Stamford North will play Division 2 champion Southington South in the state championship round on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in Newington. Waterford and Norwich are the other two teams in the state final four. The state tournament continues through the weekend.
Stamford North battled back after losing to Fairfield American, 1-0, in its first contest in the Division 1 tournament.
Stamford beat Hamden on Saturday, 14-4, to earn another shot at the Americans and face another uphill battle.
After jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, with Ben Nash's two-run double fueling the early scoring. Fairfield battled back to take a 4-3 lead as Richie Kerstetter hit his second home run of the game, a three-run shot in the fourth.
Todd Guttman's solo home run tied the game in the fifth. In the seventh, Jay Lockwood's two-out RBI single scored Jaden Dawkins with the go-ahead run.
Stamford North reliever pitcher David Collazo, who took over for Lockwood in the sixth, wiggled out of trouble in the bottom of the inning with help from Nash. With two outs and a runner on third, Collazo uncorked a wild pitch. Nash tagged out the runner on a close play at home for the game's final out.
Stamford North’s team is David Collazo, Ethan Davis, Jayden Dawkins, Todd Guttman, Tucker Healy, Matt Jester, Jay Lockwood, Mason Masterson, Calvin McKeever, Ben Nash, Ethan Skaug, Andrew Stietzel, Patrick Teasdale and Tyler Tuccinardi.
Bob Robustelli is the manager. His assistants are Art Murphy, Dan Possidento and David Skaug.
For the complete Little League state schedule, click here.
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