Printer Friendly Version - North Haven Indians Kick Off Another Spring Season

Bill Sgro and the North Haven boys’ tennis team stand at 1-1 after the first week of the spring season. The Indians lost to Xavier, but came right back to blank Foran by a 7-0 final two days later. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

The North Haven baseball team began the 2017 season by playing three games last week and took a pair of defeats to start the year at 1-2.

In their season opener, the Indians lost a 7-2 home contest to Notre Dame-West Haven on April 3. Brendan Clark, Preston Young, Mark Tantorski, and Griffin Bottomley all saw time on the pitcher’s mound for the Indians. Vinny Anastasio had a single and a triple with a run scored, Craig Somma hit a pair of singles, and Kevin Lucey had a single with a RBI for the Indians.

Two days later, North Haven hosted non-conference opponent Torrington and prevailed 17-1. The Indians led 6-0 through three and blew the game open by plating a 10-spot in the sixth. Young allowed just two hits and struck out seven in six innings, after which Luca Lawrence tossed a scoreless seventh. The Indians pounded out 21 hits, led by four from Peyton Farina and three apiece by Clark and Steven Erbe. Farina, Erbe, Clark, Somma, and Matt Solomon all had doubles, while Kevin Lucey hit a triple. Farina totaled three RBI, plus Clark, Anastasio, Somma, and Erbe each knocked home two runs.

North Haven closed with week with a non-conference game at Ridgefield on April 8 and dropped a 4-1 decision. Tom Myjak, Lawrence, and Clark pitched for the Indians, who saw Farina go 3-for-4.

The Indians split their first two matches of the spring season by losing to Xavier and defeating Foran.

After taking a 7-0 home loss to Xavier on April 3, Head Coach Don Hurley’s squad traveled to Foran two days later and blanked the Lions 7-0. Johannes Eisenberg, Nick Cristante, Jack Steinman, and Bill Sgro were all victorious in singles play. In doubles, the teams of Riley Powell and Matt Carroll, Ryan Griffiths and Mike Gagliardi, and Quinn Dallai and Max Petruzziello also prevailed for North Haven.

North Haven is coming off a season in which it finished 10-9, while qualifying for both the SCC Division II Tournament and the Class L State Championship.

North Haven posted a pair of victories in the first week of the season by upending Hamden and Mercy.

On April 3, North Haven opened the campaign by netting a 5-2 win at Hamden. Sophomore Julia Migliorini claimed a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles; Hillary Hoyt was a 6-1, 6-0 victor at the No. 3 spot; and Rachel Petry won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4. In doubles, Sejal Atluru and Zoe Bowerman claimed a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 2, plus North Haven’s No. 3 tandem of Avery Hill and Alexis Porto prevailed 6-3, 6-0.

Two days later, the Indians welcomed Mercy to town and edged the Tigers 4-3. Migliorini (6-0, 6-0); Olivia Hoyt (6-2, 6-2); Hillary Hoyt (6-0, 6-0); and Rachel Petry (6-1, 6-2) all won in singles action to lead the Indians to the victory.

Last season, Head Coach Bob Migliorini’s club had a record of 12-9 and competed in both the SCC Division I and Class M State tournaments.

North Haven began its second year with Head Coach Daria Cummings by sweeping a tri-meet at Alling Memorial Golf Club on April 13. The Indians scored a 195 to defeat both Wilbur Cross (210) and host East Haven (212). North Haven’s total was considerably lower than any score it recorded during the 2016 campaign.

In the season-opening sweep, senior Matt Mezzano earned medalist honors by turning in the low scorecard of the day with a 43. Senior Steven Pugliese shot a 48, fellow senior Kameron DeMartin tallied a score of 49, and sophomore Alex Kirtland rounded out the scoring with a 55. Senior Noah Garrison also competed for the Indians and shot a 65.

The Indians took on non-conference opponent Berlin for its season-opening matchup on April 7. North Haven started the year in triumphant fashion by twice rallying from a two-goal deficit to get a 10-9 victory on the road. The Indians trailed 6-4 at the half, stormed back to take a 10-7 lead, and then held off a late challenge to preserve the one-goal win.

Returning from a torn ACL and MCL suffered at the end of last year, Kylie Brandt led the way by scoring four goals for North Haven. Annie Uyeki added two goals and two assists, Courtney Babbidge tallied two goals, and Clara Pellegrino and Meg Christoforo added one goal each. Senior goaltender Samantha Langner made 10 saves against 19 shots for the win.

On April 3, Head Coach Eric Bailey’s squad traveled to Shelton and came back with a 9-5 victory in its season opener.

On April 5, the Indians hosted Lyman Hall and cruised to a 16-1 win. Senior PJ Saracino scored four goals and added four assists for North Haven, which also received big games from Bowen Brennan (3 goals), junior Zach Orth (2 goals, 3 assists), Korbin Pecora (1 goal, 3 assists), and Shamus Meehan (2 goals, 1 assist).

The Indians are coming off a campaign where they went 10-8 and recorded a 12-2 victory at East Lyme in the first round of the Class M State Tournament.

North Haven held a tri-meet at Vanacore Field on April 7 and collected a pair of victories. The Indians prevailed 94-56 versus Oronoque Division opponent Branford and gained a 101-48 decision against Fairfield Prep.

Senior Josh Bryson had a huge meet by winning the 110 high hurdles (16.9), the 300 intermediate hurdles (43.7), and the high jump (5-2). Also recording first-place finishes for Head Coach Steve Celmer’s club were Omar Gebril in the 400 (51.9), Eric Milliard in the shot put (41-6), Michael Tran in the discus (101-10), Chris Moran in the triple jump (35-2), and Chris DeBridgita in the javelin (114-9.75).

North Haven notched 13-0 regular season record in 2016 and then finished third at the SCC West Sectional Championship, fifth in the SCC Championship, and fifth at the Class MM State Championship.

On April 8, the Indians competed at the Hand Freshman Invitational and saw Kyle Maruca set a meet record with a throw of 110-0.75 for his victory in the discus. Maruca also took second in the shot put at 34-3, with Luke Maruca winning the event behind a distance of 34-10.75. Jeff Williston finished second in the javelin at 104-11.

The Indians started their campaign by sweeping a tri-meet at Vanacore Field on April 5. North Haven won 80.5-68.5 against Oronoque Division foe Branford and prevailed 96-53 versus Lauralton Hall. Carl Jackson is back for another season as the Indians’ Head Coach.

Recording first-place finishes for North Haven were Elise Symon in the 800 (2:32.60), 1,600 (5:33.5), and 3,200 (12:28.7); Sarah Vanacore in the shot put (35-7) and discus (97-5), plus Eric Marriott in the 200 (26.2) and the long jump (15-9.5).

After going 6-4 for the regular season in 2016, the Indians placed seventh at the SCC West Championship, eighth in the SCC Championship, and sixth at the Class L State Championship.