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Shoreline Cougars End Regular Season at 17-7-1

The Shoreline Cougars 18-U AAU baseball team won two of its three games last week to finish the regular season with a record of 17-6-1, which was good for third place in its division behind the Clinton Huskies (17-5) and the New England Knights (12-4). The playoffs begin on Monday, August 8 and the Cougars will square off against the Connecticut Edge at East Shore Field 1 in New Haven at 6 p.m. in their postseason opener. Last week, Shoreline split a pair of games with the Connecticut Owls by winning 6-2 and losing 1-0 and the Cougars later defeated the Hamden Yard Dogs 7-3 in the regular season finale.

Up first, Shoreline hosted the Connecticut Owls on July 31 and won 6-2 as Luke Bauer of Haddam-Killingworth got the victory by going five innings and allowing one earned run, while striking out six. HK’s Owen Marica pitched two scoreless innings in relief to finish the game. The Cougars got out to a fast start on offense as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first on a bases loaded triple by Killingworth’s Pat O’Leary that plated Marica, Tyler Popp, and Ben Alonzo. In the third inning, Ross Meglin of HK singled to drive in former Valley Regional players Michael Martorelli and Evan Makowicki to make it 5-0. Shoreline added another run in the fifth when Marica singled, stole second, and scored on an Alonzo base hit for a 6-0 advantage. The Owls plated two runs in the sixth to close the scoring at 6-2 in favor of the Cougars. O’Leary and Marica had two hits for Shoreline, plus Martorelli, Alonzo, and Popp each had a base hit.

“Pat is so intelligent and is one of the best hitters I’ve ever coached,” Head Coach Dennis Annicelli said of O’Leary. “He has a bright future ahead of him and is a pleasure to coach.”

On Aug. 2, the Owls gained a little revenge with a 1-0 win versus Shoreline. Jon Grasso of HK pitched three scoreless innings and Valley Regional’s Arik Sypher went the final four, giving up just the one run and striking out eight in taking the hard-luck loss.

The Cougars came back to close out the regular season with a 7-3 triumph over the Hamden Yard Dogs as Marica threw a complete game with nine Ks and allowed only two earned runs. Shoreline took a 2-0 lead in the first when Sypher doubled to drive in Marica and Alonzo. In the second, Grasso and Bauer scored on a Meglin double and then Scott Masse of Old Saybrook ripped a double to plate Meglin for a 5-0 advantage. The Yard Dogs closed the gap to 5-3 in the top of the sixth, but in the bottom half of the frame, Sypher singled, Popp drew a walk, and Meglin followed with a RBI single that scored Sypher and advanced Popp, who later scored on a wild pitch for the 7-3 final.

“Every time [Marica] pitches, he gets better,” Coach Annicelli said. “I can’t say enough about him. His growth has been bigger than anybody this summer and he is so important for us at the plate. He does a little bit of everything and is a fantastic shortstop, as well.”