Comeback Kids

By Ned Griffen, Day Sports Writer

Published on 6/10/2007 by The Day

St. Bernard third baseman Mike Aldrich tosses his glove in the air as the final out is made in the Saints' 6-4 victory over Northwest Catholic in the CIAC Class S championship game Saturday at Yale Field in West Haven.

West Haven — St. Bernard High School trailed by two runs in the middle of the fifth inning when Jim Leone, their assistant coach of 27 years, gathered the players around him and told them to remain calm.

As if they needed a reminder.

The Saints have made a habit of wild comebacks in the CIAC Class S baseball tournament, twice staging late rallies to win games.

But neither could compare to the one they staged Saturday.

Senior Tyler Turgeon hit a game-tying triple with two outs in the fifth and scored the go-ahead run when classmate Jeff Daley followed with a triple, lifting St. Bernard to a 6-4 victory over Northwest Catholic of West Hartford in the state championship game at Yale Field.

“I said, 'Listen, we've been here. We know what it feels like,'” Leone said. “Don't press. Come out hitting.”

Added Turgeon: “Late in the game, you get all fired up. Things happen.”

It was the fourth state title for top-seeded St. Bernard, which finished 23-2.

The Saints overcame a one-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth to beat Ansonia, 8-4, in the second round on May 30. They also rallied from a run down in the bottom of the sixth to beat Trinity Catholic of Stamford, 4-2, in Wednesday's semifinals.

On Saturday, not much went right for St. Bernard prior to its half of the fifth inning. Starting pitcher Jeff DeLucia was chased in the fourth inning. The Saints were struggling against Indians starter Jack Wagoner. And they had made four errors.

And oh, yeah — senior Ben Nossek and head coach Mike Garvie were ineligible for the game, suspended by the CIAC after being ejected from the Trinity Catholic game.

“You always get worried when you're down early, but we're used to putting up lots of runs, so it didn't feel too bad,” Turgeon said. “I don't want to say (I was) comfortable. It's not a position I want to be in, but it's not as bad as it used to be.”

Grant Livingston singled to lead off the St. Bernard fifth and moved to second on Anthony Ruffo's fielder's choice. Dan Eagan grounded out for the second out.

And then everything changed.

Senior Mike Aldrich was hit by a pitch, giving the Saints runners at first and second.

Turgeon and Daley followed with back-to-back triples to give St. Bernard its first lead, 5-4.

“It takes one guy to show everyone that we can hit him,” Leone said. “And then all of a sudden it starts getting contagious. We hit the ball hard at the right time.”

Junior Harrison Smith completed the rally with a bloop single to score Daley and chase Wagoner (8-1), who will play next season at Division I Sacred Heart.

“When we're down, we know we can come up and score a few runs in one inning and be right back on top,” said Turgeon, who will be play Division I baseball next year at Quinnipiac. “It only takes a couple of big hits and we're right back in it.”

Said Daley: “We've been coming up big all year. We knew we could definitely come back.”

It was a stunning turn of events for No. 2 Northwest Catholic (21-3), the Northwest Conference champion.

“It was the one inning where Jack just got his pitches up a little bit,” Indians coach Cory Carlson said. “With two outs, we hit (the No. 3 player in the batting order). We didn't really want to face the fourth guy (Turgeon) with anybody on base. It would've been ideal for us to leave him leading off the sixth inning. But it didn't happen. He got a couple of pitches up.

“Give (the Saints) credit. They made him pay for it. They whacked the ball around pretty good in the fifth inning.”

Junior Patrick Lowery, who relieved DeLucia with two outs in the fourth, retired Northwest in order in the sixth and seventh innings.

Lowery (8-2), who had pitched a complete game Wednesday, allowed no runs on two hits over 3 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked none.

“The funny thing is that Pat Lowery said after the fifth, 'I don't have anything left in the tank, but I'll get as far as I can,'” Leone said. “As soon as we scored the four runs, he was throwing gas. He had plenty in his tank. That's all he needed to get him going.”

Lowery said, “The adrenaline gets going after a rally like that. It just takes over. You don't feel it anymore.”

Northwest Catholic took a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning after two errors and a two-run single by Rob Dornfried.

Aldrich hit an RBI single and Turgeon had a sacrifice fly in the Saints' third inning to cut the Indians' lead to 3-2. Tim Bourdon extended Northwest's lead to two runs again with an RBI single with two outs in the fourth.

“It's awesome,” Turgeon said. “I've been waiting for this for four years. Every year we get a little bit farther before we get knocked out (of states). This year, it's the most unbelievable feeling ever.”

Montville