MIDDLETOWN – St. Paul baseball is the champion in Class S for the second year in a row after a nine-inning, 6-5 walk-off win over Stonington at Palmer Field on Saturday.

Through six innings, the Falcons shut down a Stonington team that was averaging 15.5 runs per game in the tournament and were cruising to what eventually became the school’s sixth-ever baseball state title, third in the last five years.

But everything got dicey in the top half of the seventh.

A gem from sophomore starting pitcher Chace King – two hits, seven strikeouts, no runs through six innings – was spoiled by a four-run burst from Stonington, the No. 5 seed in its first championship game since 1960, and the Falcons were suddenly trailing, 4-3. Down to the final out with the tying run at third, coach Victor Rinaldi called on another sophomore, Evan Judenis, to pinch hit and he answered the call, ripping a line drive into center field and forcing extra innings, for which he would be on the mound trying to win a state title for the Falcons for the second year in a row.

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“We’ve been here so many times. These close, nail-biting games, we’ve been here so many times. All of us in the dugout, we always say, ‘If you don’t think you’re gonna win, then why are you here?’ That’s what we always say and we all know we’re gonna win,” Judenis said. “I run with the adrenaline. Getting a big hit like that, pumping my chest, and then I go out on the mound and it just carries over. That’s how it always is with me.”

Judenis settled in on the mound after giving up a leadoff double in the eighth. That runner came in to score on a throwing error after a bunt attempt and gave the Bears the lead again, but the sophomore didn’t give up another hit. And, down to their final out again with runners on the corners, it was junior Coby Dagata who turned his day around with a line drive down the left field line that forced a ninth inning.

“Going down on strikes a few times after having a hit in the first, your confidence is dwindling, you’re high, you’re low… I even said, ‘Lord, just give me one hit right here for the team,’ and it happened. So I’m just happy to help the team in any way I can,” Dagata said.

Judenis shut Stonington down in order and Chase Boudreau started the bottom half of the ninth with a single to right. He advanced to second when Judenis was walked and to third on a bunt single from Jack McDougall.

Finally, with the bases loaded and no outs, it was a pitch from Stonington reliever Sean Durham that hit off the catcher’s glove and skirted to the backstop that allowed Boudreau to race home as the winning run.

“It was crazy there at the end, but Chace King did a nice job on the mound, he was cruising there and the seventh inning, gotta give credit to Stonington, they didn’t necessarily hit Chace hard, but they made him work there and obviously got the big (two-run single) to go ahead,” Rinaldi said. “Then things go a little nuts… But it’s just, we’ve had a resilient bunch all year, they’ve been a lot of fun to coach, it’s been a great group and I’m just incredibly proud of them.”

St. Paul took advantage of Stonington mistakes to put its first three runs on the board, two in the second inning, one in the third. Two of the three came on wild pitches. Those mistakes weren’t happening for King, who pitched the final three innings of the No. 2 seed Falcons’ (26-2) semifinal win over Woodland on Tuesday and was exceptional against a Stonington lineup that hit its way through the tournament.

“This kid shoved,” Dagata repeatedly said of his starting pitcher. “I’m so freaking proud of this kid.”

The youth of the Falcons, though they will lose four impact seniors from their starting lineup, suggests that this run – four state titles in 11 years – can continue.

“We like to think that we can keep it going, and I think we have a good foundation with our pitchers. We’re graduating some senior position players  (Keaton Kroll, Jason DeRosa, AJ Corrado, Nathan Cravanzola), but most of our pitching is back, so we should be good next year,” Rinaldi said.