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08/01/2016 12:00 AMFor the first time in several years, the Branford Junior American Legion baseball team took the field without Ryan Santoro in the dugout this summer after the former head coach stepped down at the end of last season. Michael Krause, who had been an assistant for Santoro, took over as Post 83’s head coach and guided the club through the 2016 campaign.
“I was honored to have been chosen by Ryan and his father Chet to head up the Junior Legion baseball team and appreciate their confidence. I love being on the field with the kids as my father did years ago when he coached me, as well as many others, helping them improve their skills to the best of their ability and watching them grow as baseball players and young men,” Coach Krause said. “I have coached baseball at different levels for 17 years and all the time that I spend on the field is all worth it when I have a player come up to me or text me and states, ‘Thanks coach for believing in me and helping me push myself.’”
Branford finished the year with an overall record of 16-15 to go with a mark of 12-12 in Zone 2 action. Post 83 narrowly missed the playoffs and would have made it had the team defeated North Haven in its final game. Even though his team came up just shy of a postseason bid, Coach Krause was pleased to see the club finish the summer strong after struggling at times.
“We were 5-12 at one point and ended the year 16-15. That’s a nice accomplishment for the boys,” Krause said. “We had a younger squad and three kids that were supposed to start for us went up to help the Senior team. I’m really proud of the kids for not giving up. A lot of teams would say forget it at 5-12, but we regrouped, and the kids showed a lot of heart over the second half of the season. Unfortunately, we fell short by one game.”
Krause added that 2016 was rebuilding year for Branford as it marked the first time in a while that Post 83 was unable to make the State Tournament.
“Branford Legion baseball was spread a little thin this year based on at least four players that we thought were going to play in the program that did in the past, but they decided not to commit to playing in the summer and/or playing on other teams,” Krause said. “Legion ball is a commitment of a good 60 days in the summer, especially if you make through the playoffs, and a few no longer wanted to make that commitment. All the players that did commit stepped it up and at least helped the Senior and Junior teams have respectful seasons, just not like we are used to and we fell short of our goals.”
Even though his team didn’t make it to the dance, Coach Krause felt happy about how Post 83 performed in the second half of the campaign and was pleased with the way his players progressed.
“The kids improved from the first half of the season to the second half and I think each player improved. That was one of my main goals—help each player to improve their abilities to the best of their abilities,” Krause said. “My job was to win games, but develop the kids, so they will eventually be able to go up to that next level.”
Branford’s top pitchers this summer were Eddie Zanor, Jake Judd, and Matt Judd. Zanor went 3-6, but featured a great earned-run average of 1.58. Jake Judd went 2-3 with a save and an ERA of 4.08, while Matt Judd finished 3-0 with four saves to go with an ERA of 1.72.
Offensively, Nick Mancini, Dan Lear, and Colin Baxter led the charge for Post 83. Mancini recorded the best batting average at .398, scored 35 runs, had 14 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. Lear hit .385 with 23 RBI and 13 runs scored. Baxter batted .308 and walked 21 times.