The Shelton Gaels scored seven unanswered runs and battled back Saturday from an 8 – 3 deficit to defeat the Manchester Indians 11 – 10, advancing to the Class LL semifinals for the first time in 20 years.
Shelton will take on Pomperaug Tuesday at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury.
Co-captain Eric Christensen had a clutch performance at the plate, with a perfect three for three day — and setting a new school record.Christensen’s 111 career base hits breaks the Shelton record previously held by Matt Memoli, class of 2002.
The Gaels were on the board early in the first inning with a walk to Christensen, who was knocked in by Ryan Zahornasky for a 1 – 0 lead.
The Gaels Jim Pjura walked in the second inning and was sacrificed into scoring position by Carl Cristino and knocked in with an RBI single by Dan Guerrera to make it 2 – 0.
Dan St.George kept things going with a single, knocking Guerrera and extended the Gaels lead to 3 – 0.
The Indians bounced back in the third inning with two runs to make it a one run game at 3 – 2.
Things went ugly quick for the Gaels and starting pitcher, Christensen in the fourth inning as their defense fell apart and the Indians exploded for six runs and took the lead 8 – 3.
“When we were down 8 – 3, I thought ‘they must be scared’ because whenever we go up big it puts their backs against the wall,” Mike Georgalas said. “I like the way we came back. It was awesome. It was huge.”
The Gaels needed base runners and Cristino delivered with a lead off single in the fourth inning. Christensen came up and lined what would be his record-breaking 109th hit. The fans and players from both dugouts rose giving Christensen a well deserved standing ovation for his achievement.
“It feels good to get it off my back. We were down 8 – 3 and that’s all I cared about. Everyone came through today,” Christensen said.
Zahornasky singled to load the bases for cleanup hitter Georgalas, who would follow suit with a single of his own, knocking in two runs and bringing the Gaels to within three at 8 – 5.
Zahornasky and Georgalas would both go onto score on passed balls, cutting the Indians lead to 8 – 7.
“The turning point was in the fourth inning and we had to score a few to change the momentum,” said Gaels coach Scott Gura.
Cristino led off the fifth inning with a walk and Dan Guerrera advanced him with a single. Both base runners would move to second and third for Christensen, who lined a base hit up the middle to tie the game at 8 – 8.
Zahornasky lined a single of his own to knock in two more runs extending the Gaels lead to 10 – 8.
“Piling on the runs, its just huge,” Zahornasky said.
The Indians would battle back in the sixth inning with two more runs, tying the game at 10 – 10.
The Gaels struck back in their half of the sixth with two infield singles by Pjura and Cristino, again setting the table for hitting star Christensen. After falling behind in the count at 0 – 2, Christensen drilled a single up the middle giving the Gaels the go ahead score, 11 – 10.
For a split second in the Indians seventh, it looked like they were going to have a leadoff double with no one out as a shot rang down the first base line, only to be snared by a web gem from a diving Georgalas.
“It was kinda like bang bang,” Georgalas said of his game changing grab. “It was just mostly reaction.”
Reliever Tom Carroll would go onto to record the next two outs, preserving the Gaels victory and bringing his perfect record to 9 – 0.
Shelton’s season record is now 20 – 6.