Cromwell shortstop Noah Budzik delivers an RBI single against H-K in Monday’s SLC quarterfinal. (Jimmy Zanor – The Middletown Press)
HIGGANUM >> The Cromwell baseball team sure picked a good time to end a late season swoon.
Powered by a terrific complete game pitching performance from senior Amir Nitowski and an opportunistic offense that scored three runs in the top of the sixth, the Panthers upset top-seeded Haddam-Killingworth, 5-2, in the Shoreline Conference tournament quarterfinals Monday at H-K.
Cromwell, seeded No. 8, advanced to play at No. 5 North Branford today in the semifinals. No. 2 Morgan hosts No. 3 Valley Regional in the other semifinal.
The Panthers limped into the postseason on a six-game losing streak, including a 7-2 loss against H-K last Wednesday at Monnes Field. The Cougars also defeated Cromwell, 3-0, back on April 8.
“I don’t remember a stretch like that at Cromwell,” Panthers coach Lew Pappariella said.
But that didn’t deter Nitowski.
The hard-throwing righthander scattered six hits, walked one and struck out seven. The Cougars got the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh but Nitowski notched a strikeout before getting Ty Schuler, who had tripled and scored in the fourth, to fly out to centerfielder Peter Dewey.
“Amir pitched on all guts today,” Pappariella said. “I’m real proud of him and the whole group. He threw strikes, mixed pitches and executed much better than his last two starts. He looked a lot today the way he looked the first five starts when he was as good as anybody in the conference.”
Cromwell senior Amir Nitowski tossed a complete game to lead the Panthers to an upset win over H-K on Monday. (Jimmy Zanor – The Middletown Press)
Cromwell (11-10) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first against H-K starter Jack DiMatteo. Dewey lifted a single to right and moved to second when Nick Quieroz was hit with a pitch. After a pop-out, sophomore shortstop Noah Budzik lined a two-out single to left that scored Dewey.
Budzik turned a nifty double play in the second and Nitowski cruised into the fourth with a 1-0 lead. But Schuler led off with a booming triple to center and scored on Owen Marica’s RBI ground out.
The Panthers regained the lead in the top of the fifth when Zach Lombardo walked, stole second and scored when H-K first baseman Jon Grasso couldn’t handle Luke Matchett’s chopper along the first base line.
Grasso made up for his miscue in the bottom of the inning, tying it at 2 with a two-out infield hit that scored Ben Alonzo from third.
The Cougars (16-4) have been a superb defensive team all season but another infield error opened the door for Cromwell’s three-run sixth.
“We made a couple of mistakes that buried us,” Haddam-Killingworth coach Mark Brookes said. “We let down at times and that’s what you get. And Cromwell’s execution was very good, from pitching to offense. Everything they did I thought they did well.”
Cromwell junior Sean Melaven got things rolling with a one-out single against reliever Aaron Skwarek. Budzik (2-for-3) then slapped a perfect hit-and-run single through the hole at short and the Panthers were in business with runners at the corners. Senior Aidan Gagnon followed with a line single to center and Cromwell led 3-2.
Nitowski then hit a double play grounder to third but Trevor Mann threw wide to second base and Budzik raced home to make it 4-2. Lombardo followed with a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring pinch-runner David Dewey and Cromwell led 5-2.
“Hopefully, this is a turning point of things to come,” Pappariella said. “We’ll see if we can make some noise. Whoever we play we know is going to be a good team so we’ll have to play well again.”
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