As the rain cleared up in the late afternoon of Tuesday, June 10, the South Windsor High School Bobcats traveled to Palmer Field in Middletown to “host” the Bears of Norwalk High School in the CIAC Class LL semifinals.
Before the tournament began, most had this potential matchup penciled into their brackets. The second-seeded ‘Cats found their way into the semifinals with a win over Greenwich, a ten-inning walk-off against Fairfield Prep, and a strong win over Naugatuck. The Bears clawed their way to the game after escaping East Hartford in round one, dominating Stamford, and then walking off Platt in the quarterfinals.
The game began with South Windsor junior Brayden Edwards taking the mound and picking up right where he left off against Fairfield Prep. Edwards dominated the Bears all game long. A base hit in the first was all Norwalk would get before being sent back to the dugout scoreless.
In the home side of the first, the Bobcats came to bat against flamethrowing freshman Gavin Chakar. Chakar couldn’t shake the nerves early and walked the first three batters he faced but settled in and retired the next three hitters to keep the game scoreless despite the bases-loaded, no-out jam.
Edwards trotted back out to the mound and did usual Edwards things. Two strikeouts and a sharp groundout on a good play by senior shortstop Justin Dittmar kept the score as is and ended the top of the second.
Chakar got two quick outs in the second but walked sophomore Braydon Falco despite being up 0-2 in the count. Next to bat was Edwards, who remained patient after fouling off several pitches and drew his second walk in as many innings.
With two on and two outs, the next hitter was senior Sam Balducci. Balducci is one of the remaining members of the 2023 team that went to the quarterfinals before losing 6-1 to Staples. Wanting nothing more than to bring the Bobcats to their first state title in 13 years, Balducci came ready to swing.
After fouling off the first pitch, Balducci got a fastball right in the sweet spot of the bat and sent it deep into the right-field stands. The large South Windsor crowd who had made the journey to Palmer erupted into pure pandemonium.
The Bobcats led 3-0 after Balducci’s home run and drained any ounce of momentum from the Norwalk dugout.
Chakar’s day became one to forget. The freshman was pulled before getting the final out of the inning after walking senior Robert Wunsch.
Edwards sailed through the third with ease and brought the ‘Cats back up to bat. Freshman Tyler Poland led off by wearing one inside but was out when senior Jake Gombotz hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who got the out at second but threw it away past the first baseman to move Gombotz to second.
Junior Aiden Jackson lined a ball into center field that went off the tip of the center fielder’s glove and down to allow both Jackson and Gombotz to be safe. Falco came up next and laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to score Gombotz.
Edwards brought in Gombotz after reaching on an error to make the game 5-0 at the end of three.
The fourth and fifth innings featured little excitement but saw Edwards continue to shine on the mound. A leadoff single in the sixth put the Bears’ fastest runner on base, which paid off after scoring all the way from first on a miscue from the Bobcats’ fielding.
Norwalk’s Jacob Fields hit a two-out double to put some pressure on Edwards, but the southpaw bunkered down and struck out the final batter of the inning before coming off the mound with pure adrenaline.
Balducci reached base for the third time in four at-bats with a walk in the home sixth but wouldn’t get to score as the inning came to a close with him on third.
The Bobcats needed just three outs to punch their ticket to the championship, but those three outs would not come without some drama.
Edwards allowed a single to the first batter of the inning before a brutal error in centerfield allowed the ball to fall for a hit and put runners on second and third with no outs. The next batter hit a pop fly to center that was deep enough to score the Bears’ second run.
With his pitch count nearing 109, Edwards remained in to try and get one more out but couldn’t get it done after another base hit from Norwalk cut the lead to just two and brought the tying run to bat.
Senior Jake Palombizio came in to pitch but walked the first batter he faced to put the tying run on first and the go-ahead run at bat. With the Norwalk crowd on their feet and the game seeming to be on the verge of slipping away from the Bobcats, Palombizio got a king-sized out on a pop-up to Jackson at first.
With two on and two out, Norwalk attempted a highly risky play by running a double steal. Gombotz’s throw went high and was saved from going into left field by Balducci’s leaping grab. Just as it seemed the runner was in at third safely, the umpire deemed that Balducci had tagged the spike of his cleat on the way down and the runner was out.
The Bobcats celebrated the win by jumping up and down and hugging one another. The crowd did much of the same. South Windsor 5, Norwalk 3.
With the win, the Bobcats advance to their first state championship since their loss in 2012, while looking for their first state title since 1993.
Balducci willed the ‘Cats offense all game long with his three-run home run and two walks, while Edwards’ dominance on the mound kept the Bears’ offense silent up until his departure in the seventh. Edwards tallied 6 and ⅓ innings pitched, seven strikeouts, zero walks, and just one earned run.
The ‘Cats starter spoke to The Prowl after the game, saying, “All my pitches were working. I knew if I commanded the zone I was going to put us in a great spot to win. The job’s not finished though. I was just trying to get my boy Rob [Wunsch] one more start.”
To go along with his stellar outing against Norwalk, Edwards eclipsed 200 career strikeouts, just as Wunsch did in the previous round against Naugatuck.
With the championship game being either Friday or Saturday, the Bobcats will get to throw their ace Robert Wunsch, who’s led them well with his dominance on the mound this year.
The Bobcats’ date with destiny will be against the winner of fourth-seeded Fairfield Warde and the Glastonbury Guardians, the 32 seed playing with house money that can’t seem to call it quits.
No matter who is thrown the Bobcats’ way, the team is ready to attack with Wunsch on the mound, ready to deal any kind of money to any kind of batter.
