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06/20/2016 12:00 AMSenior American Legion Baseball
After dropping its Zone 2 opener versus Shelton, the Post 83 Senior Legion baseball team rattled off five-straight victories by taking the next two from Shelton and then sweeping a three-game series with West Haven to stand at 5-1 in zone play. Branford dropped a 2-1 contest in Shelton on June 14, won a 6-1 home decision the day after, and then took the rubber match on the road, 6-2, on June 16. Rich Balzano’s squad followed that by winning both ends of a doubleheader at West Haven on June 18 behind scores of 4-1 and 8-0, after which Branford won 9-1 at home the next morning to complete the sweep. Post 83 finished the week tied with Stratford (5-1) atop the Zone 2 standings.
Mike Keinz took a 1-0 lead and a no-hitter into the seventh inning in the first game of the Shelton series. Keinz walked the leadoff man and then next batter popped a bunt that Branford misplayed, allowing the tying run to go to third. With one out, Keinz walked the next two to load the bases and was relieved by Nick Candelora, who hit the first batter and walked the next as Shelton won 2-1. Branford did not allow a hit in the game and Keinz struck out eight for Post 83, who scored its run on a Jordan Botte single in the first.
Branford came back to win the next day 6-1. Alphonse Suppa went the distance on a one-hitter for Branford, which turned five double plays in the field. Post 83’s offense was led by Jordan Botte and Devin DeRenzo, who each had two hits, with DeRenzo getting an RBI double. Candelora, Tyler Criscuolo, DeRenzo, and Ben LaCroix strung together hits in the fifth inning and then Shelton made a costly error on a ground ball by Robbie Barbash the blew open the game.
Post 83 then took the rubber match of the Shelton series by the final of 6-2. TJ Beaudin scattered five hits and struck out five in five innings with DJ Caron striking out four while pitching the final two. The game was tied 2-2 in the second when Will Coleman doubled home Trevor Brown and scored on Candelora’s single. Candelora doubled and scored on Botte’s base hit in the sixth and then Candelora hit another two-bagger and came home on LaCroix’s single in the seventh.
In the opener of the West Haven doubleheader, Devon Lawson was spectacular on the mound by effectively mixing his curveball and fastball to throw a complete game on just 60 pitches. Head Coach Rich Balzano’s club trailed 1-0 in the fourth and scored two runs when Criscuolo doubled and scored on a double by LaCroix, who later scored on a misplayed fly ball. In the seventh, Brandon Kilfeather singled home Botte and Suppa for a 4-1 lead.
Branford scored four runs in the second and took the nightcap 8-0 as Jack Spencer tossed five innings, allowing four hits and striking out four. Candelora threw the last two and fanned four. Coleman, Keinz, DeRenzo, and Brown all had multiple-hits games for Branford. Coleman had three RBI and Brown added two.
Post 83 then completed the West Haven sweep with a 9-1 win. Caron allowed three hits and struck out five in six innings and then Suppa slammed the door. Branford scored two in the first, five in the fourth, and two in the fifth for the lopsided win. Criscuolo homered and had four RBI, Candelora went 3-for-4 with three stolen bases and three RBI, Botte doubled twice with an RBI, and DeRenzo was 2-for-4 and had an RBI. Branford stole seven bases in the game.
Junior American Legion Baseball
Branford went 1-2 last week to move to 3-3 in Zone 2 action this year.
On June 14, Milford defeated Branford 12-6 for its second-straight victory over Post 83. Branford scored all six of its runs early, but in the bottom of the second, Post 83 committed four errors and eventually wound up losing the lead. Tomasso Martone took the loss on the mound. Eddie Zanor was 3-for-3 with walk, a run, and a RBI for Branford.
On June 18, Branford defeated Hamden 4-3 behind the stellar pitching of Mason Traca and Madd Judd. Traca started, going four innings and allowing three runs, and Judd worked the final three innings to earn the win. Judd also drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Branford left Hamden on the field. Zanor had a hit and two RBI, while Danny Lear had two hits and Traca had two hits and an RBI.
The week ended on June 19 as Branford was defeated by Hamden 2-1. Zanor pitched a great game, allowed two unearned runs on five hits with five strikeouts. Branford had men in scoring position in five of the seven innings, but couldn’t get the key hit to tie the game. Nick Mancini and CJ Miller each had two hits for Post 83.
Prep Legion Baseball
Post 83 played six contests last week and prevailed in three of them to own a record of 2-2 in the Central Division with an overall mark of 4-4.
Branford began the week by taking a 13-2 home loss to Wallingford on June 13. The following day, Bruno Castaldi’s club played another Central Division opponent with a game in East Haddam and dropped a 6-5 decision. The day after that, Branford rebounded by shutting out non-division squad Fairfield 16-0 at home. On June 18, Post 83 had a non-division doubleheader at Stratford and won the first game 8-2 before losing the second 10-1. Branford closed the week with a home game versus East Haddam and prevailed 3-1 on June 19.
In the East Haddam loss, Matt Daley pitched six strong innings for Post 83 with Enrique Diaz getting two hits, one of which tied the game with two outs in the top of the sixth.
Against Fairfield, Jack Van Gelder tossed four frames of shutout ball for Branford, which was aided by a big game at the plate from Justin Botte, who singled and doubled with two RBI.
Tyler Sibley pitched a complete game in the opener of the Stratford doubleheader and Alex Barbour hit a two-run double to help Branford win.
Botte also tossed a complete game when Post 83 beat East Haddam at week’s end. Joe Sansone’s single knocked home the winning run for Branford.