On a gross, rainy, humid Saturday afternoon, the CIAC Class LL quarterfinal matchup between the second-seeded South Windsor Bobcats and seventh-seeded Naugatuck Greyhounds took place at Rotary Field in South Windsor. Despite the heavy rain, the game still carried on with a trip to the semifinals on the line.
Senior Robert Wunsch, fresh off the announcement of his selection to the CHSCA all-state roster, took the mound for the home ‘Cats. The first seven pitches thrown from the righty were all strikes, a preview of what the rest of Wunsch’s day would look like. Wunsch retired the Greyhounds in order to quickly end the top of the first.
As the rain began to ease up ever so slightly, the Bobcats failed to break the 0-0 tie in the home half of the first despite a base hit from senior Sam Balducci and a walk to fellow senior Jake Palombizio.
Wunsch returned to the mound and could not be touched. Not a single Greyhound batter reached base until the fourth inning.
Both lineups remained relatively quiet until the home fifth. Junior Aiden Jackson led off with a walk and advanced to second after sophomore Braydon Falco, the ‘Cats hero of the second round, wore a pitch to the hand. Junior Brayden Edwards loaded the bases after laying down a beautiful bunt for a base hit.
Balducci hit a hard grounder to second, but Naugatuck was able to recover a bobble and get the force out at home. Wunsch came to bat with the bases full and one out and watched a wild pitch go past him and bring in Falco.
Just a few pitches later, Wunsch hit a hard comebacker to the pitcher, Lucas Ferraiolo, who appeared to have caught Edwards in a rundown, but after a vicious cutback and spin move, Edwards managed to make Ferraiolo fall.
Edwards took off for home, but Ferraiolo made a good recovery to throw the ball to the catcher, only for Edwards to hit another spin move and avoid the tag to score a run after one of the craziest baserunning moments you’d ever see.
Palombizio brought in the final run of the inning on a base hit to right field. South Windsor left with a 3-0 lead at the end of the fifth.
A leadoff single in the top of the sixth put a bit of pressure on Wunsch, but in the blink of an eye, the ‘Cats’ starter retired the next three batters to keep the Greyhounds scoreless.
Freshman Tyler Poland led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a base hit and moved to second after senior Jake Gombotz was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced after a wild pitch that set up a sacrifice fly from Jackson to make it 4-0.
The decisive seventh inning didn’t start exactly how Wunsch would have liked. A single and double to start the inning gave the Hounds two runners in scoring position with no outs. Wunsch ended his clean sheet after throwing two consecutive wild pitches to bring in both runners.
Just as it seemed Wunsch might be slipping the lead away, he zoned in and retired the next two batters he faced. The tying run came to bat after a two-out walk but grounded out right back to Wunsch to end the game.
With a final score of 4-2, the Bobcats will make their first appearance in the state semifinals since the 2012 season, where they went on to win before a loss in the state title game.
Wunsch finished the day with a complete game, five-hit, two-run, five-strikeout performance.
Following the game, Wunsch spoke to The Prowl, saying, “It was tough with the weather conditions. I didn’t have my best stuff out there, but my defense had my back when I needed it the most.”
In a week full of accomplishments for the senior UMass Boston commit, he adds two more massive marks to his résumé: leading the Bobcats to their first semifinal in over a decade, as well as throwing his 200th career strikeout during the quarterfinal round.
With the neutral site for the semifinal round not yet announced, the Bobcats will begin to prepare for their date with destiny when they play third-seeded Norwalk on Tuesday for a spot in the championship.
