Stamford's baseball team had Brien McMahon on the ropes several times in Tuesday's first round Class LL tournament game. But the 30th-seeded Black Knights couldn't deliver the knockout blow, and the third-seeded Senators escaped with a 5-4 victory in eight innings.
"I've been telling people all years this team is much better than its record,'' Stamford coach Fred Kelley said. "You saw it tonight. They worked so hard to come here and get victory. I feel bad for them that they didn't get it."
After Stamford (8-13) took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Nick Palumbo, the third-seeded Senators rallied for their fourth walk-off win over the year. Jamie Restivo led off with a single off of Stamford's Tom McIntosh, who had thrown fewer than 80 pitches entering the inning. After a bunt by Brian Daniello, a throwing error allowed Restivo to race home with the tying run. Daniello moved to third and after two intentional walks, Joe Cox singled to left to drive in Daniello.
Stamford struck in the first on a two-run home run to left-center by Mike Beldotti. McMahon got one in the bottom of the inning, but Brian Polonia's RBI single in the fourth gave Stamford a 3-1 lead. McMahon tied it in the sixth on an RBI single by Aleko Petridis and a sacrifice fly by Ronnie Sherman.
McIntosh pitched brilliantly against one of the toughest lineups in the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference. He set down 15 straight batters at one point and had just one non-intentional walk. He allowed seven hits and struck out four.
"It was a great high school game,'' Kelley said. "Our kids responded, and they came out fired up. It would've been great to beat the No. 3 team in Class LL. McIntosh pitched a stellar game. It just hurts that we couldn't win this one."
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