It was a very good year for FCIAC baseball this past 2025 season in terms of the conference having plenty of achievements and success.
Fairfield Ludlowe won its second FCIAC championship, St. Joseph won its sixth state championship, and conference teams Norwalk, Fairfield Warde and St. Joseph were ranked among the top six in the final state poll.
The 2025 FCIAC Baseball Tournament was a microcosm of just how deep and balanced the conference was with several very good teams, and how strong the pitching and defense was throughout the season.
Fairfield Ludlowe was a perfect example of the quality depth in the FCIAC.
Coach Ken Geriak’s Fairfield Ludlowe Falcons were seeded No. 7 in the eight-team conference tourney, and they got hot enough for three games to win the school’s second conference crown since the first one in 2010.
Fairfield Ludlowe broke through with two runs in the top of the seventh inning of the FCIAC championship game to break the 2-2 tie with No. 1 seed Norwalk and the Falcons went on to win, 4-2, at Cubeta Stadium in Stamford on May 30.
The pitching and defense were so good in this tournament that the winning team scored four runs or less in all seven games.
Fairfield Ludlowe’s Falcons nipped No. 2 seed Fairfield Warde, 4-3, in the quarterfinals and they shut out No. 6 seed St. Joseph, 3-0, to advance to the championship game which they won by that 4-2 margin over Norwalk.
Norwalk opened with a 4-2 quarterfinal victory over No. 8 seed Trumbull and then defeated No. 5 seed Darien, 3-1, in the semifinals.
Darien won at No. 4 seed Brien McMahon, 2-1, and St. Joseph won at No. 6 seed Staples, 3-0, in the other opening quarterfinal games.
Fairfield Ludlowe jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of unearned runs in the first inning of the championship game. Norwalk tied it with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Falcons scored two more unearned runs in the seventh inning.
Ian Moore singled in the run which gave Fairfield Ludlowe the 4-2 lead in the seventh after he scored a run in the first inning when the Falcons cashed in on two of the three errors Norwalk made in the game. Dylan Davis doubled in Ludlowe’s first run of the game.
Norwalk’s David Harry came through with a clutch two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull the Bears into that 2-2 tie.
Jackson Frame scored the eventual winning run for Ludlowe on a two-out error in the top of the seventh inning. Moore then singled in Kenny Luczaj with the insurance run for the Falcons, who overcame an excellent pitching performance by Norwalk’s all-state senior ace pitcher Chase DePalma.
DePalma struck out 10 batters while allowing just four hits and no earned runs until he reached the pitch limit with two outs in the seventh inning.
Ludlowe’s senior starting pitcher Luke Stasko pitched four shutout innings and struck out five Bears.
Mason Holcomb pitched the last three innings, and he kept Norwalk scoreless in the bottom of the seventh inning to earn the win and secure the FCIAC title.
Norwalk and Fairfield Warde tied for first place in the FCIAC in the regular season at 12-3.
Coach Ryan Mitchell’s Norwalk Bears earned the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with the tiebreaker of their 1-0 head-to-head victory at home over Fairfield Warde on May 12.
Staples and Brien McMahon tied for third place with identical 11-4 conference records and the Staples Wreckers got the No. 3 seed via their victory over McMahon.
Fifth-seeded Darien, No. 6 seed St. Joseph, No. 7 seed Fairfield Ludlowe, and No. 8 seed Trumbull all finished with 9-6 records in the FCIAC.
St. Joseph’s Cadets were seeded 15th in the 2025 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class M Baseball Tournament, and they won five games to win the sixth state title in school history.
St. Joseph senior pitcher Connor Fahey excelled on the mound in the state championship game by hurling a three-hitter to lead St. Joseph to a 7-1 victory over No. 1 seed Suffield on a Friday the 13th in June at Palmer Field in Middletown.
Coach Jim Chaves’ Cadets outscored their five opponents by a 41-9 margin. They beat four higher-seeded teams, including the top two seeds.
They cruised to an impressive 17-3 victory at No. 2 seed Montville in the second round and advanced to the championship with their 3-0 semifinal victory over No. 6 Killingly. St. Joseph’s sophomore righthander Harry Jones had eight strikeouts while pitching the complete game for the shutout in the semifinals.
Jake Failla’s speed was a big factor in St. Joseph’s title-clinching 7-1 victory over Suffield. Faila stole second base after drawing a one-out walk in the first inning and scored on a base hit by Adam Chaves.
The Cadets took that 1-0 lead into the fifth inning and they had a 5-0 lead when the top half of the inning ended as they scored four runs with two outs.
Failla’s speed again was a factor. He beat out an infield single with the bases loaded to drive in Drew Traverso with the first run and Nate Walsh also scored on a throwing error in that play. Alvin Rosario then ripped a two-run double to make it 5-0.
Norwalk and Fairfield Warde both won three games in the CIAC Class LL Baseball Tournament before having their respective seasons ended with semifinal losses.
Two big highlights in that Class LL state tourney were the incredible Cinderella run to the final by No. 32 seed Glastonbury which began with a stunning 5-1 victory over top-seeded Amity, and one of the greatest pitching duels in state tournament history when the second-seeded Norwalk Bears advanced to the semifinals with their 1-0 victory in eight innings over No. 6 seed Platt.
DePalma, Norwalk’s senior ace, and Platt pitcher Brandon Candelora were both so dominant that the two teams combined for just three hits.
DePalma fired a two-hit shutout with a dozen strikeouts in his eight innings.
Candelora no-hit Norwalk through seven innings and it was that first hit that ended the game in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Harry, Norwalk’s cleanup hitter, came through in the clutch yet again by breaking up the no-hitter and ending the game with one swing of the bat when he singled in Kevin Gordon with the only run of the game.
Norwalk finished with a very good 22-5 overall record and was ranked No. 3 and Fairfield Warde (19-6) was No. 4 in the Final 2025 GametimeCT Top 10 Baseball Poll.
Lyman Hall won the CIAC Class L state championship with a 1-0 victory over Guilford to finish 25-3 and the Trojans were unanimously voted No. 1 in the final GametimeCT state poll.
South Windsor was ranked No. 2 after finishing 23-4 with its 1-0 victory over Glastonbury in the Class LL final. Amity was ranked No. 5 behind Fairfield Warde.
St. Joseph was ranked No. 6 as that third FCIAC team among the top six. The Cadets were 12-8 overall in the regular season and they finished 18-9 after going 5-0 in the Class M state tournament.
St. Joseph won it first state championship in the bicentennial year of 1976 in the CIAC Class S tournament, and since then the Cadets have copped their five Class M crowns in 1980, 1985, 2013, 2019, and 2025.
DePalma and Fairfield Warde’s junior shortstop Carson Dodder were the two FCIAC players selected to all-conference and all-state teams in the three highest categories.
They were on the 2025 All-FCIAC Baseball Team, the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Baseball Class LL All-State Team, and the GametimeCT All-State Baseball First Team.
DePalma, an All-FCIAC First Team repeat selection, had a 0.81 ERA with 88 strikeouts and 12 walks in 60 2/3 innings as a senior. The future Virginia Wesleyan pitcher had 203 career strikeouts.
Dodder provided solid defense in the middle of Warde’s infield, and he was a versatile force on offense with his .459 batting average, 17 RBIs, three home runs and five doubles along with his speed to steal 17 bases and score 22 runs.
Sam Castro, Brien McMahon’s senior shortstop, was named the Player of the Year while leading the group of 18 players selected to the All-FCIAC First Team.
Castro was also selected to the CHSCA Class LL All-State Team and GametimeCT All-State Second Team.
This was the second straight year that Fairfield Warde’s junior catcher Jimmy Dobbs was selected to the All-FCIAC First Team, CHSCA Class LL All-State Team, and GametimeCT All-State Second Team.
Kai Nee of Staples and Trumbull’s Trevor Schuelke both made the All-FCIAC First Team and CHSCA Class LL All-State Team for the second consecutive year.
Frank Bergin was selected to the All-FCIAC First Team and CHSCA Class LL All-State Team while his Norwalk teammate, freshman pitcher Gavin Chakar, was picked to the All-FCIAC First Team and GametimeCT All-State Second Team.
Jules Cicero of Staples and New Canaan’s Adrian Delicata were both selected to the All-FCIAC First Team and were two of the nine FCIAC players on the CHSCA Class LL All-State Team.
The other eight players selected to the 2025 All-FCIAC Baseball Team were Henry Vincent and Meyer Stransky of Fairfield Warde, Cooper Brundige and Andrew Oppenheimer of Staples, Fairfield Ludlowe’s Kieran Scruggs, Trumbull’s Ryan Leonzi, Norwalk’s Jaxon Ermo, and Westhill’s Jorge Hitlin.