Recap
Andrews’ Ninth-Inning Single Lifts Warde To Dramatic 4-3 Win Over Staples (By Dave Ruden of Ruden Report)
Staples 3, Fairfield Warde 4
Fairfield, CT — Few will be surprised if Fairfield Warde and Staples are the last two standing to play for the FCIAC baseball championship in 18 days.
In case their paths do not cross, they made sure today to put on a performance that will be talked about often in the future.
In an instant classic that was already receiving rave reviews from players and coaches before they left the field, the Mustangs rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 home victory in nine innings. The winning run came courtesy of a single on a deep fly ball to rightfield by Jack Andrews, who was up with a runner on third and one out.
“It was the 9th or 10th inning, it had been a long game, hard-fought game with a great team,” Andrews said. “I had to do a job with a runner on third, take the ball the opposite way just like I did and score the runner.”
Andrews called it a “once in a lifetime” type game, and few on hand disagreed. The quality of play between teams that entered the season ranked by most first and second in the FCIAC may have helped ease some of the sting for Wreckers coach Jack McFarland, whose team lost a long-extra inning game against a league contender for the second time in three days.
“Since we came back from the pandemic that’s the best high school game I’ve seen,” said McFarland, who probably talked up the Mustangs more than anyone prior to the start of the season. “That’s the best I’ve seen us play and the best game I’ve been a part of.”
The first five runs were the result of four home runs, two by each team. Warde (12-1, 11-1) tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning on Jack Corcoran’s RBI single.
The game stayed tied behind superb relief pitching. Alex Oppenheimer pitched a strong first 5 1/3 innings for the Wreckers. Lefty Chris Zajac was brought on in the 6th to retire a left-handed batter, Elliott Hyde, and then Chris Kennedy finished up.
Warde coach Brett Conner went with his two aces. Jack Passeck got the start and went six innings, allowing the two homers and five other hits. Zach Broderick closed out, allowing four hits and working out of a ninth-inning jam. He struck out six.
Staples finished with 11 hits and stranded eight runners; Warde had seven hits and left five on base.
“I know we’re going to see them again and this was another good matchup,” Broderick said. “Jack Andrews did a hell of a job getting that base hit at the end. The defense backed me up, the energy was there the whole game and overall it was a great win for us.”
The game also featured what might have been the defensive play of the year. With two on and none out in the fifth and the Wreckers leading, 3-1, David Gervasio, who was called up to the varsity today because of his strong JV play and put in the leadoff spot, drove a ball that appeared headed over the centerfield fence. The Mustangs’ Declan O’Hara got a good break on it and made a leaping backhanded catch while crashing through the portable fence. Instead of a game-breaking three-run homer Gervasio ended up with a long sacrifice fly, and Passeck stranded both runners in scoring position.
“It was a heavyweight match between two programs that do things the right way,” Conner said. “I thought it was a clean, competitive, really competitive game. I’m glad that my kids stepped up, answered the challenge and got a W.”
The impact in the standings may have enhanced the chance for, if form holds, Warde-Staples II in the playoffs.
The Mustangs moved a step closer to clinching the top seed in the playoffs. Staples (10-4, 9-4), which suffered a 7-6 loss to Greenwich in 11 innings on Saturday, is now more firmly entrenched as a fourth seed. It is two games behind both the Cardinals and Trumbull in the loss column and now just a game ahead of Ridgefield and Norwalk — teams it has lost to.
That could set up an FCIAC semifinal rematch.
“There was a lot of situational baseball, which is exactly what we needed,” McFarland said. “We needed a game like this to get ready for the playoffs.”
After two quick innings today’s game briefly turned into home-run derby. Justin Lessing and Finn Popken homered for Staples while John Heitzman and Garrett Larsen did the same for Warde during the third and fourth innings. Popken’s was the only one with a runner on base, accounting for the difference on the scoreboard.
“A game like this only prepares you,” Conner said. “Whether you are on the winning side or losing side you are going to learn something from a competitive, tight, pressure, playoff type game and we learned a lot from this. We walked away with the W but we learned a lot from this game that we can take and grow as a team.”
On a day their teams were deadlocked for so long, it is not surprising McFarland offered almost the same analysis.
“Our philosophy at Staples is if you lose and learn from it, it’s a win,” he said. “If you don’t learn from it, it’s a lose-lose. We learned some things today, I’m sure Brett learned some things today and that was just a great baseball game.”