The Valley Regional baseball team’s dream of hoisting the Shoreline Conference championship trophy came up one victory short as the Warriors lost to Cromwell 3-0 in the tournament final at Indian River Complex in Clinton on May 27. The Warriors then competed in Class M State Tournament and were defeated by Stonington 5-3 at home in the first round to end the season at 16-8.

In the Shoreline Conference Championship game, the 8th-seeded Panthers (16-10), who struggled down the stretch of the regular season before knocking off top-seeded Haddam-Killingworth and North Branford to reach the final, ended their Cinderella run by beating Valley for the title. Meanwhile, the No. 3 seed Warriors (16-7) had blanked East Hampton and edged Morgan to earn a third meeting with the Panthers. However, even though Valley had beat Cromwell twice during the regular season, Head Coach Gary Marineau’s club was unable to get anything going this time against a fired-up Panthers’ squad.

“Their pitcher [Amir Nitowski] threw a great game. He kept us off-balance, mixed it up with curveballs and fastballs, he was around the strike zone. We took more third strikes today than we did all season and that shows he was dictating the pace of the game, so I have to give him credit,” said Marineau, whose team had defeated Cromwell 9-3 and 7-6 in 10 innings earlier this spring. “Offensively, they did the job on [Valley pitcher Arik Sypher]. They dinked and bunted and ran and it was their tournament. As an 8 seed, they played with nothing to lose, so you have to give them credit. Their kids were pumped up and we came in tight and we have to fix that before the State Tournament.”

After a scoreless first inning, Valley hurler Sypher struck out the first batter looking, but then Cromwell made its opening statement by lacing back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. Both runners moved up 90 feet on a passed ball and Valley faced an early threat. Sypher’s counterpart Nitowski came to the plate and did his job. He made just enough contact to force a slow roller to second for an easy out at first that plated the game’s initial run. Sypher escaped further damage after a loud out to right field, although the underdog Panthers showed they were going to fight for their lives on every pitch. With one out in the bottom of the second, Nash Eppard ripped a double to the gap in left-center field, but was stranded when Nitowski fanned the Warriors’ subsequent hitters to end the scoring opportunity.

For Cromwell in the top of the third, Luke Matchett singled with one out and then stole second. A wild pitch moved him to third and, after a fly out, Sypher looked poised to get out of the frame unscathed. The Panthers’ next batter poked the ball up the middle and second baseman Matt Robida did a terrific job of snaring it, but double-clutched while trying to throw across his body from the hole and the runner was safe at first. Matchett scored from third to put Cromwell ahead 2-0.

The game stayed that way until the top of the fifth, when the Panthers struck again. Cromwell’s leadoff batter singled to right field and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. Sypher induced a slow-rolling groundout to second, but the Cromwell runner left on contact and scored easily to make it 3-0.

The rest of the game came down to Nitkowski dealing from the mound as he got out of a two-on, no out jam in the bottom of the fifth by striking out Jacob Meketa following two unsuccessful bunt attempts, after which he got Michael Martorelli and Brett Camilleri to fly out.

Cromwell threatened again in the sixth, although Sypher induced a grounder to third baseman Eppard, who made a sensational bare-handed play and fired to first for the out as Valley escaped more trouble. Robida led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and then stole second, but Sypher popped out and Fletcher Suedmeier grounded out, advancing Robida to third. Eppard stepped to the plate and was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. Sophomore shortstop Chase Morris dug into the batter’s box and hit a grounder to third. Morris hustled down the line, but was out by a hair at first and Valley’s best scoring opportunity was squashed.

Colin Sparaco came in to pitch the seventh and set down the Panthers in order to set up the Warriors’ last chance. Nitowski ended the game strong with two punch-outs sandwich between a groundout to end the game. Nitowski struck out eight Valley hitters for the complete game, three hit shutout.

For the Warriors, Eppard went 1-for-2 with a double, Martorelli was 1-for-2 with a single, and Robida finished 1-for-2 with a single, walk, and stolen base. Sypher took the loss by allowing three runs in six innings.

On May 31, No. 6 seed Valley lost in the first round of the Class M State Tournament to No. 27 Stonington 5-3. Jacob Meketa had a double and a triple and Nash Eppard had two doubles to lead the Warriors’ offense. Eppard took the loss on the mound, pitching six innings, with Colin Sparaco throwing a scoreless seventh in relief.

“This was a great season for us. Improved from last year and got to the league final,” said Coach Marineau. “Thanks to the seniors: Meketa, Eppard, Arik Sypher, and Michael Martorelli. The players coming back will look to improve even more on this season.”