MIDDLETOWN — Coventry took home its first state championship since 1984 on the strength of two errors and one huge hit by Jordan Jersoszko in a 3-0 win over Shepaug Saturday afternoon at Palmer Field.
No. 2-seeded Coventry’s Matt Cook and No. 4 Shepaug’s Dom Perachi limited batters to a combined six hits for the game (4-2 Shepaug), but aggressive base running and a pair of Spartan errors gave the Patriots the only run it needed in the bottom of the first inning.
“Shepaug has a world-class program. We knew it would be a close game, so we wanted to score first,” said Coventry coach Ryan Giberson, whose Patriots met the Spartans in the tournament for the third straight year.
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That meant taking advantage of the only gift there was in this game dominated by pitching.
In the bottom of the first, leadoff batter Nik Freschlin grabbed two bases on a well-hit ball that popped out of a Spartan outfielder’s glove.
COVENTRY is your Class S State Champions.
Matt Cook goes the distance to lead his team to a 3-0 win against Shepaug #ctbase pic.twitter.com/g9wOfKLwoe
— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) June 8, 2019
Jeroszko beat out a bunt, pushing Freshchlin to third.
When Joeroszko started for second on a steal, Shepaug’s catcher faked a throw, then tried to pick off Freschlin in a long lead at third.
The ball caromed into the dirt. Freschlin beat the throw home. Coventry was on the board.
Both pitchers sailed through the next three innings.
Cook — seven innings, four hits, nine strikeouts, two walks — allowed an infield hit to Jack Schneider in the second and faced down Spartans on second and third in the top of the third on an Owen Hibbard hit and an intentional walk and double steal by Hibbard and brother Ethan.
Coventry’s Matt Cook talks about making it back to the S finals after losing and how they used it to help the teams run to the Class S title this year #ctbase pic.twitter.com/dYH3Yd1EUj
— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) June 8, 2019
“I think it’s experience,” said Cook, a junior explaining his composure on the mound. Cook pitched in last year’s championship loss to Notre Dame-Fairfield after the Patriots beat Shepaug in the semis with four runs in the final inning.
“I depend on my batters to get me more runs if I need them,” said Cook. “We’ve been here before.”
For three innings, Shepaug senior Dom Perachi — 6 innings, 2 hits, 8 strikeouts, 3 walks — did even better, walking a batter in the second, hitting one in the third and walking another in the fourth for Coventry’s only baserunners.
“I wish I would have gotten ahead of guys more and I wish my curve was working better, but I did okay,” said the lanky left-hander heading for Salve Regina University in the fall.
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“Dom was very good — one real hit in six innings. It just happened to be a big one,” Shepaug coach Scott Werkhoven said.
The big one came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
Freschlin drew a walk. Jeroszko laced the first pitch he saw into deep center field, scoring Freschlin, then charging on.
Coventry coach Ryan Giberson talks about his teams run to the Class S title #ctbase pic.twitter.com/JOyU5bHhhq
— Pete Paguaga (@PetePaguaga) June 8, 2019
“When I rounded second, I saw Coach waving me on, so I kept going,” said the senior, evading the tag at home for his first home run of the season.
“I missed my spot and he smoked it,” Perachi said.
Both teams posted proud tournament records. The Patriots, who lost to the Spartans in the second round the year before beating them in last year’s semis, finished their season with 15 straight wins, with Cook going five innings in a semifinal win over St. Paul Catholic.
Shepaug, seeking its first state title since 1999, outscored opponents 25-2 before the final, out-lasting No. 1 Holy Cross, 2-1, in the semis to get here.
