Killingly’s magical state tournament run came to an end on Wednesday afternoon.
No. 15 St. Joseph got a terrific pitching performance from sophomore Harry Jones, and just enough offense, to eliminate No. 6 Killingly, 3-0, at Muzzy Field in Bristol.
It was Killingly’s first appearance in the Class M semifinals in a little over 50 years.
“I don’t think anyone was expecting that, except for us,” Killingly senior catcher Brady Zadora said.
“It’s just a surreal moment to even be here,” Zadora said. “We were so excited to play baseball all week long after that Waterford win. We wanted nothing more than to just come back out here and play baseball.”
St. Joseph, a Trumbull school that plays in the baseball-rich Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, won tournament games against Abbott Tech, Montville, and Ellington. The Cadets (16-8) were making their third straight semifinal trip to Muzzy. They’ll meet top-seeded Suffield this weekend at Palmer Field in Middletown with a chance to win their first state title since 2019.
“It’s a great feeling. I’m very happy for these guys,” St. Joseph coach Jim Chaves said. “It was a quality baseball game. Runs were tough to come by. Our guy was a little bit better than their guy.”
Chaves was referring to Jones, a hard throwing righthander who kept Killingly off balance during a sensational complete game performance.
“He was getting ahead in every single count,” said Zadora, who had two of the three hits Killingly mustered against Jones. “We didn’t think he was going to be locating the slider as good as he did but he had his stuff today and that makes it hard.”
Jones struck out eight and walked just one.
“The schedule they play all year and the kind of opponents he has to pitch against night in and night out gets him very prepared for facing a pretty good lineup,” Killingly coach Ben Desaulnier said. “He did a really good job mixing speeds and also throwing strikes. His first walk was in the seventh inning and in high school baseball that’s what wins.”
Killingly pitchers Dominik Kubera and reliever Mike Fabiano Jr. wiggled out of some tough jams during four of the seven innings.
“Dom is a bulldog. He pitches ahead with his breaking ball and knows how to work hitters,” Desaulnier said. “That’s a good St. Joe’s lineup out of the FCIAC and to hold them to three runs, I’m very proud of them. The pitching gave us a chance to win today.”
Killingly committed two infield errors in the top of the first inning and fell behind 1-0. The Cadets added another run in the third when Jake Rios hit a double along the right field line and scored on Alvin Rosario’s RBI single.
St. Joseph took a 3-0 advantage in the top of the fourth. Drew Traverso and Nate Walsh led off with consecutive singles. The runners moved up on a wild pitch and after Rios drew a walk to load the bases, Jake Failla walked, which brought Traverso home for the third and final run.
Killingly staged a two out rally in the bottom of the seventh. After two hard hit fly ball outs from Ashton Goodwin and Fabiano Jr., Jones walked Lincoln Waterman. Freshman designated hitter followed with a line drive single along the right field line and Waterman raced to third. Jones then induced a game-ending infield grounder.
“They battled right there to the end,” Chaves said. “Putting two guys on and bringing the tying run to the plate, that’s all you can ask for in that situation.”
It was the final game for Killingly seniors Landon Manzi, Hayden Larrow, Zadora, Goodwin, Waterman, and Kubera.
“I’m very proud of them,” Desaulnier said. “In the last four years we’ve been to the quarters three times and the semis once. I feel like we’re knocking on the door but unfortunately it takes a couple of breaks and sometimes things have to go your way.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Killingly falls short against St. Joseph in Class M semifinals