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07/27/2015 12:00 AMThe Branford Junior Legion baseball squad eliminated Westport and Norwalk in the State Tournament before running into a strong Meriden team that sealed its fate.
Post 83 opened the tourney by losing to Norwalk before knocking out Westport with a 10-3 win and getting revenge versus Norwalk via a 5-0 victory. Branford’s season then came to a close with a 3-1 loss at Meriden on July 25. Post 83 finished the year with a record of 22-12.
The tournament started in familiar fashion for Post 83, who lost their first game to Norwalk 3-1 on July 19. But the good news was that this year’s bracket was double elimination and so Branford got to fight another day. In that Norwalk contest, Devon Lawson started on the mound. Norwalk plated a run in the first inning when its leadoff batter singled and scored after Post 83 made a pair of errors.
“Every year, the first inning in the playoffs has always been a killer for us. I think every year a team scores a run,” said Head Coach Ryan Santoro, whose club had gone 19-5 in Zone 2 to share the title with Hamden. “We had some first inning jitters. I think we made a couple of errors, which led to them getting a run.”
Branford settled in and tied the game, but in the third inning, Norwalk’s No. 3 batter hit an RBI triple and was then singled in by the cleanup hitter. Post 83 couldn’t respond with a big hit and wound up losing their opener.
“I don’t have an answer. I wish I did. What I think happens sometimes and, it’s not an excuse, but a lot of times, our guys go through the season and you play the same teams in the zone a lot and you get comfortable with those teams. Then, when you get to playoffs, you’re playing somebody you’ve never played. The magnitude is different and you really don’t know what to expect,” Santoro said. “I think a lot of the times, our kids come out, I don’t want to say flat, but that first game, we played really bad in the first inning. We looked nervous and looked like there was pressure on us. I think that has a lot to do with it. A lot of times, we have a home game and that adds comfort, but I really don’t know what it is. It just is what it is.”
Nevertheless, Santoro was pleased that his club still had one more chance to a make a run by virtue of the newly implemented double elimination format.
“We’ve been talking to the state and pushing for it for a couple of years now. The real reason that I’m happy about it is that I think the best team wins when you have double elimination,” he said. “Teams around the state are all in the tournament for a reason and usually it’s a couple of things. They have one or two good pitchers and/or they hit the ball well and play good defense. I feel like when you play single elimination out the gate, a team that might be .500 could have a really solid No. 1 pitcher and win the game.”
Following the Norwalk loss, Branford ousted Westport 10-3 on June 21. Branford trailed early as Jack Spencer allowed three runs through the first three innings, although he settled down and Post 83 put some runs on the board. They scored three runs in the third, fourth, and sixth innings, and also added one in the fifth. In the third, Trevor Brown singled home Giovanni Tirollo and Jake Baker knocked home DJ Caron and Brown. For the fourth, Tirollo, Caron, and Derek Candelora all scored when Westport threw the ball around.
Branford came right back on June 23 and knocked out Norwalk 5-0. Branford loaded the bases in the fourth and scored when Alex Luhn reached on an error. Baker hit an RBI single, Nick Mancini hit a sacrifice fly, and Caron had an RBI single. Caron tossed a two-hitter and struck out four for the win.
“Caron pitched great. The kid got ahead with curveballs all day and we scored all our runs in the fourth inning,” Santoro said. “We got a bunch of double plays in the field, so there isn’t more we can say. Once you get a 5-0 lead in the middle of the game, it allows the pitcher to go out and throw strikes and let the defense make the plays.”
Branford then took a 3-1 loss to Meriden two days later and was thus eliminated from the tournament. Lawson took the loss the loss on the mound against a team which Santoro said was much older.
“When we played Wallingford, somebody that was there said how old Meriden was, and they were. They had at least nine juniors on their team,” he said. “They were old. Like, we don’t even have one on our team. We lost 3-1, but we played great against a team that’s been mercy ruling other teams.”
Meriden’s first runs were scored when it had runners on second and third. Lawson’s pitch got past the catcher for a passed ball to score one and the next batter hit a sacrifice fly, making it 2-0. In the next inning, Meriden hit a ball down the left field line that was barely fair and the batter turned it into a triple. The next kid doubled him home. DJ Caron had an RBI single in the fifth inning for Branford, but Post 83 couldn’t muster any offense for the rest of the game.
“We had men on base I think every single inning. We had a guy on second in four or five innings. We just didn’t get the hit,” Santoro said. “We played, if you look at it as a whole, an older team and we played to a 2-1 game and gave them a run. We played well, but the timely hitting wasn’t there. Throughout the tournament, we had good at-bats, pitched well, and played great defense, so there really isn’t a whole lot more we could ask for. We just came up short.”