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04/23/2017 12:00 AMGirls’ Tennis
The Hand girls’ tennis squad posted sweeps against Shelton and Sacred Heart Academy in last week’s action before defeating Lauralton Hall to move to 4-0 on the season. Hand blanked Shelton 7-0 on April 17, shut out Sacred Heart Academy 6-0 two days later, and then beat Lauralton Hall 5-2 on April 20.
Recording singles victories for Hand on the week Ankita Roychoudhury, Lee Jiaen, Ellie Weinstein, and Annie Barrett. Anna Lang, Sam Riordan, Renee Tracy, Grace Squitiero, Nicki Goldfeder, Nell Karas, and Clare Nelson all contributed to wins on the doubles court for the Tigers.
Boys’ Tennis
Hand scored recent victories over a pair of conference competitors to improve to 3-0. First, the Tigers first squeaked out a 4-3 win over Xavier on April 18. A day later, Hand swept East Haven 7-0.
Head Coach Dawn Fagerquist praised the play of Justin Pace, who stepped into the No. 1 singles position for the Xavier match; as well as Max Thompson for his performance at the No. 3 spot. Fagerquist also noted the efforts of Robbie Isreal, Gianni LoManico, Alex Beuno, Sam Thorpe, and Noah Gulla in the Xavier victory.
Girls’ Lacrosse
Hand went a perfect 3-for-3 last week to stretch its mark to 6-1. The Tigers defeated Mercy 14-5 on April 18, recorded a 13-4 triumph over Shelton on April 20, and then took down Glastonbury, 11-8, on April 22.
Against Mercy, Taylor Scully had four foals and four assists, Glenna-Kate Gies buried four goals, and Riley Kokoruda was 10-of-11 on draw controls. It was a 3-3 game nearing the end of the first half, but Hand closing out the opening stanza with a 6-0 run, and then scored the first four goals of the second half.
Facing Shelton, Scully added another four scores and an assist, as did Gies, while Kokoruda won 11 of her 12 draws. Hand went up 8-1 at the half and scored three times in the first two minutes of the second half to open up its lead. Janet Howard scored her first varsity goal for the Tigers.
In a matchup between two teams ranked in the top 10 of the State Coaches’ Poll, No. 7 Hand defeated 10th-ranked Glastonbury 11-8 to close out the week. Caitie Harvey made 11 saves in net for Hand. Scully had five goals and three assists, Kokoruda added two goals and a helper, and Gies scored twice with an assist. Hand netted two goals at the end of the first half and took that momentum to the second half, ending up with a 7-0 run that made it 10-3 with 15 minutes left. Head Coach Kevin Siedlecki noted the smart, aggressive play of junior Grace Craven, who forced a few turnovers. Siedlecki added that his entire defensive unit has improved tremendously since the start of the season, praising the veteran leadership of senior captain Reilly Thornbuy and junior Emma Valdez. Siedlecki also handed out some kudos to junior Abby Barry and goalkeeper Harvey.
Boys’ Lacrosse
Hand finished last week with a record of 6-2 after splitting four contests.
On April 15, Hand defeated Mattituck, New York 13-4. Scoring goals for the Tigers were Liam Gottlick (5), Tom Swank (3), Nate Palumbo (2), Zach Santoemma (2), and Griffin Fitzmourice (1). Dishing out assists were Gottlick (3), Palumbo, Swank, Charlie Jensen, Flynn Discoll, and Mark Hartmann. Griffin Fitzmourice had eight saves as Hand outshot the opposition 30-17.
The Tigers then took a 13-6 loss to Cheshire on April 18. Gottlick had four goals, plus Palumbo and Tom Swank had one goal each. Palumbo and Swank also assisted on goals. Hand outshot Cheshire 28-25 with Fitzmourice making a dozen saves.
Hand bounced back with a 16-2 victory over Hamden on April 20. Palumbo (4), Gottlick (3), Matt Rubino (3), Teg Cosgriff (2), John Ruggiero, Tom Ferrick, Zach Santoemma, and Joe Cuticelli buried goals for Hand. Rubino had three assists, while Palumbo had two. Hand outshot Hamden 27-14 with Fitzmourice making four saves in the first half and Mason Feiner making two in the second.
The Tigers took their second defeat of the year with a 10-1 loss to Glastonbury on April 22.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
The Tigers improved to 6-0 with a quad-meet sweep of Amity, Xavier, and North Haven on April 18. Hand defeated the Spartans 82-68, Xavier by a 90-60 final, and North Haven 115-45.
Baseball
Hand took on two SCC Hammonasset Division rivals in defending Class LL champion Amity and Sheehan, losing close contests for an overall mark of 3-4 with a record of 1-2 in division play.
The Tigers took a 4-3 loss to Amity on April 17. Robert Bordiere, Bryce Leckey, Will Reiner, and EJ Mastronardi had key hits for Hand. Kyle Schaefer pitched five innings and allowed one run. Cam Fitzgerald had an RBI. Amity took a 1-0 lead on a bloop single in the bottom of the fourth. In the top of the seventh, Hand responded with three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Leckey led off with a line drive single and that was followed by a walk by Mastronardi. With runners on first and second, Amity’s catcher threw behind Leckey at second base and the ball went into center field, allowing the tying run to score. After Sweeney walked, the bases were loaded for Fitzgerald, who hit a sacrifice fly to put Hand up 2-1 as Mastronardi scored. Hand scored a third run on a wild pitch when Reiner crossed the plate. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Hand robbed two home runs to preserve the lead. Sweeney robbed one in right field and then Bordiere made a game-saving catch in left field. Hand was up 3-2 with two outs and Amity had runners on second and third. After a 15-pitch at-bat, Amity’s batter hit a grounder that was bobbled, allowing the tying run to score. The Spartans then won it on a walk-off single.
The Tigers faced another division foe in Sheehan two days later and took a 9-6 defeat. James DeGrasse hit an RBI triple and Tom Hobin had an RBI double. Mike Elias and Reiner also added RBI. Bordiere had a single and a run scored. Sheehan jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind some key hits and sloppy defense by Hand. In the bottom of the fifth, Hand answered back with five runs to make it a 6-5 game. Bordiere led off with a single that was followed by singles from DeGrasse, Julian Banerji, Elias, and Leckey. Sheehan scored two more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. Down 9-6 in the seventh, Hand loaded the bases with two outs. Bordiere came up and crushed a ball that looked like it was going over the head of Sheehan’s center fielder, who dove backwards to make the catch that ended the game.
Girls’ Golf
The Tigers opened the year with three matchups last week, earning two wins against Norwich Free Academy, while losing to Amity. Hand began its season with a 217-260 triumph over Norwich Free Academy on April 18, after which the Tigers lost to Amity 192-213. Hand came back with a 197-241 victory versus NFA to stand at 2-1.
In Hand’s first match against Norwich Free Academy, Gabby Martin was the medalist with a score of 39. Joining Martin on the score sheet were Emma Boey (54), Josie Anderson (58), and Gabby Larizza (66).
Facing Amity, Martin led the way for Hand with a 43, while Boey scored a 56, and Larizza and Anderson each shot a 57.
On April 20, Hand bested NFA for the second time on the week. Martin medaled with a 39 and also scoring for Hand were Boey (46), Anderson (57), and Larizza (58).
Boys’ Golf
Hand began the 2017 campaign with three contests in four days against some SCC rivals. The Tigers started with a 158-193 defeat to Fairfield Prep on April 18, took a 155-174 loss to Xavier the following day, and then dropped a 179-183 decision to Hamden on April 20.
Boys’ Volleyball
The Tigers took defeats against Cheshire, Amity, and Newtown in last week’s action and are now 1-5. Hand began with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-23, 25-8) loss to Cheshire on April 17. The Tigers were then swept 3-0 by Amity on April 19, after which they lost 3-1 to Newtown on April 21.