The St. Paul baseball team captured its second straight Naugatuck Valley League championship on Tuesday, defeating Woodland 7‑6 in a tightly contested finale that hinged on a walk‑off single by senior Keaton Kroll.
The Falcons fell behind early, trailing 6‑5 entering the bottom of the seventh, but a sequence of timely hits and aggressive baserunning turned the tide.
Chase Boudreau opened the decisive frame with a one‑hop double to the left‑field fence, and Evan Judenis followed with an RBI single that tied the game at 6‑6.
Griffin Fink’s sacrifice bunt moved Judenis to second, setting the stage for Nate Cravanzola’s hard single into left field that positioned Keaton Kroll for the game‑winning hit.
Kroll’s walk‑off single in the seventh inning drove in the winning run, sealing a 7‑6 victory that sparked celebration among the St. Paul bench and fans.
Woodland answered with a pinch‑hit single from Tim Aucoin and contributions from Jack Schwenger, George Mudry and Michael Landrigan, but the Falcons’ defense could not hold the lead.
A Seventh‑Inning Rally
The turning point arrived when the Falcons capitalized on a series of defensive miscues by Woodland, loading the bases and setting up Kroll’s heroics.
Fink and Cravanzola reached on back‑to‑back errors, bringing the bases full, and Charlie Napoleone’s relief appearance added a strikeout and a force out at home before Dagata’s bloop single gave St. Paul a brief lead in the sixth.
Despite the earlier lead changing hands multiple times, the composure of the senior lineup in the final frame underscored the team’s resilience.
Pitching Duel and Defensive Missteps
St. Paul’s pitching staff, anchored by starter Chace King, wrestled with control issues, issuing nine walks over the course of the game, while Woodland’s Tyler Yoxall struggled with four free passes early on.
Reliever Evan Judenis, who also contributed an RBI single earlier, managed a crucial strikeout and a force out at home in the sixth, but the high walk count kept the pressure on the defense.
Woodland’s defense, highlighted by Schwenger’s RBI single and a pinch‑hit single from Aucoin, kept the game alive, but ultimately could not contain the Falcons’ late surge.
The victory marks the second consecutive NVL title for St. Paul, echoing their 9‑4 championship win in 2025, and solidifies the program’s recent dominance in the league.