It takes a little luck and the ability to overcome adversity to go far in the state tournament and Bacon Academy had a little of both those qualities on Wednesday.
The Bobcats baseball team got a shock when their number-two starter, Chris Zbin, took one warm-up throw and found out, he couldn't throw. A heat cramp tightened up his left shoulder which gave veteran coach Dave Shea a headache he really didn't need.
Shea did the only thing he could do, he looked in his dugout, saw his grandson, threw him the ball and told him to get out there.
On short notice, the freshman kept Bacon in the game even though he did allow five runs in three innings. That stat has a little deception in it, however, as the Bacon defense failed to rise to the challenge and committed four errors in the first two innings as well.
The saving grace for the Bobcats, their offense. It's one of the best in the area and it came through again as Bacon tied the game in the second and went ahead for good with two more runs in the fourth.
The win sent Bacon back to the Class M quarterfinals where they will play Woodland Regional at East Hartford High School on Saturday. It's familiar territory for the Bobcats, they lost in the state championship game to Montville last season.