Terryville, Blasius Chevrolet decide to share Stan Musial state championship

For the past seven years, the winner of the AABC Stan Musial state championship baseball tournament has come from the Tri-State League.

The champion will again come from the Tri-State League but this year, there will be co-champions. The Terryville Black Sox and Blasius Chevrolet from Waterbury will share the 2018 championship, according to Ed Gadomski, commissioner of the Tri-State League.

Rain compressed the schedule for this year’s Stan Musial championship tournament and organizers were running out of time before the top two teams in the tournament had to move onto Braintree, Massachusetts and participate in the AABC’s (American Athletic Baseball Congress) East Coast World Series.

Terryville won their first three games in the state tournament to earn a spot in the final. Blasius Chevrolet, which had to beat Canton Crushers on the final day of the Tri-State League season to earn a spot in the state tournament, beat Naugatuck 6-4 to earn a spot in the tournament title game and earn a spot at the World Series.

Terryville (23-3) and Blasius (18-10) played in the AABC World Series on August 9-12 with Terryville advancing to the championship game before losing to host Braintree, Mass., White Sox. Blasius went 1-2 in the tournament.

But time was running out this summer to get the championship game in. Terryville is still playing in the Tri-State League playoffs this week and many of the Blasius players are unavailable now that Blasius was eliminated from the Tri-State League playoffs in the first round.

Terryville is in the Tri-State League semifinals and has a 1-0 lead over the Litchfield Cowboys in their best-of-3 series.

“I spoke to both teams and left the decision up to them,” Gadomski said. “They decided to be co-champions for the season.”

It is the first state championship for both Terryville, which was the top Tri-State League team in the regular season at 15-3, and Blasius Chevrolet.

2018 Stan Musial
state baseball championships
Top two teams qualify for the AABC Northeast World Series in Braintree, Mass., August 9-12

Sunday, July 29
Game 1: Fedell’s Mechanics-Trumbull 2, Blasius Chevrolet-Waterbury 0
Game 2: Terryville Black Sox 13, Diamond Zone-North Haven 2
Game 3: Milford Hunters 8, All-Star Batting 0
Game 4: Danbury Pirates 5, Naugatuck Dogs 1
Monday, July 30
Game 5: Terryville 4, Fedell’s Mechanics 1
Game 6: Milford 9, Danbury 0
Game 7: Naugatuck 7, All-Star Batting 1, All-Star eliminated
Game 8: Blasius Chevrolet 5, Diamond Zone 0, Diamond Zone eliminated
Tuesday, July 31
Game 9: Terryville 5, Milford 4 (11)
Game 10: Blasius Chevrolet 6, Danbury 1, Danbury eliminated
Game 11: Naugatuck 7, Fedell’s Mechanics 3, Fedell’s eliminated
Thursday, August 2
Game 13: Naugatuck 9, Milford 5, Milford eliminated
Sunday, August 5
Game 14: Blasius Chevrolet 6, Naugatuck 4
Stan Musial state championship
Game 15: Terryville vs. Blasius Chevrolet, declared co-champions

Recent Stan Musial state champions
2018: Terryville Black Sox and Blasius Chevrolet (co-champions)
2017: Watertown Blaze
2016: Watertown Blaze
2015: Naugatuck Dogs
2014: Tri-Town Trojans
2013: Tri-Town Trojans
2012: Naugatuck Dogs
2011: Naugatuck Dogs

2018 Tri-State League playoffs
First round (Best of three)
Thursday, July 26
Tribury Twisters 9, Blasius Chevrolet 8
Wolcott Scrappers 9, Winsted Whalers 6
Southington 66ers 6, Bristol Greeners 1
Bethlehem Plowboys 4, Amenia NY Monarchs 2
Friday, July 27
Blasius Chevrolet 4, Tribury 2
Wolcott 8, Winsted 2, Wolcott wins series, 2-0
Southington 7, Bristol 2, Southington wins series, 2-0
Bethlehem 7, Amenia NY 1, Bethlehem wins series, 2-0
Saturday, July 28
Tribury 10, Blasius Chevrolet 5, Tribury wins series, 2-1

Round two (best of three)
Saturday August 4
Tri-Town Trojans 6, Southington 66ers 0
Sunday August 5
Tri-Town 3, Southington 2 (10), Tri-Town wins series, 2-0
Terryville Black Sox 3, Bethlehem Plowboys 2 (10)
Tribury Twisters 5, Litchfield Cowboys 4
Litchfield 6, Tribury 4
Naugatuck Dogs 1, Wolcott Scrappers 0
Monday August 6
Litchfield 7, Tribury 1, Litchfield wins series, 2-1
Bethlehem 9, Terryville 7
Naugatuck 6, Wolcott 5, Naugatuck wins series, 2-0
Tuesday August 7
Terryville 3, Bethlehem 2, Terryville wins series, 2-1 

Semifinals (Best of three)
Tuesday August 14
Terryville Black Sox 6, Litchfield Cowboys 4
Naugatuck Dogs 9, Tri-Town Trojans 7
Wednesday, August 15
Terryville vs. Litchfield
Tri-Town vs. Naugatuck
Thursday, August 16
Litchfield vs. Terryville at Municipal Stadium, 7 p.m., if necessary
Naugatuck vs. Tri-Town at Fuessenich Park, 7 p.m., if necessary

Tri-State championship (Best-of-three)
At Fuessenich Park, Torrington
August 21-23