Warriors Fall In First-Round Baseball Playoffs

Sometimes that's just how the ball bounces.

There's no other way to describe the loss Windsor suffered on the baseball diamond in the first round of the Class LL tournament on Tuesday.

Windsor senior Devin Over pitched well on the mound, and the Warriors executed their game plan, but a few odd bounces proved too much as Newington topped Windsor, 2-1, ending the Warriors' playoff run just as quickly as it began.

The trouble began early for Windsor.

Newington went up 1-0 in the second inning without getting a hit. They managed to load the bases following two walks and a groundball to first with Bill-Buckner movement that skirted around Wesley Hurty's glove for an error. Over hit the next batter, sending Newington's Sam Tinkham home for an easy run and the lead.

Newington's ace, Cole Bryant, pitched lights out throughout the contest. Bryant allowed four hits, but forced Windsor to leave multiple runners on base.

Windsor did take advantage when opportunity came knocking. They manage to tie things up in the fifth following a perfectly-executed steal with runners on first and third.

Following a ground-rule double that let Casey Johnson advance to second, Windsor coach Joe Serfass chose to send in Patrick Sponzo to pinch run. Senior Brian Mazella laid down a bunt that sent Sponzo to third. Second baseman Garrett Thomas was walked, setting up an opportunity Serfass was ready for.

"It's a play we practice a lot," said Serfass. "We have the guy on first leave early, we force the pitcher to step off [the rubber], get in a rundown, and hopefully our guy on third base... tries to read the right time to go, and he picked the right time, and we manufactured a run there."

The run would be the first and last for Windsor, and, while it provided some energy to the team, odd bounces would return and prove devastating.

The sixth inning opened with a bang as Windsor's Alex Loura robbed Newington of a home run as he tumbled over the centerfield fence with ball in glove.

The play sent the ballpark into a frenzy, but was followed up by another odd bounce. Newington's next batter, Tyler Barrett, sent a deep fly to the fence in left field. Windsor sophomore Khalil Griffith seemed to get under it with no trouble, but seemed to lose the ball in the sun as it bounced off of him and over the fence for a home run, giving Newington the lead once more.

The play was indicative of the afternoon, but hardly represented the play of a ballclub that Serfass described as "overachievers."

"We started the season 2-6, and won 10 of the next 12," he said. "Everybody looked at us and thought we were young, we only have four seniors... our seniors did a great job, and they just plugged away every day."

Newington will face top-ranked Glastonbury Wed., June 1 at 3:30 p.m. The winner of that game will face the winner of a Danbury-Staples matchup.