THOMASTON – Any state tournament win is good. But this one had an extra touch of sweetness as far at Thomaston High baseball coach Bob McMahon was concerned.

            The No. 8 Bears toasted No. 25 Putnam, 13-0, Tuesday afternoon in Class S first round action. Pretty convincing and the opponent was not lost on McMahon.

            “We lost a state championship to them in 1985 this feels good,” said McMahon who was a member of that team.

            Yeah, you never forget those losses even 32 years later. You don’t get a do-over either, but this one was a bit of delayed redemption. On this day everything went right.

            The Bears (14-7) banged out 13 hits led Jon Wilson (3-4, 2 RBI) and Jared Kahn (3-for-4). Drew Colavecchio chipped in with a two-run single and Andy Goodrich had two hits. Equally as satisfying, McMahon was able to preserve his pitching staff.

            The Bears will host No. 9 Notre Dame - Fairfield, who administered a 26-1 pounding to Public Safety and all hands will be on board. McMahon kept starter Drew Colavecchio and relievers Jake Torrence and Jared Kahn under the 25-pitch count and all are eligible to pitch against Notre Dame if needed.  In all, the Bears used four pitchers with Noah Daigle finishing up.

            “We looked like a good ball club,” said McMahon. “We pitched four guys and got a shutout and two-hitter and when we had to hit we hit.”

            Colavecchio put the Bears on top with a two-run single in the second inning and they scored in every inning after that except for the fifth. Back-to-back singles from Wilson and Kahn followed by two errors led to two more runs and a 4-0 lead in the third.

            The Bears upped the led to 7-0 with three runs in the fourth inning and then closed it out with a six-run sixth inning.  Wilson blooped a two-run single in the frame and Goodrich knocked in a run with an infield hit.

            The Bears were 4-5 at one point this season but since then have won 10 out of 12, losing only to Lewis Mills and Nonnewaug.

            “We beat Shepaug (6-0) and then Ridgefield (No. 2 in the state at that time) and that changed our season,” said McMahon.      

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