factor. Maybe sky high is more appropriate.

First round matchups don’t usually generate much in the drama department and often not much in the interest department. You know, the preliminaries to the really good stuff, often the more competitive matchups on the road to crowning a champion. Clearly the Bethlehem Plowboys and Wolcott Scrappers didn’t get the memo to that tradition. If fact the two teams treated the walk-over first round idea with a beautiful and convincing disdain.

The two teams entered the opening round of the playoffs from different ends of the spectrum. Bethlehem was clearly the best team in the league during the regular season with only one loss marring an almost perfectly immaculate run with a 21-1 record that included two wins over three-time defending champion Tri-Town. The youthful Scrappers were the lowest seed at No. 9 with a 6-16 mark that included a pair of losses to the Plowboys. Nothing here, right? Bethlehem, league finalist the least two seasons, ready to roll and move on to the semifinals. A foregone conclusion. An 11-1 Bethlehem win in the first game of the best-of-three series hardly dispelled that notion.

That was where it all stood Saturday night. Let’s get on with the meaty stuff. Who knew the second round would have to wait and might pale in comparison. The series ended three nights later; a routine romp replaced by a terrific tussle punctuated with a pile of players in a jubilant celebration on the first base line as day disappeared into night at Gallop Field while those watching were left wanting more. They had long before left their seats, restless nerves demanding movement, and now just appreciated.

It was all that good.

After a day of rain, the routine turned into the special in Game 2. Wolcott has a bulldog demeanor that sits well with its youth. The Scrappers refused to go quietly into the end of the summer. At home, deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 were erased and Jon Diogostine’s two-run home run made for a 5-3 lead. The Plowboys, who had been held in check by an outstanding performance from Blake Stone (8 2/3 innings, seven hits, 11 ks) showed some grit in the ninth taking advantage of three walks before Chase Belisle roped a two-run double to highlight a four-run outburst for a 7-5 lead. Yeah, series over. Well, not quite. Two errors, and a couple of hits cut the deficit to 7-6 with the bases loaded and no outs. Two strikeouts later with darkness dominating, Joe Dunne roped a single up the middle for an 8-7 victory.

Game 3 turned the drama meter up even further. If there was a thought that Bethlehem just had a nasty hiccup, it evaporated quickly. Wolcott pitcher Joe Ferrucci and Bethlehem’s Keegan Daigle locked into a mesmerizing duel with the Scrappers on top, 2-1, going into the eighth. The Plowboys weren’t exactly ready to say good night. Big-time players make big-time plays. Greg Campbell, Belisle, Ty Boisvert and Jon Wilson are big-time players. Campbell, showing why he was last season’s league MVP, started the succession of clutch efforts when he roped a two-out, two-strike single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, 2-2. Then it was Wilson’s turn. With two outs and a runner on first base in the top of the ninth, the fleet-footed center fielder chased down a Bermuda-Triangle shallow pop-up and turned a mad sprint into terrific diving catch in the web of his glove to prevent the go-ahead and potentially winning run from scoring. Wilson said afterwards he only saw the ball once it got above the tree line because of the darkness.

Defensive gems often turn into offensive production and so it was. And it was Belisle for the second game in a row. With umpires already declaring the inning would be the last one due to the darkness, Belisle put the issue to rest. With runners on first and second, he lined a single in right center plating the winning run and sending his teammates storming out of the dugout. “We grinded it out. A lot of guys didn’t lose hope,” Wilson said. Not lost in the shuffle was Boisvert’s performance. He was pitching on just two days rest having thrown the opener. He was untouchable for the final two innings an effort not lost on Wolcott coach Alex Sconziano who said to him after the game – “We faced you three times this season and scored just two runs.” Boisvert had beaten Wolcott in the two regular season games.

Wolcott refused to play the role of token opposition. The Scrappers will be a force in future seasons, forget their record. They nearly ruined Bethlehem’s season. Bethlehem found what it needed with the season on the line. It wasn’t by much, but it was enough. Opening round and it was more than anybody bargained for or expected. You only hope the rest of the playoffs will be as good. Big plays, darkness, big hits, solid pitching and down to the wire drama. Let there be more. And by the way, don’t ever think it isn’t fun and important. All you had to do was see that celebration on the first base line and the disappointment on the other side. It never gets old.

Great game, great series. Let there be more.

Belisle’s walk-off single sends Plowboys into Semi’s

copyright Kevin Roberts Sports on Ct-69 8/6/24

For the second straight evening, a game in the Connecticut Tri-State Baseball League first round playoff series between the top-seeded Bethlehem Plowboys and ninth-seeded Wolcott Scrappers came down to the ninth inning.

It also came down to the final minutes of daylight.

And for the second straight evening, the game ended with a walk-off single. A day after Wolcott walked off on Bethlehem, 8-7, at Wolcott High School’s Tary Scott Memorial Field, the Plowboys returned the favor against the Scrappers, 3-2, at Gallop Field. Chase Belisle’s single scored Nate Cormier with the winning run for Bethlehem, which took the series over Wolcott, 2-1. The Plowboys move on to the semifinal round against the fourth-seeded Valley Ducks. When that series, and the other semifinal series between the second-seeded Tri-Town Trojans and third-seeded Burlington Hunters, begins is to be determined, given Tropical Storm Debby is on the way.

Staring down a potential suspended game and the uncertainty as to when it would be completed, Bethlehem mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth inning. With the game tied, 2-2, Cormier (1-3, 2B, BB), who had a rough evening at shortstop, worked a big one-out walk, and Isaiah Johnson (1-2, RS, BB, HBP) was hit by a pitch. That set up Belisle, the former Wolcott High catcher. Belisle (2-3, SB) was facing many former teammates from Wolcott High, but he’s a Bethlehem Plowboy in Tri-State. Belisle served a single the other way to right field. Cormier beat right fielder A.J. Martinez’s throw home to catcher Joe Dunne, and Bethlehem erupted in celebration.

It was a great game, and it provided another heart-pounding ending. For most of the contest, it was a pitchers’ duel between Bethlehem’s Keegan Daigle (2 runs, 5 strikeouts) and Wolcott’s Joe Ferrucci (2 runs, 5 strikeouts). Jesse Swartout got the Plowboys on the board first in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI groundout that scored Isaiah Johnson. Devin Fuegen drove in Nick Sconziano with an infield single in the top of the sixth inning. A throwing error on the same play allowed Josh Dunne to score and gave the Scrappers a 2-1 lead.

Greg Campbell (2-4) tied the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the eighth inning when he somehow got his bat to a good outside pitch from Ferrucci and singled home pinch runner Matt Palumbo. Palumbo was running for Jarrett Michaels, who had reached on a fielder’s choice. In the top of the eighth inning, Bethlehem manager Rich Revere turned to Game 1 winner Ty Boisvert (2 innings, 4 strikeouts), and the right-hander responded by striking out the side. Greg Campbell (2-4) tied the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the eighth inning when he somehow got his bat to a good outside pitch from Ferrucci and singled home pinch runner Matt Palumbo. Palumbo was running for Jarrett Michaels, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.

In the top of the ninth inning, Plowboy center fielder Jon Wilson made a potential series-saving diving catch on a ball hit by Dillon Fernandes. Ferrucci made it through eight innings before Wolcott manager Alex Sconziano turned to Nate Yachtis for the ninth. Yachtis got a flyout for the first out, but walked Cormier and hit Johnson. Nate Ehmer came on in relief to face Belisle, who tallied the winning hit. There were other solid plays in the game. Fernandes dove to his right on a line drive and speared it for an out, and his terrific scoop at first base secured another out. Martinez laid out for a diving catch in right field. Swartout, the Bethlehem catcher, made some key blocks behind the plate.

GALLERY: Here are my photos from Game 3.

VIDEO: Here’s the series-winning hit from Belisle.