New Canaan Knocks Stamford Out of Baseball Playoff Contention

In an outing in which the home team took an early lead, Stamford baseball hosted—and ultimately lost to—New Canaan in a game that eliminates Stamford from state contention. 

Stamford took an early lead at two, but New Canaan would come back with four unanswered hits runs to close out the game. 

"It was a good win," said New Canaan Coach Mitch Hoffman. "Any win is a good win. We battled a couple elements today, we came out a little flat, but we were able to piece it together." 

Hoffman said he took no joy in mathematically ending Stamford's run. With a need to win eight games to be eligible for the playoffs, Stamford would have had to win this game and the next two to make an appearance. 

"You never want to end someone's season," Hoffman said. "We have tremendous respect for those guys. They didn't come up on the right side of the ball enough times this season, but they're a good team and you always feel bad."

Sophomore New Canaan pitcher David Giusti gave a strong showing. He said overcoming some early issues boiled down to putting his faith in those that put their faith in him. 

"In games like today, I just rely on my defense," Giusti said. "They just kept making the right plays and I relied on my teammates while I faced my own obstacles. They were there for me."

Stamford Coach Fred Kelley said being eliminated is always hard, but it comes at the hands of a solid opponent.

"It's very disheartening to be knocked out of state contention," Kelley said. "I had so much optimism for these guys. You root for every team, but I was really rooting for them. New Canaan is a formidable team. Our pitcher did a good job against them, we just couldn't hit the ball today."

Kelley said it's particularly difficult when a team in which he saw—and continues to see—so much potential continues to catch one too many bad breaks. 

"They did all the right things and we had the deepest pitching staff in five years," he said. "Sometimes you see a guy in the cages or out on the field and you know they maybe don't have 'It.' Our guys have 'It.' we just couldn't execute it."