Words and photos by Andy Hutchison
MIDDLETOWN — When the final out was secured by left fielder Chase Landgraf, gloves went flying and Staples High baseball players began their celebration of their first state title since 2019.
No. 11 Staples beat No. 5 Trumbull 3-2 in eight innings of the Class LL State Championship at Palmer Field on Saturday afternoon. The pinnacle game featured clutch, jam-escaping pitching, great defense, battles at the plate and some timely hits.
After winning its first state playoff game the Wreckers were on an unstoppable path, said Lukas Snow, who pitched four innings of strong relief in the win. “From there it was full force ahead,” Snow commented. “I’m absolutely ecstatic.”
But the run to the title was not without some tense moments, particularly in the title game.
Cole Landgraf toed the rubber to start and pitched three solid innings, allowing one run on four hits, walking two and striking out one. He exited with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth with the score deadlocked at 1-1. Snow entered and put out the fire. Snow got a fly out, a force out at third, and battled back from a 3-0 count to strike out the final batter of the inning and strand three runners.
Snow, given a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, worked around a leadoff double, error and walk in the bottom of the fifth to wiggle out of another bases-loaded jam.
Trumbull tied things in the seventh when Brayden Jagoe homered to right center, sending the game into extra innings. Staples got the decisive run following Connor Brill‘s one-out single, Chase Landgraf reaching on an error, an intentional walk to Jules Cicero and Cole Landgraf beating out an infield single up the middle to drive in the run.
“It’s so exciting. I’ve dreamed about it for four years. To not let that seventh inning upset us and to come back it shows what kind of team we are,” Mark Kelly said.
Staples Coach Jack McFarland said a challenging schedule, which led to nail-biters, walk-off and comeback wins, prepared his team for tough playoff action such as this pinnacle contest.
Staples and Trumbull had traded runs in the fourth inning with the Wreckers taking a 1-0 lead in the top half. Kelly walked leading off and Nolan Walters worked a walk on a full count to set the table. Dean Patel entered in place of Bruce Schlegelmilch to sacrifice bunt but, after a pickoff and two strikes on the count, Schlegelmilch re-entered and came up with a clutch single to left, putting runners at the corners and setting up Brill’s sacrifice fly for the Wrecker lead.
After the Eagles got even and Snow entered to keep the game tied, Staples took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. Jack Jacob worked a full-count walk leading off, Landgraf walked with one out and Vincent Vega battled back from an 0-2 count to load the bases with a walk. That led to a pitching change as starter Andrew Valentino turned the ball over to Jason Costello. Kelly put the ball into play; Trumbull got a force out at home but an errant throw to first allowed the go-ahead run to score.
Staples got out of a jam in the bottom of the sixth when Snow induced a double play grounder and second baseman Cicero, shortstop Walters and first baseman Brill did the rest.
The win went to reliever Charlie Fitch, who tossed a perfect eighth inning with a strikeout and two fly outs.
Cicero, Landgraf, Kelly, Schlegelmilch and Brill all had hits for the Wreckers.
“Obviously, it’s an amazing feeling,” second baseman Cicero said. “We’ve fought through so much this year.”
“The kids are ready for situations like this,” McFarland said.
“It was exactly what we expected,” McFarland, noting that the matchup featured two of the top teams in the FCIAC and state, featuring ace pitchers.
“This is a big win for us — it feels great,” McFarland said.
The Staples coach noted that he and other members of the coaching staff have experienced state championship success but that this was a first for the current roster, having come close with runner-up finishes in 2023 and ’24.
Andy Hutchison
Andy Hutchison has been covering school sports — including Staples athletics — as well as news and feature stories, since the 1990s. He is the sports editor at the Newtown Bee. He writes for the Monroe Sun. He was director of communications and radio color commentator for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (now Islanders) hockey team. He has won numerous writing awards, including regional and national first-place honors.
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