NFA baseball tops No. 8 Killingly in season opener
The Mike Jamieson Era at Norwich Free Academy has begun.
The Wildcats opened its 2024 baseball season – and Jamieson’s first as head coach – with a stirring 6-2 victory over Killingly at Owen Bell Park in Dayville.
Make that eighth-ranked Killingly.
Yup, with Killingly returning the core of its lineup, as well as its top hurlers, from a club that made a second straight run to the Class M quarterfinals a year ago, the state’s media voted Killingly No. 8 in the GameTimeCT preseason poll.
“It’s a good team over there,” Jamieson said. “We finally had a really nice day to get out and play baseball. The guys played well today. We had some timely hits, pitched well, and played some good defense. It was exciting to be back out here.”
NFA senior lefthander Dan St. George struck out nine over four innings to earn the win, while Ayden Kempesta provided three solid relief innings.
Wildcats sophomore third baseman Ryan Cleary paced the offense with three hits, including a pair of doubles. Cleary’s RBI single gave the Wildcats a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth.
“Mike has a good squad,” Killingly coach Ben Desaulnier said. “They’ve got good pitching and a deep lineup. They’re probably as good as they’ve been in a few years.”
Killingly (1-1), which was coming off an 11-1 season-opening win against Putnam, loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first and grabbed a 1-0 lead on Mason Frazer’s RBI single to left.
NFA (1-0) quickly answered in the top of the second against Killingly starter Dominik Kubera. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead when Jonas Tiburcio drew a bases loaded walk and Randy Jiminez lined an RBI single to left.
Logan Deshefy tried to score on Jiminez’s hit but was thrown out at home plate by Killingly left fielder Joe Gould, who also threw out a runner at home in the sixth inning.
Killingly loaded the bases again in the third inning but St. George ended the threat with a strikeout.
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“Dan showed a lot of mental toughness battling back,” Jamieson said. “I’m proud of him for battling through a little adversity there early. He really found it about the third inning and then he kind of cruised.”
Jamieson was also happy to see pinch-hitter Chris Southworth deliver a long RBI double to the gap in left center that scored Cleary, who had led off the inning with a double, to make it 5-1 in the top of the seventh.
“That was just a huge hit for us,” Jamieson said. “Chris is a really good player and he wasn't in the starting lineup today. For him to keep engaged in the game and come through in a big spot for us, I’m proud of him.”
For Killingly, Lincoln Waterman had two hits, including an RBI single, and Ashton Goodwin added a double.
“It was a competitive game,” Desaulnier said. “They just played better in the three major facets than we did. They fielded better, they hit better, and they pitched better. Basically, if you win two out of those three you’re going to win the game. And we didn’t get one.”
The season opening win saw a lot of smiles from NFA’s players and new coaching staff. The Wildcats boast a number of returning starters, along with a trio of Dominican-born players in Maximo Sanchez, Jeremy Garcia, and Jiminez, who helped the Norwich American Legion team make the state tournament last summer.
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“We know we have some pretty good baseball players,” Jamieson said. “It’s a matter of how we stick together through some adversity and guys taking different roles that were different from last year. They’re stepping up and are team first guys. We stick to that and play for each other, then we see how far we go.”
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: NFA defeats Killingly in baseball season opener
