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07/05/2015 12:00 AMThe Branford Senior Legion baseball team won six of its seven contests last week to improve to 16-3 for Zone 2 action on the summer. Post 83 notched a 4-1 win versus North Haven and then won three against West Haven by scores of 8-3, 5-4, and 7-6. Branford followed that up by beating New Haven 5-1 and splitting a doubleheader versus Stratford with a 2-1 victory and a 4-3 loss in eight innings. Upon the week's conclusion, Post 83 was just a few percentage points behind Orange (11-2) for top spot in Zone 2.
Hosting North Haven on
June 29, Dawson Frawley and Nick Candelora combined on a two-hitter with Frawley fanning five in four innings for the win and Candelora striking out three in three to get the save. Branford scored in the first when Bryce Baker walked, Tyler Criscuolo singled, Chris Stankiewicz walked, and then Mike Querfeld drew a walk with the bases loaded to force in Baker. In the third, Criscuolo reached on an error, stole second base, and scored on Devon Derenzo's double. After North Haven (4-12) made it 2-1 in the fifth, Rich Balzano's club answered with a run as Will Coleman singled, took second on Baker's sacrifice bunt, and scored on a base hit from Chris Stankiewicz. Then in the sixth inning, Dylan Millhouse reached on an error, BJ Massey's sac bunt sent him to second, and Coleman singled him home for the 4-1 final.
Playing at West Haven the following day, Mike Keinz improved to 4-0 by throwing five strong innings in which he struck out seven and Candelora worked the final two, striking out the side in the sixth. It was a close game until Post 83 blew it open by scoring four times in the seventh. Criscuolo, Stankiewicz, and Querfeld each had two hits and Criscuolo also scored three runs for Branford in the 8-3 win.
Branford was back in West Haven the day after that and prevailed 5-4 behind a sterling effort on the mound from Sean Halligan, who moved to 4-0, and Gerald Delise, who threw the last two frames. Post 83 scored twice in the first when Coleman singled and scored on a single by Derenzo, who later came across on Stankiewicz's single. In the third, Criscuolo tripled and scored on a wild pitch, after which Derenzo was hit by a pitch, advanced on Querfeld's walk and Geoff Yasevac's single, and then scored when BJ Massey got a hit. West Haven scored three times in the sixth to make it a one-run game, but Delise stuffed the rally and worked a clean seventh to preserve the victory. Criscuolo, Stankiewicz, and Massey all had two hits.
Branford then hosted West Haven (7-11) for the final game of the series on July 1 and completed the sweep with a 7-6 win in walk-off fashion. Dan Driscoll allowed just one hit in 4.1 and Dylan Millhouse collected the win in relief. Balzano's crew scored two in the first as Coleman and Criscuolo walked and later scored on Querfeld's two-out, two-bagger. In the second, Yasevac singled, Coleman walked, and both scored on Derenzo's double. West Haven held a 6-4 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth inning, when Branford tied it. Baker and Derenzo singled and then raced home on base hits by Querfeld and Millhouse, respectively. Then in the bottom of seven, Coleman walked, advanced a base on Baker's bunt, and scored on a single by Derenzo, who went 4-for-5 with two RBI to complement a pair of hits and three RBI from Querfeld.
On July 3, Post 83 played at New Haven (8-12) and triumphed by a 5-1 score behind a complete game on the mound from Delise, who struck out seven, walked just one, and needed only 79 pitches to put away the opposition. Derenzo stayed hot at the plate by getting two hits, as did Coleman, who was also twice hit by a pitch.
"Delise was in control the entire game and made things easy for us," Balzano said. "Our offense hit the ball when we needed and took advantage of some field errors."
Branford then closed the week by hosting Stratford for two on July 5. In the 2-1 opening victory, Post 83 plated both its runs in the second inning as Derenzo singled and scored on Yasevac's infield hit with Stankiewicz walking and scoring on a sac fly by Massey. Millhose mixed his fastball, changeup, and curve to keep Stratford off-balance while fanning six and getting some help via two double plays.
For the second game, Branford was down 3-0 before tying it up in the sixth. Baker walked, Criscuolo singled, and Derenzo walked to fill the bases. Stankiewicz then drew a base on balls to score Baker, Querfeld's walk brought home Criscuolo, and Massey singled in Derenzo to tie the score at 3. The game ultimately went to extras and Stratford scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth. Frawley started on the hill for Branford with Candelora, Keinz, and Halligan pitching the rest of the game. Stratford is now 14-6 and just half a game behind Branford for second in the zone.
"Stratford did a great job of getting runners on base and taking advantage of walks and some timely hitting," Balzano said. "At this point, we are faced with having to win the third game versus Stratford to win tiebreaker in the final standings. We can play better baseball and our team is ready for the stretch run coming up."