Wolcott stands in way of Burlington’s first Tri-State championship

The Burlington Hunters have been building their Tri-State League team one step at a time over the years.

After more than 20 years in the league, the Hunters are playing in their first Tri-State League championship series and are two wins away from their first title.

Burlington (22-3) will square off with the Wolcott Scrappers (18-7) in a best-of-3 series beginning Friday night at Fuessenich Park in Torrington at 7 p.m. Game two will be Saturday at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium at 2 p.m. with game three, if necessary, on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Municipal Stadium.

Wolcott, who eliminated defending league champion Bethlehem in the semifinals, is back in the final for the first time since 2014 when the Scrappers won their only league championship.

The Hunters have been in the league since 2005 but they’ve surged in the last four seasons with four consecutive winning seasons and three straight semifinal appearances. Burlington has set a new team record for wins (22) this season.

“We’re just playing good baseball. Got good pitching. We’ve played pretty good defense through the year, not putting ourselves behind the eight ball,” Burlington player/manager Andrew Bunger said earlier this year.

“We have a bunch of guys who just know how to play clean baseball,” Bunger said. “At the end of the day, you make the plays, you throw strikes, you’re going to win games. Everyone is going to score runs in this league it is about who can limit those mistakes in the field.”

Burlington’s pitching staff has a team ERA of 1.45 and is led by 2025 Cy Young award winner Derek Duffy. Anthony Izzo and Taylor Donofrio have been solid along with Tim Krol, veteran Ty Morin, Jake Rinkavage and Dave Kerlejza.

At the plate, Burlington has hit a team-record 19 home runs this summer and has a team batting average of .349 led by George Zaruba, the league’s MVP in 2025 and Chad Lavelle, a two-time Silver Slugger award winner at the league’s top hitter in 2024 and 2025.

Tim Krol (team-leading 31 RBI), Justin McCullough, Josue Lopez, Steve Caruso and Andrew Bunger have come up with big hits for the Hunters. Rookie Jacob Paschetto, who played two years of collegiate baseball at Dean College, hit five home runs in just 13 of 25 games. He had an internship with the NECBL’s Valley Blue Sox in Agawam, Mass.

Burlington will be facing a young Wolcott squad. The Scrappers have used a balanced attack and solid pitching to earn their spot in the finals.

Alec Ash leads the pitching staff with a career-high 48 innings of work while Aiden Bisallion has 56 strikeouts in 40 innings. Closer Ethan Stepputtis has pitched well along with Joe Ferrucci, Ben Bianchi and AJ Martinez.

The Scrappers have a strong 1-2 punch at the top of their lineup with Nick Sconziano and Carson Lentini while Alex James, Dillon Fernandez, Martinez and Drew Rocca have hit well for Wolcott.

Wolcott closed out the regular season with a four-game winning streak and has won four of five games in the postseason including a two-game sweep of Tri-Town and a 2-1 win over Bethlehem in the semifinals.

Burlington had to go to three games to eliminate Waterbury in the first round of the playoffs but cruised past Candlewood Kraken in the semifinals with a 2-0 sweep.

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2026 Tri-State League championship series
Friday, Aug. 14
Game 1: Burlington vs. Wolcott, 7 p.m. at Fuessenich Park
Saturday, Aug. 15
Game 2: Burlington vs. Wolcott, 2 p.m. at Municipal Stadium
Saturday, Aug. 15
Game 3: Burlington vs. Wolcott, 2 p.m. at Municipal Stadium, if necessary

Semifinals (best of 3)
Game 1, Saturday, Aug. 8
Wolcott 8, Bethlehem 4
Burlington 9, Candlewood 0
Game 2, Sunday, Aug. 9
Bethlehem 6, Wolcott 4
Burlington 9, Candlewood 0, forfeit, Burlington wins series 2-0
Game 3, Monday, Aug. 10
Wolcott 9, Bethlehem 3, Wolcott wins series, 2-1

First round (best of 3)
Saturday, August 1
Game 1
(1) Burlington 3, Waterbury 1
(2) Bethlehem 10, CT Sliders 2
(3) Wolcott 5, Tri-Town 1
(4) Candlewood 9,  (5) Winsted 2
Sunday, August 2
Game 2
Waterbury 4, Burlington 3
Bethlehem 11, CT Sliders 0, Bethlehem wins series, 2-0
Wolcott 7, Tri-Town 5, Wolcott wins series, 2-0
Candlewood 7, Winsted 2, Candlewood wins series, 2-0
Tuesday, August 4
Burlington 9, Waterbury 8. Burlington wins series, 2-1

Qualifying round (single elimination)
Monday, July 27
(6) Tri-Town 6, (11) Amenia 1
Tuesday, July 28
No. 8 Waterbury 5, No. 9 Valley Ducks 1
Friday, July 31
(10) CT Sliders 4, (7) Canton 1