North Haven Senior Legion Picks Up Crucial Wins Versus Ansonia
It's been a rough go thus far this summer for the North Haven Senior Legion baseball team, which lost 12 of its first 14 games to start the year. Consequently, Post 76 entered last weekend's doubleheader against Ansonia in desperate need of some victories and wound up collecting two to stand with a record of 4-12. Playing on the road at Nolan Field on July 5, Charlie Flanagan's club prevailed by scores of 4-1 and 11-5 and now looks to take that momentum into the campaign's second half as it climbs the ladder toward State Tournament contention.
he top six teams among the 10 in Zone 2 qualify for the state bracket. North Haven sits in ninth place and is four games behind sixth-place Milford (10-10), which Post 76 has a three game series against on Saturday, July 11 and Sunday, July 12. Coach Flanagan remains optimistic that North Haven can make its way into the playoffs for the first time since 2012, but knows his guys will have to play much better on multiple levels in order to do so.
"Historically, we've gotten better as the season has gone on and we are getting better, but we're not getting better at the pace we need to. We have to play better baseball offensively, defensively, and mentally. We're just not hitting on all strides in those areas right now. We have little room for error and we've put ourselves in a position where we have to dig out of it," Coach Flanagan said. "We complicate things with work schedules and different agendas. Baseball is like anything else—you have to dedicate yourself to it and we have some guys that aren't doing it. It's difficult when everyone isn't on the same page."
In the 4-1 victory to start the Ansonia doubleheader, Dominic Fusco got the win by pitching five quality innings and Mike Kurk worked the last two for the save. Post 76 struck with a run in the third when Dominic Onofrio scored on Hunter Iacobelli's sacrifice fly. North Haven added another run in the fifth as Noah Ramos came home on a fielder's choice. Flanagan's squad tacked on one more on in the sixth inning when Nick Proto's sacrifice fly plated Chris Tullo, after which Joe Corniello scored on Richie DePalma's sac fly in the seventh.
Then in the 11-5 victory for the nightcap, Chris Stevens started and threw two innings, Iacobelli pitched next two, and Kurk threw the final three for the win. Post 76 fell behind 3-0, but took the lead for good by scoring four times in the fourth inning. North Haven's offense was keyed in the game by RBI doubles from Proto and Alphonse Fusco, two singles and two runs scored by Onofrio, plus three runs from Iacobelli.
"We played well defensively and today we had some timely this with guys in scoring position," Flanagan said. "Our pitching is the thing right now because we've played so many games in so many days and so some of our pitchers have to step up right now because we have so many games ahead of us this week. We have no room for error. None."
Prior to facing Ansonia, North Haven dropped five contests last week. Post 76 first took a 4-1 loss in Branford on June 29, followed by an 8-7 defeat at New Haven the following day. Then on July 2, Flanagan's squad was swept in a home doubleheader with New Haven by counts of 5-4 and 6-2, after which North Haven took a 4-3 home loss to Shelton the following evening.
Playing at defending Zone 2 champion Branford (16-3), DePalma pitched a complete game, four-hitter, but was victimized by four errors that led to three unearned runs. Post 76 plated its lone run in the fifth inning when Noah Ramos walked, took second on Chris Brockett's sacrifice bunt, and scored on a passed ball.
"We should have won the game," Coach Flanagan said. "Richie pitched well enough to win the game."
Post 76 also struggled with the gloves in the next contest by making seven errors and their miscues opened the door for six unearned runs by New Haven in the third inning. North Haven trailed 2-0 before scoring three times in the third on a two-run double from Corniello and an RBI single by Alphonse Fusco, but then New Haven (7-11) put up its six spot in the bottom half. Post 76 started clawing back with a run in the fourth on Ramos's single and then used a two-run base hit by Maselli to draw to 8-6. Post 76 rallied in the seventh and made it a one-run game when Ramos singled home Stevens, but their final batter struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded to end the game. Starting pitcher Dominic Fusco allowed two earned runs in 4.2 innings and Erik Esposito tossed 1.2 scoreless.
"The defense was awful and that causes pitchers to have stressful innings," said Flanagan. "Dom did not deserve that."
Kurk then took the mound for the first game of a doubleheader against New Haven the next day and brought a 4-0 lead into the sixth, but gave up five runs in that inning, including two that were unearned, as Post 76 dropped a 5-4 decision. North Haven had plated three runs in the third and another in the fifth to hold its four-run advantage. In the third, DePalma and Proto singled and both came home on a two-run knock from Kurk, who later scored on Iacobelli's single. DePalma walked and came home on Corniello's hit for North Haven's final run in the fifth.
Then in the second game, New Haven did some early damage offensively and came away with the 6-2 victory. Corniello pitched the first two innings for Post 76, Stevens threw 2.2, and Esposito worked the final 1.1 for North Haven, which scored its two runs in the final inning when Ramos singled in DePalma and Iacobelli.
Then on July 3, DePalma went the distance again and took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning, although Shelton came back by scoring three runs and emerged with the 4-3 win. Shelton (10-5) used a two-run single with one out to the game and then the next batter singled home the go-ahead run. Post 76 had a chance in the bottom of the seventh as Proto and Corniello singled and both advanced into scoring position with one out, but North Haven was unable to get a sacrifice fly to tie it or a base hit to win it.