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04/30/2017 12:00 AMThe East Haven baseball team is heating up in the middle of the 2017 spring season as the Yellowjackets stretched their win streak to five straight games with victories over Branford, Hamden, and Hand last week. Head Coach Butch Johnson’s squad owns a 7-4 record and is just one win away from qualifying for both the SCC and State tournaments.
“I think when we got Vin Camera back, it solidified our rotation. In a few of those early games, we didn’t have the pitching matchups we wanted, but now we have the three kids that throw Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so it sets us up,” said Coach Johnson, whose team has outscored its opponents 37-12 in the last five games. “With our pitching and our defense, we should be in every game. I think we’re going to be a test and I think we’re on a roll. The guys feel good at the plate and we have hits coming from a lot of kids. This is the time we got on a roll last year, so everything is coming together.”
The Easties’ week started with a 7-0 victory at Branford. Senior Nick Guarino tossed a four-hitter and struck out six to lift the Yellowjackets to the victory.
“He was right on it. He was just hitting his spots, mixing up locations. He just threw a gem,” Johnson said. “He had everything going and kept them off-balanced. He won’t strike out too many people, but he will get people to swing at his pitches. They hit a lot of ground balls, and he just mixed it up.”
It was easy for Guarino to settle in after East Haven plated three runs in the top of the first inning against Branford’s starting pitcher Zane Kmietek.
“I think it meant a lot because Zane is really good. He beat us last year and he throws hard. We knew it was going to be a battle,” Johnson said. “We didn’t want the home team to have the hammer at the end, so we wanted to get a few runs early to take the wind out. We jumped on him and Nick kept them in check from there.”
East Haven tacked on four runs in the sixth inning to break the game open. Junior Tristan Punzo had three hits in the contest and sophomore Nate Furino had two, including a double. Frank Camera and Sam Loda also doubled in the win, while Mark Smith hit a triple. Smith drove home two runs, plus Ryan Spano, Loda, Nick Kraszewski, Furino, and Jack Zimmerman all finished with one RBI.
On April 27, the Yellowjackets hosted Hamden at East Haven High School. John DeAngelo—the father of former Yellowjackets’ captain Michael “Diesel” DeAngelo, who passed away last year—donated a new scoreboard for the field that was unveiled in a ceremony prior to the game.
“Both teams tipped their caps toward the scoreboard. It was short and sweet, and Diesel’s father John came out to thank everyone, and that was very special,” Coach Johnson said. “His family still supports all sports, especially baseball, and it was a nice moment. It was well done and well organized.”
With their emotions running high, the Easties’ came out strong and scored three runs in the first inning on their way to a 3-1 win versus Hamden. Junior Frank Camera had the big hit with a two-run single, and that was all East Haven needed to win behind a stellar outing from Kraszewski on the mound.
“In the first three or four games, we weren’t hitting or putting things together, but in the last five or six, it almost doesn’t make a difference who is coming up. Somebody is going to come up and do the job,” Johnson said. “Everybody is stepping up at one point and coming up with the timely hit. We’re hitting good pitching, too, which is a good sign.”
Kraszewski, a senior, held Hamden in check by allowing just four hits in the win. The Green Dragons’ lone run came on a solo homer from Mike Ferrett.
“The last time we played Hamden, we lost in nine innings where both teams had good pitching and defense. It was the same thing in this game. It was a tremendous high school game,” Johnson said. “Hamden made some great plays and, after that first inning, their pitcher settled down. We had Nick on the mound, who gave up the long home run, but other than that, it was a very good baseball game by both teams. We just happened to get the three runs in the first, so we were fortunate.”
The Yellowjackets closed out the week with a 5-4 victory at Hand on April 28. The game was knotted at 3 heading into the final inning, when East Haven broke through with two runs. The Tigers got one back in the bottom half of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough, and the Easties recorded their fifth straight win.
Senior pitcher Vin Camera earned the victory on the mound with six solid innings, and Guarino picked up the save by shutting the door in the seventh. Furino had a double and two RBI, while Kraszewski finished with a double and one RBI.
“We didn’t play our cleanest game in the field, but we got some timely hits. I said to the kids, ‘It proved you’re doing what it takes to win,’” Coach Johnson said. “We didn’t play our best in Madison, but we persevered. It said a lot that they can still have an off game against a good team and pull it out. That’s what teams need to do and this is a step in the right direction. They don’t quit.”