Printer Friendly Version - Volpicelli Takes Shoreline Singles Title for H-K; Baseball Makes Class M Semis

Giacomo Volpicelli represented H-K boys’ tennis proudly at the Shoreline Conference Tournament by winning the 1-2 singles title on May 25. Photo courtesy of Rod Pakus

Haddam-Killingworth freshman Giacomo Volpicelli took first place in the 1-2 singles bracket at the Shoreline Conference Boys’ Tennis Tournament on May 25, while improving his record to 20-0 on the season.

Volpicelli defeated Valley Regional’s Jeff Riggio, 6-0, 6-2, in semis to advance to the singles final, where he faced Sabahadin Cecunjanin of Old Saybrook, who was also undefeated in conference play. Volpicelli jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set, breaking Cecunjanin’s serve, but Cecunjanin closed the gap to 4-3. Volpicelli ultimately took the first set, 6-4. The second set started with Volpicelli running out to a 3-0 lead, again breaking his opponent’s serve. Cecunjanin evened the match at 3-3, but Volpicelli ran the score to 5-3 before closing out the win and the conference crown with the 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Then at the Class S State Championship, Volpicelli was the No. 5 seed and won three matches in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals, where he took a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 loss to No. 4 Ignasi Salles-Goula of Shepaug Valley.

Nine H-K athletes qualified for the recent Shoreline Conference Tournament. Emily Beck finished as the runner-up in the 1-2 singles tournament and earned a place on the All-Shoreline Conference First Team. Beck faced off against Westbrook’s Casey Burns in the final, and Burns won 6-3, 6-2 to take her fourth straight conference title.

In other matches, Autumn Leavitt prevailed in her 1-2 singles first round match, 7-5, 6-3, after which she lost to Burns in the quarterfinals. Alivia Smith dropped her first round contest in the 3-4 singles draw.

In the doubles bracket, Jacie Hamilton and Abby Larkin won their first match, 8-4, before losing in the quarterfinals. Other doubles team competing were Hannah Stankiewicz and Lindsey Johnson and Nikole Clementel and Neve Blanton.

The H-K baseball team won its first three games in the Class M State Tournament last week to advance to the semifinal round.

The 9th-ranked Cougars began the draw with a 5-4, 10-inning win over No. 24 Brookfield in first round action May 30. The Cougars won the game in the bottom of the 10th on a hit batsman with the bases loaded. Owen Marica had four hits, and Tyler Popp had three for H-K. Popp hit a two-out, two-run single to tie the score in the bottom of the seventh inning for H-K.

Facing No. 25 seed Seymour in the second round on May 31, H-K prevailed by a 6-0 final. Luke Bauer threw a two-hit shutout for the Cougars. Marica had two hits and scored two runs, while Popp and Ben Alonzo each had two RBI.

Three days later, H-K took on No. 17 Cromwell in the quarterfinals and won by a 9-2 score. Alonzo had three hits and two RBI, while Marica and Kyle Crandall each had two hits and scored twice. Bauer scattered seven hits and gave up only one earned run in a complete game effort.

The Cougars (19-6) will next face No. 4 seed Lewis Mills (20-3) in a Class M semifinal at Palmer Field in Middletown at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7. The winner advances to the final to face the winner of St. Joseph and Northwest Catholic at Palmer Field in Middletown on either Friday, June 9 or Saturday, June 10.

H-K lost to North Branford in the Shoreline Conference Tournament semifinals, after which the Cougars competed in states, where they won their first game and then lost against North Branford in the second round. H-K finished the year with a record of 16-8.

No. 3 seed H-K traveled to No. 2 North Branford for a Shoreline Conference semifinal on May 27 and took a 2-1 loss. It was a pitcher’s duel through the top of the fourth, as the Thunderbirds’ Sydney Senerchia and the Cougars’ Hannah Theriault kept runs off the scoreboard. That changed in the bottom of the fourth, when Katy Pedersen hit a two-out RBI double for North Branford. In the fifth, Ali Halligan sent an 0-2 fastball deep over the center field fence to knot the score. The Thunderbirds took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Angelina Ramada. Prior to the tournament final in Old Lyme on May 28, the All-Shoreline Conference Team was announced. The H-K athletes who received recognition were Faith Mauri (First Team), Rachel Senechal (First Team), and Ana Hale (Honorable Mention).

As the No. 10 seed in the Class M State Tournament, the Cougars hosted No. 23 Plainfield in the first round and prevailed 15-4 on May 30. Theriault gave up two runs in the first inning, but stymied the Panthers’ offense from that point on. In the home half of the first, All-State shortstop Senechal hit a leadoff double, after which her All-State cohort, catcher Faith Mauri, drilled an RBI single. Amanda Minervino followed with a single, and then Mauri and Minervino were chased home by Ari Masotti’s mammoth triple to right-center field. Masotti then scored on Halligan’s single.

H-K later plated eight runs in the third inning. Halligan reached on an error, Shannon Nelson tripled, Riley Mrozcka hit a sacrifice fly to score Nelson, Hale singled, Olivia Whitehead drew a walk, and then Hale and Whitehead scored on Senechal’s triple. Mauri followed with a towering homer to center. Minervino singled, Masotti followed with a base knock, and Halligan drove in the last run on a fielder’s choice. H-K grabbed three more in the fourth, starting when Hannah Little singled in Tori Rich. Whitehead followed with a single, Mauri knocked in Little with a single, and Minervino plated Whitehead with a fielder’s choice. Brooke LaTouche picked up the save for H-K.

Playing at No. 7 North Branford on May 31, H-K lost 11-0 in the second round matchup. H-K’s defense turned in several fine plays in the field, including when Rachel Mauri held onto a pop foul after charging into the fence.

The Cougars finished tied for 10th place with 23 points at the Class S State Championship on June 1 at Willow Brook Park.

Andrew Meredith was the runner-up in the 1,600 (4:25.76) to Connor Ratte of Coventry (4:23.17) and also finished third for the 3,200 (9:48.40). H-K’s 4x800 relay of Dan Schumann, Seth Freeman, Kyle Criscuolo, and Doug Brown finished fourth (8:24.34), Jonah Spector was seventh for the 3,200 (10:02.79), and Nate Breiling placed seventh in the discus (112-3).

H-K finished in 23rd place with 19 points at the Class M State Championship on May 30.

The Cougars’ 4x800 relay of Lexie Bouthillier, Emma Anziano, Hailey Cassidy, and Kelly was the runner-up (9:52.50) to Stonington (9:42.60) at the state meet. Veronica Chrzanowski finished sixth for the long jump (15-10.75) and fifth for the triple jump (34-4.5). Julianne Kelly placed fifth in the 800 (2:23.48) for H-K.

Seventeenth-seeded H-K traveled to No. 16 St. Joseph for a qualifying round contest in the Class S State Tournament contest on May 26 and took a 17-8 defeat. H-K finished the year with a record of 8-10 overall.

Owen Marica and the H-K baseball team are on their way to the Class M State Tournament semifinals after defeating Brookfield, Seymour, and Cromwell in the first three rounds. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Source