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Tigers’ Baseball Takes 2-1 Loss to Prep in its First SCC Final

The Hand baseball team prides itself on coming through clutch in high-pressure spots to win close contests. On the heels of a prosperous regular season, the Tigers showed what they’re made of by winning a pair of tight ballgames to reach their first SCC Tournament final, where they took a narrow defeat against one of the top squads in the state.

Hand finished the regular season at 16-4 to earn the No. 2 seed in the SCC Tournament and then grinded out a 1-0, eighth-inning triumph against No. 7 seed Guilford in the quarterfinals. The next day, Hand hosted No. 6 Branford in the semis and prevailed 6-3 when junior Julian Banerji hit a three-run, walk-off home run.

However, Hand’s day wasn’t done, as the Tigers had to travel to West Haven to face top-seeded Fairfield Prep for the conference crown that same night. The Jesuits took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Hand tied it in the fourth, and then Prep scored the go-ahead in the sixth on its way to the 2-1 victory.

Head Coach Travis LaPointe praised the performance of starting pitcher Chris Hartmann, who pitched six innings and only allowed five hits. The Tigers’ skipper was also pleased to see five members of his club make the All-SCC Team: seniors Kyle Schaefer, Eddie Sweeney, James DeGrasse, and Cam Fitzgerald, and sophomore Phoenix Billings. LaPointe tipped his cap to the heart that his boys showed in the SCC Tournament and have been showing all season.

“SCCs was an exciting week. This is such a resilient group of players. Every single time we are down, even if we lose, we come back,” said LaPointe, whose team is 18-5 overall. “Their resiliency paid off all week. They didn’t give in at any point during SCCs. They have a refusal to lose, and it’s nice to have that mental toughness.”

After a scoreless first inning, Fairfield Prep (22-1) got a man aboard who then stole second, advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, and went home for the opening run of the game on a two-out hit.

In the fourth, Fitzgerald doubled and scored the tying run when senior Will Reiner reached on an infield single and the Jesuits made a throwing error. Hand threatened to take the lead by getting two more batters on base, but Prep escaped the jam with a couple of strikeouts.

Hand got two men on with one down in the fifth, yet Prep turned a double play to end the inning. The Tigers also saw a man reach second base in the sixth inning. However, the Jesuits’ pitcher notched a pair of strikeouts to get out of it.

Prep went up 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth when a runner reached on an error, took second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single to left field for what held up as the winning run.

The Tigers fhad inished their regular season with a 14-3 rout of West Haven on May 21. Billings had four hits and two RBI; senior Paul Gagliardi had three hits, including two doubles, with three RBI; and junior Chris Bartosic had two hits. Ian Butler also chipped in two hits, including a triple and two RBI; and Banerji had two hits and three RBI. Hartmann got the win on the mound and improved to 3-1.

In the SCC quarterfinals, Hand faced Guilford and earned a 1-0 victory in eight innings on May 23. Schaefer improved to 7-2 by tossing seven shutout innings, allowing six hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Fitzgerald had two hits and scored the game-winning run for the Tigers, who also saw Reiner get two hits.

In the semis, the Tigers hosted Branford and prevailed 6-3 when Banerji blasted a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to send Hand to its first SCC final. Billings had two hits and an RBI, while Fitzgerald had an RBI single. Junior Jake Crawford pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts to improve to 7-0.

Looking to the Class L State Tournament, 3rd-seeded Hand will face No. 30 seed East Haven for the first round on Tuesday, May 29 at 3:30 p.m. The Tigers are certainly riding a wave of confidence heading into states, although Coach LaPointe knows that the game of baseball can humble anyone in an instant. That’s why the Tigers will treat every opponent they face with the utmost respect.

“Our players only expectation is to win it all. They are tough enough to do it,” said LaPointe. “You never know how the ball will bounce, but we believe we have the ability to beat anyone, yet we know anyone can beat us. We have to have our best game every day.”