One day after JT Morin frustrated Norwalk, Jackson Ward did likewise to Darien.
Ward pitched a complete game and struck out 11 batters to lead the fifth-seeded Wilton High baseball team past top-seed Darien, 5-1, in the first game of the FCIAC semifinals on Tuesday at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.
The Warriors (17-5) will now face either Staples or Trinity in the championship game on Friday at 7:30 at Harbor Yard. Those teams had their scheduled semifinal rained out on Wednesday and will now play Thursday at 5 at Harbor Yard.
On Tuesday, Norwalk was able to get runners on base in its quarterfinal game with Wilton. But Morin kept the Bears from scoring, striking out 14 batters in Wilton's 6-1 victory.
Ward delivered a Kinkos-quality copy in Wednesday's semifinal against Darien: The Blue Wave constantly had runners reach base, only to be stranded by Ward's many strikeouts.
Wilton got single runs in the third and the fifth innings to take a 2-0 lead before Darien followed with a run in the bottom of the fifth. James Meany had an RBI groundout in the third, and Collin Kahal added an RBI single in the fifth to score Scott Shoveling, who had doubled.
In the top of the sixth, the Warriors added three more runs despite not hitting the ball hard. Two walks and an infield single loaded the bases, and Shouvlin's sacrifice fly got one run home. With two outs and runners on second and third, Kahal lifted what looked to be an innocuous pop-up high in front of home plate. But none of the several Darien players awaiting the ball were able to catch it, and both runners scored on the error to put Wilton ahead, 5-1.
Darien then left the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, and was unable to get anything going in the bottom of the seventh, as Ward put the finishing touches on his complete-game triumph.
In addition to his 11 strikeouts, Ward walked one batter and allowed 10 hits. Darien was unable to take advantage, however, leaving nine runners on base.
Notes: The game was carried in live streaming video and audio by HAN Network and HANRadio.com. HAN will also carry the second semifinal on Thursday and the championship game, scheduled for Friday, May 29, at 7:30. (More info.) Wilton's win against Darien will be available on-demand later tonight at this link.
The game coverage is part of the Hersam Acorn teaming with the NFHS Network to add live video to HAN Radio, southwestern Connecticut’s leader in live high school sports coverage. The live sporting events and archived video are available for a subscription fee, which varies based on how long you want access to Hersam Acorn’s content on the NFHS Network. Part of the subscription fee will benefit the ongoing operations of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (FCIAC), its member schools and student athletes.
HAN Radio and HAN Video are part of Hersam Acorn’s HAN Network of websites, newspapers, audio, video, advertising and more. Much of HAN’s daily news and sports programming is broadcast live on video. You can watch the videos or check out the daily schedule atHANRadio.com/livestream/.