As the clock strikes 7:00 PM tomorrow night, the South Windsor Bobcats and Glastonbury Guardians will begin play for their third meeting this season and tenth time in as many years, but this one will be like none of those that have preceded it. The two CCC rivals will battle it out for the CIAC class LL state championship under the bright lights of Palmer Field in Middletown.
For Glastonbury, it’ll be their first time ever playing for a state championship on the baseball diamond. Prior to the tournament, if you were to pick the Guardians to be here, most would’ve called you insane, but now they stand just one day away from a potential title.
Glastonbury entered as the 32 seed. Having not won the eight necessary games to receive an automatic bid to the tournament, the Guardians received a spot to fill the bracket and seemed to be a rollover for top seeded Amity, but after a dominant performance on the mound from junior Daniel Wallace, Glastonbury lived to see another day.
However, it wouldn’t just be one more day for the Guardians. The very next day, the 32 seed stunned Fairfield Ludlowe behind a phenomenal diving catch in center field from Anthony Dubaldo. Next up was Southington, the CCC’s perennial winners and back-to-back conference champions. Yet again, the Cinderella run continued after another magnificent start by Wallace.
After a rain delay pushed the semifinal with Fairfield Warde a day back, Wallace was able to pitch again and shut down the Mustangs for a commanding 9-1 victory to send Glastonbury to the title game for the first time.
On the other side of the bracket, the second seed South Windsor Bobcats have found their way back in the title for the first time since 2012, while looking to win their first title since 1993.
A first round beatdown of Greenwich brought Fairfield Prep to Rotary Field for a second round game the very next day. After a ten inning marathon, sophomore Braydon Falco delivered a walkoff single to stay alive.
Despite heavy rain, the Bobcats cruised past Naugatuck in the quarter finals and faced three seed Norwalk in the semi finals. South Windsor only had two hits against the Bears, but one of them landed deep in the right field stands off the bat of Sam Balducci, helping send the ‘Cats to the title with a 5-3 victory.
Wallace, without nearly any doubt, has been the best player in the entire state since the tournament began on June 2, but Bobcats senior Robert Wunsch puts up a good fight.
Wunsch has started two games on the mound so far and was brilliant in both. While those two starts are one less than the three made by Wallace, Wunsch has only surrendered five runs and has struck out 14 batters.
Wunsch’s marvelous pitching was to be expected after being a selection for the CHSCA all state team, but Wallace’s has come as more of a surprise.
The junior hasn’t just won three games against good teams, he’s dominated three of the top ten teams in the state. Fairfield Warde hadn’t scored fewer than eleven runs in each of the first 3 rounds, yet only mustered one against Wallace.
To go along with his performance on the mound, Wallace was 4-4 at the plate with two extra base hits and drove in more runs then he surrendered.
Wallace is primed to lead his team to their first championship in history, but the only thing standing in his way is a wild pack of Bobcats.
South won both of the teams two matchups this year in blowout fashion. With their ace on the mound and his co-star, all conference pitcher/outfielder Brayden Edwards, ready in relief, the Bobcats could very likely return to glory for the first time since 1993.
In 1993, things were a little different for the Bobcats. The first of which would be the class, having been in class L at the time, but who better to talk about the 1993 season then the star of the team, Gary Burnham, who spoke to The Prowl about the ‘93 title and the potential one tomorrow.
The Bobcats faced Plainville in the championship game and as Burnham detailed, “there was never a dull moment in the entire game.” A pinch hitter came in and walked it off to win the Bobcats their only title to date.
Burnham, an SWHS and Clemson University hall of famer, has high praise for both the players and coaching behind this year’s Bobcats team.
“This is an incredible group of talented ball players led by perhaps the best coach in the entire state,” Burnham said.
The former Gatorade player of the year and All-American added on, saying “I am very confident he [coach McDermott] will have this team fully prepared for the game. This team has next level prospects.”
Having been the leader of the only title in school history, Burnham offered advice for the players of this year’s squad, “take a minute to soak in the moments of your accomplishments so far. Do not try and be more than you are, simply be the player you have been all season long and stay within yourself.”
Regardless of the winner, it’ll mark the first time a member of the CCC has won the LL title since Newington did back in 2011. Before the tournament began, there was a lot of mention of the continued “FCIAC and SCC dominance”, yet now both conferences have to sit and watch as the CCC brings home the title.
No matter what happens tomorrow night, both teams have had historical seasons that shouldn’t be disregarded with a loss, but could avoid that debate by bringing home some hardware.
When all is said and done, the two possible outcomes will be either: the crown being placed atop Cinderella’s head, or the clock striking midnight and a hungry pack of Bobcats bringing home what’s theirs.
