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05/14/2017 12:00 AMThe Branford baseball team is trending in the right direction these days as the hottest squad in the Southern Connecticut Conference. The Hornets have won their last seven games while outscoring their opponents 67-14 during that stretch and now stand with a record of 11-5.
Head Coach Stephen Malafronte said that Branford was putting too much pressure on itself during the first half of the season, but now, his Hornets are playing free and easy and surging toward the playoffs. Branford has qualified for the Class L State Tournament, is in the mix to make the SCC Tournament, and remains in contention to win a share of the Quinnipiac Division title.
“Everything is there. There is nothing that isn’t there. Every facet of the game, everything that they could possibly do right now, they’re doing it,” Malafronte said. “They go up to the plate and have great at-bats, we’re getting really quality pitching, and our defense, I’ll put up against anybody...I think this whole turnaround has brought out the best in them.”
Coach Malafronte cited a 7-0 loss to East Haven as a turning point for his squad. The skipper told his team to “play loose, have fun, and give everything you have” following that contest, and the Hornets have had tons of fun, while scoring tons of runs ever since. Branford promptly responded to Malafronte by posting lopsided victories versus Guilford (7-1), Cross (10-0), Foran (11-3), and Hand (11-4). Then last week, the Hornets claimed a 10-3 home win over Xavier, prevailed 10-1 at Career, and earned an 8-2 victory at North Haven.
“This is kind of where, in my own heart, I felt we would be. This is where I felt we could be if we played our best baseball, and we’ve done that over the last seven games and, as a result of that, we are where we are,” Coach Malafronte said. “They still want to be better and that is the ideal situation. They still are not satisfied, even after rattling off seven in a row. They’re not going to be OK with not making SCCs, they’re not going to be OK with winning one game in states. They want more.”
Branford began its week beating Xavier 10-3 for its first divisional win of the season on May 8. The Hornets led 5-3 entering the sixth inning, when they broke the game open by plating five runs. Zack Withington had three RBI, fellow senior Trevor Brown had two hits with an RBI, while senior captains Jordan Botte and Nikko Liguori added two hits apiece. Alphonse Suppa pitched six innings for his fourth win, allowing three unearned runs on three hits and one walk with five strikeouts, after which fellow junior Zane Kmietek worked a scoreless seventh. Suppa also had two hits and a pair of RBI to help his cause.
“Alphonse is a not a big strikeout guy. He is a pitch-to-contact guy who locates, hits his spots, and keeps the ball down, and by doing that, he just allows the defense to work behind him,” Malafronte said. “Kids put the ball in play against him, but he hits the outer half and commands the inner half, and that allows him to set up his offspeed pitches and just throw them for strikes. It’s really all of those things working together, but basically, his command has been incredible.”
The following afternoon, it was Jack Spencer’s turn to shine on the hill as the senior tossed a one-hitter with eight Ks in a 10-1 trouncing of Career. Withington had three hits, including a solo homer; Botte singled and tripled with an RBI, junior DJ Caron had two hits and three RBI, sophomore Anthony Burzynski added two hits, and Maniscalco drove home two.
Spencer has still been filling his expected role in the bullpen this year, but he’s also 2-0 in his starting assignments after stifling Career.
“Jack had been rested, his arm was really live, and he was pumping fastballs probably as hard as I’ve ever seen him throw, and his command was just there,” said Malafronte. “Jack isn’t a flamethrower who will blow it by you at 87 miles per hour, but he throws a good fastball, hits his spots, and get hitters to get outs. This game he struck out eight, and Career is also a free-swinging team that goes up there with the mindset to hit when you try to get fastballs by them, and so Jack hit his spots and got them to swing and miss.”
The Hornets were back on the diamond the next night, when they defeated North Haven 8-2 to improve to 2-3 in Quinnipiac Division action. Kmietek notched his third win by turning in a dominant performance that saw him come one out away from throwing a no-hitter. In the end, Kmietek struck out 12 through 6.2 innings, allowing two unearned runs on two hits and three walks.
“Zane was just on. He pitched like I expect Zane to pitch every single time he pitches—without any weight on his shoulders,” Coach Malafronte said. “This was the first time this year that he really didn’t have any pressure on himself. He’s been trying to figure out where he wants to go to school and things like that and those thoughts weren’t on his mind [in the North Haven game]. He looked like his old self—carefree, having fun, and letting it fly.”
Junior catcher Robbie Barbash let a three-run homer fly to stake Branford to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Brown had a single with a double, Suppa collected two hits, and Maniscalco had two hits with an RBI as Branford avenged its previous loss to North Haven, just like it did versus Xavier earlier in the week.
The Hornets scored at least seven runs during each game of their seven-game win streak and hit double digits in five of those victories. Coach Malafronte said that everyone is the lineup has been contributing to the Hornets’ balanced offensive attack throughout the club’s second-half surge.
“It’s one through nine now. Early on, only three or four guys were hitting consistently, and now when one guy has a game where he doesn’t get hits, someone else has two or three,” Malafronte said. “Against North Haven, eight of our nine guys had a hit and, the game before that, eight of our nine guys had a hit. So it’s a total team effort and having it be that way is taking some pressure off guys that weren’t hitting early in the season because they don’t feel like they have to get four hits anymore. They know if they don’t get a hit, we’ll still be OK, and that is easing the tension off our better hitters because, when they aren’t swinging well, we have guys who are swinging well.”