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New Canaan Forces Deciding Game

Trailing West Norwalk 2-1 in the fifth inning of Tuesday's District 1 Cal Ripken championship round, New Canaan felt it had its opponent right where it wanted them.

New Canaan, which has had a history of comebacks in recent years in tournament play, exploded for five runs – three coming on a home run by Zach Smith – to defeat West Norwalk, 6-3, at Saxe Middle School. The victory forced a winner-take-all game at Saxe Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

"This was another example of why this team is called the Cardiac Kids,'' New Canaan manger Paul Giusti said. "Norwalk is a terrific team, and any time we can come out ahead of them, it's good."

Norwalk had a 2-1 lead in the fifth when New Canaan struck. Colin Tiller walked with one out and Kyle LaVesseur singled. Zach Allen's RBI single tied it, and Alex LaPolice's RBI single put New Canaan ahead to stay. Smith followed with his home run to give New Canaan some breathing room.

West Norwalk rallied in the sixth and had the bases loaded with one out. Allen, who relieved LaPolice in the fifth, wriggled free from the jam to force the deciding game. Allen also benefited from terrific defense. Center fielder Colin Tiller took a home run away from Jeremy Linton to lead off the inning – Tiller reached over the netting to catch the ball and spilled beyond it, but it was ruled a catch – and left fielder Mike Collins made a diving grab to take a hit away from Noah Yokoi in the sixth.

"I'm always nervous,'' Giusti said. "As much as we like to hit the ball, we defend like no other,'' Giusti said. "For Zach to get a strikeout to end the game with the bases loaded was big. We got a little luck in the end."

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