Middletown, CT — As first baseman William Arnold took the throw from catcher Jaden Echevarria on a dropped third strike for the final out of today’s Class LL baseball final, an outpouring of emotion was unleashed on Palmer Field, as a team from a city with a rich tradition in the sport finally got the chance to sit on the state throne. And the player who earlier in the season would have clutched that final throw got his moment in the spotlight at the best possible time. In a battle of FCIAC underdogs that weaved their ways through difficult state tournament draws, Norwalk won the Class LL championship with a 1-0 victory over Westhill. Pinch-hitter Konstantinos Kodonas delivered the winning hit in the top of the seventh inning to provide the necessary separation in a terrific pitchers’ duel as two teams that seemed improbable finalists 10 days ago provided a classic ending to the season. With city baseball royalty like former Norwalk coaches Pete Tucci and Angelo Bruno watching from the top row of bleachers behind the Bears’ dugout, Ryan Mitchell, a former player and assistant to Tucci who was raised in the city and is in his first year as coach, guided the team from the 24th seed to the top of the class. “It’s extremely emotional,” Mitchell said. “To do it here, at a place that has been my home since I was a kid, it means the world to me. To have coach Tucci here, to get his endorsement early … mentor is a gross understatement. The Norwalk roots run real deep in the Mitchell family. It feels real good to do it for our town.” Javier Gonzalez, the Bears’ closer, came on to throw two scoreless innings in relief to get the win — the tying run was on second in the seventh when he came through with his fourth strikeout — after Brendan Edvardsen handed off the baton. Edvardsen allowed just three hits over five innings against a Viking team that had scored 33 runs in their first four tournament games. After Gonzalez was given a lead to protect in the bottom of the seventh, the Bears’ infielders and Echevarria joined him for a huddle on the mound. “We just said we’ve had lets say some rocky points in the season and we just said we’re a family, lets go do this, we’ve got three more and you know what, we’re state champs,” Gonzalez said. “There’s no better feeling than that.” In the top of the inning, Echevarria singled with one out. Mitchell brought in Kodonas, who was the starting first baseman earlier in the year, to pinch hit. Kodonas had come through in that role for the winning run in Wednesday’s semifinal against Greenwich and did so again, singling to leftfield after Echevarria had stolen second. “I saw that Jaden got a hit so I knew it was my time coming up,” Kodonas said. “I was pretty much thinking fastball the whole time and if I saw a curveball, especially early in the count, I probably wasn’t going to go after it. As you saw on my hit I got a fastball 3-2 and I just delivered.” Kyle Kipp, a sophomore, was outstanding on the mound for the 19th-seeded Vikings. He allowed just five hits over 6 2/3 innings, with eight strikeouts. Wyatt Lisack had two of the team’s four hits, the only player with more than one on the day. Lisack doubled to lead off the fifth. Pinch runner Chris Gattuso went to third on a wild pitch. Omari Lewis, who would later double with two outs in the seventh, hit a hard grounder that Norwalk third baseman Ben Boccanfuso dove to knock down. He got up and threw out Gattuso at the plate. This was the first time the Vikings were shut out this season. “They just kept the bats in check,” said Westhill coach Mike Riveles, who is also in his first season. “The kids were taking some extra swings, chasing pitches that we don’t usually chase. Baserunning mistakes that were the difference in the game. A 1-0 game, you can’t ask for anything more than that.” The Norwalk players celebrate the first state baseball title in school history. (David Whitham) Norwalk, which started the season 2-2 and limped into the playoffs with five losses in their last six games, save for defeating Ridgefield in the quarterfinals won four of their state playoff games by a combined nine runs. The Bears finish the season 15-9 — the same record as Westhill — and Mitchell was able to thread the needle between their accomplishment and Kodonas, whose bat made the difference in an even game between even teams. “He was a starter early in the year, he kind of got cold and we went in a different direction,” Mitchell said. “I just told him, stay with me, stay with me, stay with me. And he did, and I couldn’t be happier for him. To plate the game-winning run in the state semifinals and state finals, I don’t know if that’s happened before. Just a great kid. One of 24 great kids in that dugout right now.” Credit: https://therudenreport.com/pitching-and-7th-inning-hit-lead-bears-to-1-0-win-over-westhill-for-first-state-title/