Trumbull shocks undefeated Greenwich to win FCIAC baseball crown

BRIDGEPORT -- The Trumbull baseball team played all year in memory of former coach Jerry McDougall, who died in October, and the Eagles had to feel like the old coach was looking over them this week.

Trumbull completed a stellar run through the end of the regular season and playoffs, capping it off with a 7-1 win over previously undefeated Greenwich Saturday in the FCIAC championship at Harbor Yard.

"We dedicated our season to Coach McDougall and no doubt about it, he was our guardian angel today," Trumbull coach Phil Pacelli said. "These last three weeks just to get in, it has been a magical ride and to cap it off today with a storybook ending is sweet."

Pitchers Mike Yerina and Colin Keyes were co-MVPs, as Trumbull won the title for the first time since 2005, combining in the final game to shut the Cardinals down.

Keyes pitched four innings, allowing one run on three hits to pick up the win, and Yerina came in on three days rest and closed the door, striking out four over the final three innings.

"It is the best feeling in the world," Yerina said. "We have been working hard all season and it finally paid off. The first two games we won by one run. Our defense did a hell of a job and our pitching was great. We made the simple plays and that is what brought us here today."

The Eagles allowed a mind-boggling one run over 25 innings in the tournament.

For Greenwich it was the end of a magical run that saw them win 22 straight before the wheels came off in the championship game with the Cardinals uncharacteristically making three errors and allowing two runs on passed balls.

It was the little things that won Greenwich so many games and it was the little things that cost them in the end.

"It was a tough game and Trumbull is a very good team," Greenwich coach Mike Mora said. "They got ahead and with their pitching it was very hard to come back. We were scrambling to get some guys in on short rest and, that's baseball."

Trumbull got on the board right away, scoring twice in the first on a passed ball that let Brendan Moore score and then on a groundout by Will Velez that plated Casey Mack.

The Eagles added two more unearned runs in the third on back-to-back errors in the infield for Greenwich that allowed James DelNomme and Velez to score, chasing Greenwich starter Dylan Callahan from the game in the process.

The Cardinals got one back in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Casey Gaynor, scoring David Berdoff.

Greenwich's Kyle Ballone led off the fifth with a single that knocked Keyes out of the game and Nick Bancroft bunted for a hit off Yerina, but the senior hurler got Callahan to pop out and struck out Berdoff to escape with no runs scoring.

Trumbull made it official in the sixth, scoring three more runs on RBI hits from Moore and Mack to make it 7-1.

Greenwich's pitching depth was put to the test after the semifinal game against McMahon had to be continued a day later, meaning the Cardinals had to run Ryan Marks out to complete the semifinal game.

Greenwich used four pitchers in the championship, all of whom threw multiple innings over the four straight days they had to play.

"The way Dylan had been throwing I was trying to get two or three out of him," Mora said. "It wasn't due to hits really, we walked a couple guys and kicked the ball around, uncharacteristic of us and we know how we have to play. We have to play good defense, throw strikes and today we didn't."

Trumbull was playing for the memory of McDougall but also had a chip on its shoulder all year after getting what it felt was a lack of respect in the preseason.

"It really motivated our kids when in the preseason articles and stuff you literally could not find one word about any of our players or anything about our team at all," Pacelli said. "That makes it even more fulfilling."

TRUMBULL 202 003 0--7 6 1

GREENWICH 000 100 0--1 4 3

Records: Trumbull 15-8, Greenwich 22-1. Batteries: T--Colin Keyes (W), Mike Yerina (5, S) and James DelNomme; G--Dylan Callahan (L), Ryan Marks (3), Casey Gaynor (6), Kyle Dunster (6) and Ricky Okazaki

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