By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
The 55th annual Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) state baseball tournament gets under way in full on Tuesday with first-round games. Several qualifying-round contests were played last Saturday in two of the four divisions.
Here is a brief look at the tournament and some of its possibilities:
Class LL
Top-seeded and defending champion Amity could have a surprisingly rough road despite its glossy 21-1 record and No. 1 ranking in the New Haven Register's writers/coaches poll. The Spartans play Ridgefield (10-11) in the first round, but will be in the same bracket with Glastonbury, FCIAC champ Norwalk and SWC runner-up Masuk in the ensuing two rounds. Any of the latter three teams are more than capable of pulling an upset.
That being said, anyone who feels compelled to bet against Amity, be our guest. The Spartans lost for the first time this season last week in the SCC final to state Class L co-favorite Guilford.
SWC champ Bunnell (16-7) is the team in Class LL with arguably the best three-man pitching rotation - Brett Shulick, Taylor Lasko and Dan Paolini - hence well built to possibly go deep into the tournament.
Second-seeded and fifth-ranked Bristol Central (18-2) is one of the teams that will have to be on guard against an early-round upset.
No. 35 Cheshire (9-12) vs. No. 3 Newington looks like a mismatch on paper, but early draws such as this is why they play the games, especially in Class LL, where nearly everyone has talent.
No. 4 Norwalk (20-3), led by shortstop Matt Talierco and outfielder Dan Nieves, crushed the ball over the final two rounds of the FCIAC playoffs, scoring 23 runs.
No. 6 Fitch (19-4) has the state's top pitching prospect in Mat Harvey and knocked off second-ranked Waterford to win the ECC championship last week.
Class L
Top-seeded and SCC champ Guilford (18-4) and NWC member Berlin (fourth seeded, 14-6) appear to be two best teams in a modest field. No. 6 Sheehan (13-7) could surprise people and slip under the radar and into the finals - the Titans have done it before - but New Canaan in the second round can be explosive with Pete Krieger and Curtis Casali in the middle of its batting order.
A Pomperaug-Jonathan Law match-up in the quarterfinals would bring together former SCW rivals. Law left the SWC several seasons ago to join the SCC. A second-round game between Bethel and Berlin would feature a match-up of Connecticut coaching legends, Bill Hunt (Bethel) and Leo Veleas (Berlin).
Class M
If Class M doesn't boast the most individual talent, it can certainly say it has the best and most competitive field, with second-ranked Waterford, eighth-ranked Woodland, NVL champ Seymour, Wolcott and Plainville all capable of going a long way.
Waterford is ranked the No. 2 in the state for a reason - it has the best team in this class and one of the best overall - but unranked Wolcott has a favorably draw and schedule.
Defending champ Montville and FCIAC runner-up St. Joseph are two other outstanding teams in this loaded division. Plainfield, a winner last Saturday in the preliminary round, is coached by John Schiffner, one of the winningest managers in Cape Cod Baseball League history.
Class S
This is another well-balanced division. Ninth-ranked Northwest (18-2) is the favorite.
Upstart Career Magnet (14-6) could be a handful for No. 1 St. Bernard (19-2) if Career can reach the quarterfinals. Haddam-Killingworth, Lyman Memorial, Old Lyme and defending champ Windsor Locks are all capable of long and prosperous runs. No. 12 Trinity-Catholic (13-9) plays mostly LL and L schools during the FCIAC season and hung tough at 3-3 with Norwalk in the conference semifinals through 4 « innings last week.
Notre Dame-Fairfield reached back-to-back Class M finals in 2003 and 2004 - winning a state title in 2003 - and is a No. 22 seed in Class S this spring at 9-11. Strange to see a Class S draw without Immaculate anywhere to be found. The Mustangs won three state titles in the four years earlier this decade and advanced to four consecutive title games in 2001-04, but did not quality this season.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com Media Manager for the Northeast Region. He may be reached at 203-563-2297 or at j.stout@jmstout.org