West Hartford defeated Danbury on Friday night to take the first game in State Championship competition.

By Paul Palmer

The West Hartford American Legion Post 96 Under-19 baseball team is one win away from doing something that has not been done in 50 years – win a state title.

On a brutally hot Friday night at Palmer Field in Middletown, the 96ers exploded for four runs in the sixth to put away Danbury Post 60 by a score of 6-1 in the opener of the best-of-3 State Championship.

West Hartford last won a state championship 50 years ago this week, back in 1973. They did reach the finals in 2017 but lost to Stamford. Mason Hebert held Danbury to three hits and a single run over five complete innings before Tristan Baron closed out the final two innings getting all six batters he faced in game No. 1.

Tyler Redden opened the game for West Hartford with a single and later came around to score on Chase Hannawalt’s RBI single. Hannawalt would also score in the first following a stolen base, a balk, and an error by the first baseman. Danbury would get on the board in the bottom of the third when Owen Hibbard scored on a Luke Ciffone two-out single to right field. One inning later, Hebert would get some strong defensive help from third baseman Myles Fournier who ranged to his right to make a backhand stop and gunned out Anthony Hackert at first to preserve the one run lead.

West Hartford had its chances to add to the lead but could not push across  any more runs early on, stranding multiple runners on base.

“We always say it just takes one person to get us going,” said Redden of his teammates. That is what happened in the top of the sixth.

Matt Santoro opened things when his ground ball to second was misplayed and he beat the throw. James Berry moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt, before Brendan Grady singled him home. Grady would score the fourth run for West Hartford on a sacrifice.

Redden would crack an opposite field single and come around to score the fifth run before Declan McCann, who reached on a fielders, choice made it 6-1 when he scored on an RBI single from Hebert.

“After the early two runs we had runners in scoring position and didn’t get them in,” said West Hartford head coach Sean McCann. “That cost us runs earlier this year so I told them to be more aggressive at the plate and we saw that explosion in the sixth.”

In the bottom of the sixth, coach McCann had to replace Hebert. A pinch runner was inserted for Hebert in the top of the inning, and under American Legion rules, the player replaced can return to the game in the same position. However, the rules changed for the Championship series and not even the home plate umpire knew it – but when Danbury’s coach questioned him, he told McCann that Hebert had to be replaced.

The unexpected change didn’t seem to phase Baron who had been warming up in the bullpen. He got the first two batters to fly out to left, and the third to ground out to short, all on fewer than 10 pitches. When he went 3-up-3-down in the bottom of the seventh, the 96ers had the win.

“There is a varsity pitcher [Baron], that has been on the bump and has no fear,” said McCann after the game. The plan had been to use Hebert for as long as he could in the opening game of the series. Even with the unexpected change in rotation, West Hartford still has Grady to start game No. 2, with Chase Hannawalt, Baron, and Jack Sauer also available to pitch in game No. 2 or game No. 3 if needed.

There are actually three ways that West Hartford can claim its first title in 50 years. One is to win Game No. 2 on Saturday (first pitch was scheduled for 3 p.m. as of early Saturday afternoon) or Game No. 3 after that. The other way is if the weather forces the games to be canceled and does not allow for them to be completed by Sunday, West Hartford will win the series and the State Championship one game to none.

Although they are not getting ahead of themselves or taking anything for granted, both the players and McCann know what they are one the brink of doing. “We have momentum,” said Redden. “If we win it’s going to feel great.” Hebert echoed those that thought, adding, “This is what we have been working towards.”

McCann said his players know that they are playing for more than themselves. “They understand that Post 96 is bigger than any game. These guys have trusted each other and me all year.”

With one more win, the 96ers would advance to the regionals in Shrewsbury, MA, on the road to a possible appearance in the American Legion Baseball World Series in Shelby, NC, Aug. 10-15.

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