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04/26/2015 12:00 AMThe North Branford baseball team responded with a 9-8 win over a six-win Old Lyme squad on April 25 after losing its first two games of the season earlier last week. North Branford was trailing 8-4 entering the sixth inning, but tied the score in that frame and then left Old Lyme on the field in the seventh.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Austin DeFrancesco got on base with two outs and stole second to get into scoring position, after which Nick Candelora singled him home to win the game in a close play at the plate. The late rally and timely hits were huge for North Branford’s confidence.
“It was very important. We salvaged the week,” Head Coach Billy Mitchell said. “To get the bats rolling late in the game, it was good.”
North Branford (6-2) finished with 11 hits in the win after combining for just six in losses to Cromwell and Lyman Hall. The big hit that ignited the offense came off the bat of Mike Querfeld, who blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth.
Tyler Hawk pitched six innings for North Branford and DeFrancesco earned the win in relief after getting out of a jam with runners on second and third and two out in the top of the seventh.
Previously on April 22, North Branford was defeated by Cromwell 4-1 for its first loss of the season. Sean Halligan pitched a gem, allowing just three hits, but the Thunderbirds struggled at the plate and in the field.
“Sean pitched a great game against Cromwell. It’s a shame he had to lose that game,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t hit and, uncharacteristically for us, we made a few errors to give them a couple of runs. They only had three hits.”
North Branford plated its lone run in the first inning when Candelora scored on Halligan’s hit. It was a fly ball that the wind knocked down and dropped in the field of play. That was one of two hits for the T-Birds on a day that featured some rough weather.
“The weather conditions were terrible. I don’t think I’ve ever played in weather conditions like that before. It was 50-mile-per-hour winds and it started to rain in about the fourth inning,” he said. “Everything was either knocked down by the wind or it was right at somebody.”
The next day, North Branford was bested by Lyman Hall 5-1. Nick Candelora allowed a three-run homer as the T-Birds fell behind early and weren’t able to recover. Their lone run was driven in once again by Halligan, who doubled home Matt Chamberlain on a bomb over the left fielder’s head.
North Branford’s pitching has been strong to open the year, even without Jay Quido, who tore his ACL during basketball season. That’s resulted in starting shortstop Candelora pitching more innings.
“He had an operation right before the season, so he’s out,” Mitchell said of Quido. “We’re trying not to move Nick out of shortstop to pitch, but we don’t have a choice with all of the games being bunched up because of the weather and all of that.”
With six wins in eight games to open the season, Coach Mitchell is hoping that this bunch’s familiarity with each other and the varsity game will allow them to keep it up and make a run in the Shoreline and state tournaments.
“It’s been a big impact. The guys are comfortable with each other, they’ve been playing baseball with one another since they were like five years old, so they’re really comfortable in the field and, as a result, we normally play tremendous defense,” Mitchell said. “We let Sean down against Cromwell, but I’m looking forward to playing them again. I think we can take them next time.”