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05/07/2017 12:00 AMSoftball
The North Branford softball punched its ticket into the State Tournament and improved to 9-3 by posting a pair of victories last week.
On May 1, North Branford dropped a 3-1 decision against East Haven. Brianna Raccio scored the lone run for the Thunderbirds, who saw Sam DeAngelo and Sydney Senerchia get two hits each. Sydney Senerchia allowed three unearned runs and struck out 10 on the mound.
North Branford clinched its playoff berth by beating Morgan 11-3 on May 3. Emily Muzyka led the charge with three hits, including a triple, to go with four RBI. Olivia Hemstock had three hits, including a triple, with three RBI. Katy Pederson had a hit and drove home a pair, while Danielle and Angelina Ramada had a hit and one RBI each. Julia Haeckel pitched a complete game in which she struck out 11 batters.
The next day, North Branford topped Cromwell 12-0 behind a brilliant one-hit performance by Senerchia, who stuck out 13 hitters. Nine different T-Birds had at least one hit and eight different players drove in a run. Sam DeAngelo and Pederson had two RBI apiece, plus Pederson, Muzyka, and Haeckel each had two hits.
Baseball
North Branford lost three games last week and is now 4-10 this year.
On May 1, North Branford and Morgan needed extra innings, and the Huskies came away with a 2-1 victory in the ninth. Jeff Jablonski pitched the entire game for North Branford, which was held to one hit apiece from Gio Tirollo, Carl Jacobson, and Keane Regan. Tirollo scored North Branford’s run.
After taking a 13-1 loss to Cromwell on May 3, the T-Birds’ week ended with a 4-1 defeat versus Coginchaug the following day. Jake Baker threw six innings for North Branford.
Girls’ Lacrosse
The T-Birds took the field once last week and came away with a 23-7 win over Lyman Hall to improve to 9-2.
North Branford took a 14-2 lead into the half and saw 11 different players record at least one goal in the victory. Jessie Kilburn led the way with five goals, while Sydney Hogan scored four and finished with five assists. MacKenzie MacGowan and Ali Barrett both scored twice, plus Adriana Ingarra, Stephanie Seymour, and Emmy Norton recorded two goals and two assists each. Also scoring goals were Emilie Wilkinson, Avonlea Lebeau, Tara Lauro, and Melanie Norton. Elissa Nuzzo made five saves in net.
Boys’ Lacrosse
North Branford took a 20-4 defeat against Haddam-Killingworth in its lone game last week. North Branford is now 4-7 for the season.
Girls’ Tennis
North Branford won one of its three matches last week to improve to 3-9. A 5-2 win over East Hampton on May 2 was sandwiched around a 5-2 loss to Cromwell and a 4-3 defeat versus Valley Regional.
North Branford swept the singles matches in the East Hampton victory. Jordyn Franco won 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (7-4); Sydney Constantinidi won 6-3, 6-4; Zelda Galdenzi earned a 6-0, 6-0 victory; and Sofia Cavalier won via forfeit. In doubles action, Alyssa Diaz and Janessa Pompano won 7-5, 7-5 at the No. 2 spot. The teams of Nicole Yeager and Jordan Caplan, plus Ava Smloa and Ashley Testa also played for North Branford.
First-year Head Coach Matt Tortora was especially proud of two matches. Senior captain Franco suffered an injury early in the second set, received treatment, returned, and battled back. She fell behind 4-1 in the third-set tiebreaker, but rallied to claim the victory. Also, the doubles pairing of Diaz and Pompano stayed calm, encouraged each other, and communicated effectively throughout their match. Coach Tortora said that the duo has formed instant chemistry and converted some big shots when necessary in the recent win.
Boys’ Tennis
North Branford had matches against Cromwell, East Hampton, and Portland last week. It the match against East Hampton, Antonio Pavic recorded a 6-1, 6-1 victory, while Chris Candelora also competed for the T-Birds.
Golf
North Branford took three losses last week and is now 0-8.
On May 2, Cromwell defeated the T-Birds 177-218. John Lovelace shot a 47, Jake Neubig had a 56, Drew Sommo shot a 57, and Christian Defrancesco scored a 58.
The next day, North Branford took a 182-191 loss to Haddam-Killingworth. Lovelace led the Thunderbirds with 44, Neubig shot a 46, Sommo had a score of 50, Defrancesco shot a 51.
The T-Birds’ week ended with a 201-219 loss to East Hampton on May 4.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
On April 18, North Branford traveled to Westbrook for a tri-meet against the host Knights and Valley Regional. The Thunderbirds took a 77-52 defeat to Westbrook and lost by a 120-28 margin against Valley Regional.
Jacob Marshall placed first in both the 100 (11.3) and 200 (23.57) and also took third in the javelin with a throw of 103 feet-8.5 inches. The 4x800 relay of Parker Nadeau, Austin Gibilisco, Zach Jamieson, and Jared Jamieson placed first with a time of 9:40.47. Jared Jamieson placed second in the 1,600 (5:24) and Zach Jamieson took second in the 800 (2:28). Sydney Franklin placed second in the triple jump at 33-6 and had a great showing in the long jump with a lead of 16-9. Also scoring points were Tyler Capasso in the 400 (62.8) and Gibilisco in the 300 (51.31).
On April 27, North Branford hosted a tri-meet against Morgan and Cromwell, splitting the meet by earning a 72-52 win over Cromwell, while taking a 74-63 loss to Morgan.
Marshall won the 100 (11.6) and 200 (24.8), plus Franklin was victorious in the triple jump (38-4) and Michael Rabuffo won the high jump (5-2). The 4x400 relay of Michael Madoule, Gibilisco, Capasso, and Rabuffo won in 3:54.4. Nadeau had a great showing in the 1,600 with a time of 5:22, and Marshall placed well in the javelin with a toss of 109 feet. Placing in the 400 were Madoule (54.4) and Gibilisco (57.7). Nick Ash had a throw of 30 feet-8 inches in the shot put. In the 300 hurdles, Rabuffo placed second at 48.7 and Fred Little ran a 55.8. Alvin Chan placed finished in the discus at 82 feet-1.5.