Naugatuck Dogs sweep Tri-Town Trojans to win first-ever Tri-State League title

WATERBURY, Aug. 23 – Hard-hitting Naugatuck won five consecutive games to win their first-ever Tri-State League championship with a 8-4 win over the Tri-Town Trojans at Municipal Stadium.

The Dogs, who have won three Stan Musial state championships since 2011, swept the best-of-3 Tri-State League championship series. The Dogs (24-6) beat Tri-Town in the series opener at Fuessenich Park on Tuesday night, 13-2, hitting three home runs in the first inning.

Sean Miller-Jones led off the game with a home run while Kyle Murphy and Kevin Murphy each had first inning home runs. Kevin Murphy pitched seven innings of relief to earn the win.

In the second game, Naugatuck got three hits and an RBI from Ryan Plourde and two hits.

The Dogs dropped a 3-1 decision to Tri-Town on August 12 but rebounded with a 4-3 win over Terryville to stay alive. They eliminated Watertown, which ran the table in the Tri-State League season (19-0) and won the Stan Musial state title, with a 7-3 victory. They earned a berth in the finals with a 6-2 win over Bethlehem.

Watertown went 5-0 to win the Stan Musial state title for the second straight year with a 12-4 victory over Fedell’s Mechanics from the Bridgeport Senior City League.

2017 Tri-State playoffs
First round (best-of-3)
Saturday, July 29
Wolcott 14, Blasius Chevrolet 9
Terryville 5, Tribury 1
Litchfield 9, Southington 8
Amenia 3, Winsted 0
Sunday, July 30
Wolcott 7, Blasius Chevrolet 1
Terryville 2, Tribury 0
Litchfield 5, Southington 3
Amenia 8, Winsted 7

Second round (double elimination)
Friday, August 11
Bethlehem 2, Wolcott 1
Tri-Town 11, Terryville 1
Watertown 7, Amenia 6
Naugatuck 15, Litchfield 4
Saturday, August 12
Tri-Town 4, Naugatuck 1
Bethlehem 3, Watertown 2
Terryville 5, Litchfield 1, Litchfield eliminated
Wolcott 5, Amenia 4, Amenia eliminated
Sunday, August 13
Tri-Town 8, Bethlehem 5
Watertown 11, Wolcott 1, Wolcott eliminated
Naugatuck 4, Terryville 3, Terryville eliminated
Wednesday, August 16
Naugatuck 7, Watertown 3, Watertown eliminated
Thursday, August 17
Naugatuck 6, Bethlehem 2, Bethlehem eliminated

Tri-State League championship series
Best of 3
Tuesday, August 22
Game 1 at Torrington
Naugatuck 13, Tri-Town 2
Game 2 at Waterbury
Naugatuck 8, Tri-Town 2

2017 Stan Musial state tournament
Tuesday, July 25
Watertown 1, Milford Hunters 0
All-Star Batting 1, Blasius Chevrolet 0
Fedells Mechanics 6, Terryville 0
Naugatuck 10, Stratford Storm 2
Wednesday, July 26
Watertown 7, All-Star Batting 0
Fedell’s Mechanics 4, Naugatuck 2
Milford 2, Blasius Chevrolet 0, Blaius eliminated
Terryville 1, Stratford 0, Stratford eliminated
Thursday, July 27
Watertown 2, Fedells Mechanics 1
Naugatuck 12, Milford 1, Milford eliminated
Terryville 3, All-Star Batting 2, All-Star eliminated
Friday, July 28
Watertown 8, Terryville 0, Terryville eliminated
Fedells Mechanics 3, Naugatuck 1, Naugatuck eliminated
Saturday, July 29
Championship
Watertown 12, Fedells Mechanics 4

League MVP: Ryan Plourde, Naugatuck
Silver Slugger: Connor McEvoy, Terryville
Sean Miller Jones (2B), Naugatuck
Devin Murphy (1B), Naugatuck
Kyle Murphy (3B), Naugatuck
Billy Armstrong (P), Terryville
Tony Patane (SS), Terryville
Chris Ayer (OF), Watertown
Chris Callahan (OF), Watertown