Barlow ace Matt Scott continued his dominant pitching performance this season in the Falcons 11-0, five-inning “mercy rule” win over Pomperaug. Scott struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced and issued no walks. Barlow played errorless defense behind him to nail down the perfect game and the SWC’s Patriot Division regular season championship.
The win also secures the Falcons the number one seed heading into the conference tournament on Saturday. Although Brookfield’s 11-2 conference record could match Barlow’s depending on the outcome of their final two games, the Falcons and Scott’s 5-1 victory over the Bobcats earlier this season would still earn them the top seed in the SWC tournament.
Barlow has 16 wins and just two losses heading into the final day of the regular season, outscoring their opponents 160-34 along the way, and catching the attention of the state’s leading sports writers, who ranked Barlow in the top ten for first time in program history, noting “the Falcons are proving to be much more than just Stanford-bound pitcher Matt Scott, scoring runs in bunches.”
“We’re feeling really good,” said Barlow coach Matt Griffiths. “Our pitching staff has been phenomenal all year and we’re getting great run support behind them.”
The team’s record is made even more impressive by the fact that the usual challenges of weather cancellations and inevitable injuries continue to be complicated by the additional lineup uncertainties caused by the ongoing pandemic. “There is lots of adversity that comes with playing baseball in the Northeast and the best teams are the ones most resilient to it,” Griffiths said.
That resiliency has been on full display during the Falcons current grueling stretch of playing nine games in 10 days, including a rare day-night double header against Newtown on Thursday to wrap up the regular season.
Coach Griffiths emphasizes that the team’s overall approach will not change heading into the conference and state tournaments. “Taking things one day at a time and not looking too far ahead has served us well in the regular season so we’ll stick with that mentality into the postseason,” Griffiths said.
“Couldn’t be prouder of what the guys have accomplished so far, but I think the best is still to come.”
