Printer Friendly Version - 2016 North Haven American Legion Baseball Year in Review

Luca Lawrence was a valuable member of the pitching staff for the North Haven Junior American Legion baseball team this summer. Post 76 win 18 ballgames and made the State Tournament in its first campaign with co-head coaches Pete Civitello and Pete Katynski.Photo by Chris Eadevito/The Courier

The North Haven American Legion Post 76 baseball program fielded teams at the Senior, Junior, and Prep levels this summer. North Haven’s Junior Legion sqiads had the best showing by winning 18 games and qualifying for the State Tournament

The North Haven Senior Legion baseball team went 12-15 in Zone 2 play and 13-16 overall during the summer season.

One of the highlights for Post 76 came when the team swept a three-game series from Branford. North Haven also scored a 3-2 walk-off victory against Orange when Dom Fusco singled home the winning run in the seventh, as well as a 7-4 triumph over Zone 2 champion Stratford.

Fusco and Brendan Clark shared Most Valuable Player honors for North Haven with Clark also winning the Batting Award. The Pitching Award was shared by Trevor MacDonnell and Preston Young. Fusco and Kevin Lucey both took home the Best Defensive Player Award, plus Lucey was chosen as North Haven’s Most Improved Player. Mike Kurk and Hunter Iacobelli were co-recipients of the Sportsmanship Award and Kurk also received the Wise Guy Award. Kurk and Fusco were additionally the recipients of the Dan Riccio Americanism Award.

When the season was finished, Head Coach Charlie Flanagan announced that he was stepping down following a 20-year tenure, and Tim Binkoski was named as his successor. Binkoski was a standout at North Haven and Quinnipiac University before going on to play for the Philadelphia Phillies organization in the minors. He had joined Post 76 as an assistant for the 2016 season.

Post 76 welcomed two new co-head coaches in Pete Civitello and Pete Katynski, who helped turn things around after the team had struggled in recent years.

North Haven went 14-10 in Zone 2 to finish in second place and was 16-10 overall during the regular season. Post 76 also qualified for the double elimination State Tournament, where the team beat Danbury 17-0, lost to Stamford 11-0, eliminated Danbury with a 7-0 victory, and was then eliminated with a 4-2 loss to Stamford. North Haven went 18-12 overall.

Post 76’s MVP was Nick Perillie, who was also presented with the Batting Award. Luca Lawrence was the winner of the Pitching Award and Jake Bencivengo won the Best Defensive Player Award. Mike Salzano earned the Sportsmanship Award, while Colby Cusano was the Most Improved Player.

North Haven competed against a schedule of AAU opponents and recorded wins against the Connecticut Outlaws and Technique Tigers.

The MVP for Head Coach Jake DeRosa’s club was Zach Pincince. The Batting Award went to Danny Cannavaciolo and Ryan Sullivan won the Pitching Award. Jason Landino was named the Most Improved Player, plus Matt DeRosa won the Best Defensive Player Award and Post 76’s Sportsmanship Award.

Several athletes from the American Legion program also competed for North Haven in fall baseball this year.

North Haven’s U-18 team won two playoff games to reach the championship contest of its league’s postseason tournament, where the club took a 7-2 loss to Cheshire. North Haven had reached the final by defeating Milford 3-1 and Southington 12-1. The team finished the year at 18-3.

North Haven’s U-16 squad was crowned the co-champion of its league after playing to a 4-4 tie against the Connecticut Heat in the final of its playoff tournament. To reach the championship game, North Haven edged out DBI Mystic 7-6 and notched a 7-3 semifinal victory versus Hamden in eight innings. Both teams were coached by Tim Binkoski and Pete Katynski.