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07/10/2016 12:00 AMThe Post 76 Junior Legion baseball team owns a record of 11-9 in Zone 2 play heading into the final week of the regular season. Post 76 is currently in third place in the zone and the top-five clubs qualify for states. North Haven, which has four games remaining, is ahead of Orange (11-10), Hamden (11-11), and Branford (10-12) and controls its own destiny in terms of qualifying.
Recently, North Haven defeated Milford 11-5 in a home game on July 2 and then lost 4-1 in Hamden on July 5. The next day, Post 76 split a home doubleheader with Stratford by dropping the opener 8-4 and taking the nightcap 2-0. North Haven capped the week by earning an 8-3 win in New Haven on July 10.
Against Milford, North Haven trailed 3-0 after the first inning, but broke loose for six runs in the second and led 6-3. Post 76 was hanging on to a 7-5 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth and scored four more for the 11-5 final. Luca Lawrence went the distance on the mound, allowing just one earned run on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts. North Haven had 13 hits, drew four walks, stole four bases, and had three people hit by pitches in the win.
Offensively, Bencivengo had three hits and a walk, scored three runs, and drove in a run; Andrew Laudano singled, doubled, and had two RBI; Kevin Lucey had two hits, a walk, scored a run, and drove home another; Matt Iovanne singled twice, stole two bases, had two RBI, and scored a run; and Lawrence helped his cause by getting a hit, a walk, two RBI, and scoring twice. Also, Christian Somma singled and scored twice; Cobey Cusano doubled, walked, scored a run, and had a RBI; and Nick Perillie had a single and a RBI.
In the Hamden loss, Post 76 trailed 3-0 through three innings and 4-0 entering the seventh, when the team scored its lone run. Leo Konopka singled with an RBI and also walked twice for North Haven. Lawrence doubled, walked, scored the run, and also had a sacrifice bunt. Perillie took the loss on the mound by giving up three runs in four innings, while striking out four. Bencivengo threw the last two and allowed a run.
For the first game of the Stratford doubleheader, North Haven fell behind 3-0 in the first inning before scoring twice in the second. Stratford made it 4-2 in the top of the third and then North Haven came back with two in the bottom half to tie the game at 4. However, Stratford scored four times in the sixth inning and went on to the 8-4 win. Perrillie had three hits and drove home two runs to lead the offense. Somma had two hits with an RBI, while Bencivengo added two hits. Laudano doubled and scored a run, Lawrence singled and scored a run, Cusano drew two walks, CJ DeBridgita walked and scored, and Konopka also scored for Post 76. DeBridgita was the starting pitcher and went five innings, allowing four runs (3 earned) with five strikeouts for the loss. Bencivengo pitched the final two frames and gave up four unearned runs.
North Haven came back to blank Stratford 2-0 in the second game as Lawrence hurled a complete game gem. Lawrence pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and walking one, while striking out seven to get the win. North Haven scored its first run in the second and added another in the sixth. The team only had four hits in the game, but benefited from working six walks. Bencivengo had two hits and a walk and Matt Iovanne had the two other hits to go with a RBI. Tantorski also drove in a run, DeBridgita walked and scored a run, Laudano walked twice and scored a run, and Salzano also drew a pair of walks for North Haven.