Coginchaug Wins Section 2 Title With 11-4 Win Over South Windsor

By Ted Glanzer

Connor Rulnick pitched a stellar 4.1 innings and John John Jose and T.J. Vallone homered as the Coginchaug 11-12 All-Stars powered their way to an 11-4 victory over South Windsor American in the Section II championship game on Wednesday.

The lefty Rulnick was an unlikely hero for Coginchaug, having pitched just one inning in the entire All-Star tournament.

"It feels great," Rulnick said. "We [won sectionals] last year and it feels even better this year."

For more coverage of Coginchaug's win, check out Patch's sports section

South Windsor found itself in an early hole, when Coginchaug jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first, courtesy of a 3-run home run by Jose and an RBI single by AJ Kleczkowski. Rulnick tripled and Cole Niedman doubled in the inning.

But South Windsor fought back to close within 4-3 in the bottom half of the frame, as Jack McCluskey hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly and Owen Pelletier followed with a 2-RBI single. 

That was as close as South Windsor would get, however, as Vallone extended Coginchaug's lead in the top of the second to 6-3 with a 2-run homer.

Rulnick settled down after the shaky first inning, getting his off-speed pitches over for strikes and putting South Windsor batters back on their heels.

Coginchaug tacked on three more runs in the fourth, courtesy of a two-run single by Cole Niedman and a run-scoring double by Griffin Saks.

South Windsor starting pitcher Robert Williams homered in the bottom of the fifth to make it 9-4 before Coginchaug scored twice more in the top of the sixth.

Coginchaug pitcher Ryan Cross got the final five outs, as his teammates mobbed him in celebration when the game ended.

South Windsor head coach Jason Donahue put the loss in perspective, saying that his team likely played above expectations to reach the Section II final game.

"Obviously I am a little disappointed in the way it ended," Donahue said. "But someone was going to lose today. I'm proud of the kids.

"They're sad they didn't get the prize, but they're 12 years old. In 20 minutes, they'll be goofing off."

The Americans defeated Coginchaug 1-0 on Saturday in the semifinal, sending Coginchaug into the losers' bracket, where it battled back to win 3 games to win the Section II title. Two of those victories were against South Windsor American in elimination games. In those two games, Coginchaug scored 23 runs.

Coginchaug head coach Ken Vallone described the experience as "surreal," crediting Rulnick's pitching and his batters for the victory.

"We batted around the lineup," said Vallone, adding that Donahue had a piece of advice for Coginchaug as they move on to the state championship series. "He said, 'Bring those magic bats.'"

Coginchaug will face Westport in Southington in a best-of-three series for the Connecticut state championship.