By Michael Letendre
The final two teams are set for the Connecticut 19U American Legion Baseball state championship this weekend.
And in a best of three series, Waterford (Zone 6, 27-3 overall) and Danbury (Zone 4, 23-9) will battle to see which program advances to the Northeast Regional – earning a chance to play in the American Legion World Series.
Game one commences on Friday at 6:30 p.m. from Palmer Field in Middletown.
The teams will play again on Saturday (1 p.m.) and if the series is tied up at 1-1 after the second game, a tie-breaking final commences about 45 later in an immediate winner-take-all rematch.
Not an easy road
The representative from Connecticut will have faced all the elements to get to the Northeast Regional.
Waterford outscored the competition 16-5 over Pod C play to advance to the Super Regional but played two tough games against the program from Bristol.
On July 17, Waterford needed eight innings to get by Bristol (1-0) and then in the rematch on July 20, the top seed advanced in the postseason via its 7-5 victory over Post 2 from Waterford High School.
Danbury took a different route, falling to EHM (3-2) in opening round play in the Southern Division but won four straight to advance to the next round.
The squad scored 50 runs over those four final contests — dropping EHM (10-1) in the last game of Pod H.
Super Regional Bracket
In Middletown, Danbury went 3-0 as the squad outscored the competition 22-2 to qualify for the state title tilt.
On the flip side of the state, Waterford also went a slick 3-0 to earn the series against Danbury.
Like its counterparts, Waterford allowed just two runs but just posted eight over play from Muzzy Field.
Post 161 defeated Greenwich and Stamford by identical 2-1 scores and then shutout Stamford 4-0 to end its play in Bristol to get to the best-of-three series.
Waterford was the top seeded team in Super Regional play while Danbury (No. 7) got out of the bracket with a dominant offensive onslaught, finishing the regular season two games behind Zone 4 winner Stamford (18-6 regular season).
2022 Connecticut American Legion Baseball State Championship Round
from Palmer Field, Middletown
Game 1 – Friday
No. 1 Waterford vs. No. 7 Danbury (6:30 p.m.)
Game 2 – Saturday
No. 1 Waterford vs. No. 7 Danbury (1 p.m.)
Game 3 – Saturday (if necessary)
No. 1 Waterford vs. No. 7 Danbury (45 minutes after the completion of the first game)
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