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06/30/2016 12:00 AMThe North Branford softball team faced some major expectations after achieving so much in 2015. The Thunderbirds won all but one Shoreline Conference game, took home the conference tournament championship, and set the program record for wins in a season with 22 in Nick DeLizio’s first year as head coach last spring. This season, DeLizio and company continued their dominance and even went one better by going undefeated in the Shoreline, winning the conference tourney for the second-straight campaign, and breaking the school record for wins again with an overall mark of 24-2.
“We broke last season’s record and I think it’s great for the program because you’re showing growth and success in the last two years. It sets a precedent for the program that gives the girls that have been contributing to something to strive for,” DeLizio said. “This is what we did as a team, this is what we do when we work hard and achieve our goals. It sets a benchmark for the younger girls. Seeing what this senior class did, it makes you want to do the same thing. It makes them ask, ‘What do I have to do to become better as a player and as a teammate?’”
Reseting the program record for wins was nice, but Coach DeLizio said that repeating as Shoreline Conference champions was his team’s biggest accomplishment this year. After coasting through the first two rounds with a 17-1 win over East Hampton and a 13-1 victory versus Haddam-Killingworth, the T-Birds topped Coginchaug by a 16-8 final in the title bout.
“Obviously, winning a championship, you want to win the hardware,” said DeLizio, whose team also won two games in the Class M State Tournament to make the quarterfinals. “It’s always going to be there. When you walk the hallways, it’s there and you can say, ‘I was a member of that.’”
North Branford featured several great players who helped the team achieve another storybook season. Senior captain catcher Sabrina LeMere was named the Shoreline Conference Player of the Year for the second-straight season as she batted .549 with 50 hits, 45 runs scored, 44 RBI, and three home runs. Along the way, LeMere set school records for career home runs and hits with 14 and 155, respectively. Fellow senior Lindsay Golia was selected as the Shoreline Conference Pitcher of the Year for the second campaign in a row as she threw 139 innings, going 19-1 with an earned-run average of 1.31 and 202 strikeouts. Golia tossed five shutouts, pitched a no-hitter against Bethel in the first round of states, and set the program’s career strikeout mark with 565. LeMere and Golia were named co-Most Valuable Players for North Branford and both made the All-Shoreline Conference, Class M All-State, and New Haven Register All-Area squads.
“It’s wonderful, very rare. Getting any of those awards are special, but to have a program do it back-to-back years with two players, that is really special,” DeLizio said. “Those girls have definitely been the reason why we were successful.”
Other players had great years for the Thunderbirds, as well. Senior Meghan Golia made the All-Shoreline First Team, sophomore Oliva Hemstock earned Second Team accolades, and junior Emily Muzyka was an Honorable Mention. Hemstock was second on the team in hitting at .495 and added 37 runs and 15 RBI. Meghan Golia batted .457 with 27 runs and 26 RBI, while Muzyka hit at a .426 clip with 23 runs and 27 RBI. Lindsay Golia also contributed with a .326 average, plus 12 runs and 24 RBI. Senior Haley Basil hit .282 with 21 runs, and 13 RBI, sophomore Danielle Ramada had 18 runs and 20 RBI, junior Julia Haeckel scored 24 runs to go with her .313 average, and sophomore Sydney Senerchia batted .323 and scored 21 times. Meghan Golia earned the Desire and Dedication Award from DeLizio and Ramada took home the Most Improved Award.
“It’s as the old adage goes, hitting is contagious. If Olivia led off with a hit, you knew we were scoring in the first inning and that was it,” DeLizio said. “Olivia set the tone for the offense and, once she got on, we have runners on base and in scoring position for Sabrina and the middle of the order. It was a big [component] to winning games.”
Coach DeLizio is losing some great athletes from this year’s historic team, but plans to retool his squad from within rather than rebuild because he knows that’s how great programs are formed.
“Next year is going to be another great group of girls to work with,” DeLizio said. “They have chemistry from high school and AAU. Just being friendly with one another is great and going to help us.”
• Wins for North Branford this year came against Valley (20-3 and 17-2), Haddam-Killingworth (7-4, 9-1, and 13-1), Coginchaug (11-4, 4-1, and 16-8), Morgan (6-2 and 11-4), Sheehan (6-3), Cromwell (12-0 and 9-1), East Haven (5-4 and 6-5), Old Saybrook (13-1), Portland (9-0), Westbrook (11-0), Hale-Ray (5-3), East Hampton (14-0 and 17-1), and Old Lyme (18-0).
• North Branford’s only two losses were versus Sheehan (1-0) and Rocky Hill (5-2).