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04/12/2015 12:00 AMAfter enduring a torn quad tendon that forced him to watch from the stands last year, renowned North Haven baseball Coach Bob DeMayo was back on the field when his team opened the 2015 spring season. The Indians gave their skipper a warm welcome by winning two of their three games—blanking Guilford 8-0, taking a 2-0 loss to Notre Dame-West Haven, and then capping the week with a 4-1 victory versus Career.
DeMayo enters season No. 57 as North Haven’s head coach and felt glad to be back in action while seeing his squad get the campaign going on a positive note.
“I had never missed a day of anything in all the years I’ve coached and so it was nice to be back in the dugout and it was certainly nice to see us get some wins,” said DeMayo, who’s won four state titles and over 800 games in his Indians’ tenure. “It was a little disappointing that we held a talented group like Notre Dame to two runs and didn’t win the game, but they bounced back with a good performance against Career. Overall, I’ve seen improvement in every game and that’s what you’re always looking for.”
North Haven was looking for a win when hosting Guilford at the field that’s named in honor of Coach DeMayo on April 8 and breezed to the 8-0 victory behind six sterling innings from senior captain right-hander Rich DePalma, who allowed just two hits and walked none in his first varsity start on the mound.
The Indians broke through by plating three runs in the second inning, starting the scoring when senior Steve Rife singled home junior Mike DeRosa for a quick 1-0 lead. A bit later, with runners on second and third, sophomore Dominic Onofrio hit a comebacker to Guilford pitcher John Suchy, who errantly fired home to allow Rife and Dominic Fusco to score for a 3-0 advantage.
North Haven tacked on two more in the third when senior captain Nick Proto doubled and scored on senior Mike Kurk’s double, followed by Fusco’s single that brought home Kurk to make it 5-0.
In the fourth inning, senior Hunter Iacobelli singled and scored on a DePalma double and it was 6-0 in favor of North Haven.
The Indians then brought across two more runs in fifth as Kurk roped another two-bagger and scored on a triple by DeRosa, who then scored on a Rife’s base hit.
After DePalma wrapped up his six innings of work, fellow senior Fusco closed the door by pitching a clean seventh. DePalma would go on to get his second win by pitching in relief when the Indians beat Career later in the week.
“Rich was just in control. He’s not overpowering, but he changes speeds a bit, and his biggest attribute is that he can hit the outside corner with his curve and then bust people inside with the fastball,” Coach DeMayo said. “Offensively, we answered the call, came through in clutch situations, and we able to put Guilford away. We cashed in on just about every opportunity we had.”
North Haven then took a 2-0 home loss to Notre Dame the next day, but the good news was that Eric Esposito—another senior righty—made a good accounting of himself in his varsity debut on the bump. Esposito gave up a pair of runs in the first inning, yet settled down to go the distance on a three-hitter in which he allowed just one knock following the first. Unfortunately, the Indians couldn’t generate any offense in the game. Rife doubled in the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate, but the Green Knights recorded the last out to seal the victory. Still, DeMayo was pleased with how Esposito pushed past that difficult opening frame to turn in a solid showing.
“I was on the verge of taking Eric out, but I wanted to see what he could do from the second inning on and he shut them down the rest of the way,” said DeMayo. “I was impressed with how he settled down. He will be getting the ball again for sure.”
To close the week, North Haven traveled to New Haven for its SCC Oronoque opener and dispatched division rival Career by the score of 4-1. Junior right-hander Trevor MacDonnell pitched the first two innings, Fusco gave up a run in the third that tied the game, and then DePalma pitched the final four to collect the win.
The Indians went up 1-0 in the third when Fusco singled and scored on Iacobelli’s double.
After the Panthers made it 1-1, DeMayo’s club took the lead for good in the fourth when Proto doubled and raced home on a DeRosa single.
North Haven added an insurance run in the sixth as DeRosa walked, moved to second on Rife’s sacrifice bunt, and then scored when Fusco singled to right field.
The Indians then tacked on their last run in the seventh to pad it at 4-1. Iacobelli walked, went to second on DePalma’s sacrifice bunt, and then scored when Rife drew a walk with the bases loaded. The win put North Haven at 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Oronoque Division, which the Indians won two years ago. Last season, North Haven went 8-12 for the regular season and snuck into the Class L State Tournament before losing to Notre Dame in the first round.
The senior captains for DeMayo’s squad are pitcher/outfielder DePalma and starting catcher Proto. North Haven’s other seniors are Rife (designated hitter/second base/third base), Kurk (first base/pitcher), Iacobelli (second base/right field), Esposito (pitcher/third base), Fusco (pitcher/outfielder), and outfielder Louis Macelli.
The junior class consists of DeRosa (left field/catcher), shortstop Giovanni Torres, MacDonnell (pitcher/outfielder), Noah Ramos (catcher/outfielder), first baseman Chris Tullo, outfielder Joe Ireland, and pitcher Joe Balzano.
The Indians also feature four sophomores on the roster in third baseman Onofrio, pitcher Preston Young, pitcher/third baseman Brandon Clark, plus second baseman Alphonse Fusco.
Muchie Dagliere, who served as interim head coach last year, is back as a varsity assistant, alongside pitching coach Ray Degnan, who just completed his initial campaign as head coach of girls’ hoops. Justin Falcon is North Haven’s JV coach and Mike Proto coaches the freshman squad.