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05/22/2015 12:00 AMBaseball
Following a two-year absence, the Branford baseball team is going back to the Class L State Tournament. Ed Bethke's club clinched their bid in the tournament by earning a 3-2 victory at Guilford on May 20 that gave the Hornets that crucial eighth win they needed to qualify.
The game was tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, when Tyler Criscuolo led off with an opposite-field home run that put Branford in the lead for good. Starting pitcher Dawson Frawley pitched five innings of three-hit ball to get his third win with senior Gerald Delise working the final two frames to earn his third save.
"This has been built up for three years. This year's seniors were most of our starters as sophomores, so they endured through back-to-back 7-13 years," said Bethke, whose club improved to 8-11. "They want to go out on top and know now that in the tournament anything can happen. They're extremely excited and it's well deserved. The record doesn't dictate what kind of team they are. The sky's the limit for this group."
Previously, Branford took an 11-2 loss in West Haven on May 18. The Blue Devils used nine hits and took advantage of two Hornets' errors to score all their runs in one inning. Criscuolo had two hits and Jordan Botte and Luke Distasio each drove home a run.
Boys' Lacrosse
After missing the Class M State Tournament last year, the Hornets showed they belonged in the dance in 2015 by earning a 16-4 Senior Night triumph versus Law that gave them the seventh win required to make it.
Jim May's squad held a slim 2-1 lead after one period of play, but then went wild with nine goals in the second and cruised to the rout. Mike Caminear tallied four goals with an assist, Mike Potter scored three times to go with two assists, and Noah Pantani also put three past Law's keeper to lead the offensive attack. Additionally, Harry Smith scored a goal and had two assists, Noah Lohman and Jay Dering both scored twice, Brad Valalik had a goal, and Conor Dahlin and Steven Hacker each added an assist for the Hornets, who saw Zach DeGoursey make two saves in net.
"A great atmosphere of fan support on Senior Night," Coach May said. "Our seniors led the way with lots of high energy and winning got us back in the playoffs."
Branford later posted a 17-3 win at Cross on May 21 to improve to 8-7. Potter had another big game with seven goals and two assists, Pantani scored a goal and chimed in with three assists, Eamon Duffy dished out three assists, Caminear and Brian Nichols each scored twice, and Lohman had a goal with an assist. Other scorers were Marc Funaro and Dylan Schiebel, plus additional assists were delivered by Smith, Noah DeGoursey, Jake Santos, and Nick Esposito. Zach DeGoursey made four saves and Neil Clyne had one to aid Branford.
Softball
Branford earned its third win in four games by defeating West Haven 8-1 at home on May 18.
Julia Rosenberg scattered four hits to collect her fourth victory on the mound. The Hornets scored six runs in the second inning en route to avenging their prior loss to the Blue Devils. Nicole Carrano sparked the offense by getting a triple with three RBI and Katie Massey had a double with two RBI. Also, Marissa Guglielmi went 4-for-4, Matilda Kreider was 3-for-3, and Cynthia Lerman went 3-for-4 for the Hornets, who had 17 hits in the game.
Chuck Reale's club then took a 5-0 home defeat versus Lauralton Hall on May 21 to stand at 5-14 for the season. Guglielmi doubled and Carrano and Jordyn Brecciaroli each singled for the Hornets.
In the previous week's action, Branford won two games against Oronoque opponents to finish the year at 4-4 in the division. The Hornets won at Career 17-0 on May 11 and then defeated Cross 11-1 at home on May 13.