QUICK BITES: Waterbury Career Academy softball and baseball make state tournament in their debut seasons

What a debut for the Waterbury Career Academy softball team.
The Spartans closed out their inaugural regular season with a 5-0 win over Whitney Tech on Tuesday afternoon at Huntingdon Park. With the win, WCA closed the regular season at 16-4. 
Here’s what head coach John O’Toole had to say on Twitter:
“Spartans cap off a great inaugural varsity season with a win over Whitney Tech finishing as the #7 seed with a 16-4 record.”
That “#7 seed” O’Toole mentioned is where WCA is currently ranked in the Class L state tournament standings. The Spartans, who are an independent this season, played mostly technical high schools in their first season, though they also beat Kennedy twice and Crosby once. If the Class S standings hold where they are right now, WCA would host Parish Hill, another tech school, in the first round.
Bottom line is, no matter where WCA is seeded, it will be in Waterbury for its first-ever state tournament game. Quite the accomplishment for a first-year varsity program.

Baseball also in for WCA…
Speaking of state tournament qualifiers, the Spartan baseball team also made the cut. WCA baseball closed out its inaugural regular season with a 7-1 win over Two Rivers Magnet from Hartford. Jordan Lyman had three hits while Jacob Torres added two. Adrian Velez had a home run and three RBI for the Spartans.
WCA was 7-10 after a 9-6 loss to Kennedy on May 16 at Bucks Hill Park, but it won three straight games to close the regular season. The Spartan baseball team was also an independent and played mostly tech schools. 
WCA is 21st in the Class S state tournament standings. When those standings become official, the Spartans will open on the road against No. 12 Portland of the Shoreline Conference in their first-ever state tournament game.
 
NOTE: WCA will become a full-fledged NVL member in 2016-17.