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06/12/2017 12:00 AMThe North Haven baseball team has a history of peaking in the postseason, and its ability to come up big in big games has resulted in five state titles for Head Coach Bob DeMayo’s squad. This year, North Haven put itself in position to bring home No. 6 by winning its first four contests in the Class L State Tournament to advance to the championship game. Unfortunately for the Indians, a Cinderella team the likes of which the state has never seen was waiting for them at Palmer Field.
North Haven went up against the Foran Lions, a team that lost 11 of their first 12 games before going on a miraculous run that saw them sneak into states as the No. 32 seed with a record of 7-13. Foran’s run through the tournament started with a win over top-seeded East Lyme, included a seventh-inning rally to stun Guilford, and culminated with an 8-2 victory against North Haven in the Class L final on June 10.
Foran, which qualified for states because there were not enough teams to fill out the 32-team bracket, went 12-13 for the year and became the lowest seed in the history of Connecticut high school sports to win a state title, marking its first. North Haven, the No. 7 seed, finished its campaign with an overall record of 18-8.
North Haven’s pitching was a strength all season, but the Indians were on their heels from the get-go against the Lions, who scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the fourth to grab a 5-0 advantage. The Indians came back with two in the bottom of the fourth to make it 5-2, but Foran scored two in the fifth and another in the sixth on its way to the win. The Lions pounded out 15 hits in the game, while North Haven was held to six.
“Well, our pitchers throw the same way just about every game. That team just hits the hell out of the ball. I was impressed. I mean, how they were 1-11 at the beginning of the year?” Coach DeMayo said. “Our pitchers, they carried us all year long. We were in every ballgame. They just took us apart. The balls that were hit, they were shots. And the kids that they had pitch for them, I was impressed, as well. They didn’t give us a chance to get in the game at all. I congratulate them. They just kicked our butt and, when a team beats you like that, they’re definitely the champs. I mean, that’s it. They’ve done a great job.”
Foran wasted little time getting its offense going as the Lions scored three runs in the top of the first inning, beginning with Justin Lanese’s two-run homer to right-center field for a 2-0 lead. After Foran followed with two more base hits, Coach DeMayo brought in senior captain Brendan Clark to relieve junior starting pitcher Luca Lawrence. Clark gave up a single to Mike Leson that made it 3-0 before getting out of the inning.
Clark worked through the second and third innings with no trouble. Senior Chris Stevens got the Indians’ first hit with a single in the third, but was left on base. With two out and nobody on in the fourth, Foran got something brewing and wound up plating a pair of runs on two-run single from John Lickteig, who went 4-for-5. Clark left the bases loaded to escape further damage.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, Clark was hit by a pitch to start a two-out, nobody-on rally for North Haven. Steven Erbe followed by crushing a triple to left-center field to bring home Clark, and junior Kevin Lucey kept the line moving with a single that scored Erbe to cut to the deficit to 5-2. Senior Vinnie Anastasio singled and then Stevens walked to load the bases. That prompted Foran Head Coach Garrett Walker take out starting pitcher Nick Hartley for fellow senior Chris Goglia, who got a strikeout to end the threat and preserve the 5-2 advantage.
The Indians had momentum on their side, and their faithful fans were getting pumped up, but Foran immediately retaliated by scoring two runs in the fifth inning. David Payne doubled and then Leson hit a two-run home run to right-center to make it 7-2.
“They came right back and took the runs right away from us. I give them all the credit in the world. When somebody plays baseball like that, there’s not much you can do,” said Coach DeMayo. “I thought our kids battled, and they battled all year long. This was the first time our pitchers were really roughed up. That combination of Lawrence and Clark won 12, 13 games, the two of them.”
Following Leson’s homer off Clark, DeMayo brought in senior Preston Young, who retired the next three batters. Young gave up a double and a single to start the sixth, and so DeMayo went to senior Mark Tantorski. The southpaw allowed an RBI single to Kevin Lanese for an 8-2 Lions’ lead and walked the next batter to load the bases with nobody out, but then set down the next three hitters to keep North Haven in it with three more turns at bat.
The Indians got one man aboard in each of the final three innings, although they were never able to piece anything together against Goglia, and Foran came away with the Class L state title behind an 8-2 victory.
Despite the defeat, Coach DeMayo said that he couldn’t be prouder of his team for putting together the latest in a long line of great seasons at North Haven. The Indians posted many notable achievements on their way to state final, where they ran into a team that was on a collision course with destiny, just like they were in years past. DeMayo didn’t want his team to end up in second, but he said that this group of athletes is second to none in his heart.
“We were co-champs of our division, we made the State Tournament, we got in the SCC Tournament, and we got all the way to the finals, so I thought the job the kids did was outstanding,” DeMayo said. “I talk to them about nobody remembers who’s in second or runners-up and so on, so I know they’re disappointed just as I am, but they did a hell of a job, and they’re great kids.”
North Haven had advanced to the Class L final by shutting out 30th-seeded Fitch 1-0 in the semifinals at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford on June 7. Lawrence started on the mound and pitched two scoreless innings. Clark came in for Lawrence in the third and worked out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out. Clark ultimately pitched five hitless innings of relief in which he struck out nine for his ninth win of the season. He also doubled home sophomore Matt Solomon with the game’s lone run in the sixth inning.
From the Sidelines
North Haven’s Class L State Tournament roster consists of senior captains Dominic Onofrio and Brendan Clark, fellow seniors Matt Iovanne, Alphonse Fusco, Jake Tantorski, Tom Myjak, Vinnie Anastasio, Alec Butler, Chris Stevens, Mark Tantorski, Preston Young, CJ Somma, and Griffin Bottomley; juniors Peyton Farina, Luca Lawrence, Steven Erbe, Mike Salzano, Kevin Lucey, and Andrew Laudano; sophomores Matt Solomon and Hunter Garthwait, and freshman Dave Christoforo. Head Coach Bob DeMayo’s coaching staff is comprised of assistant Muchie Dagliere, pitching coach Ray Degnan, JV Head Coach Justin Falcon, and freshman Head Coach Mike Proto.
North Haven went 14-6 during the regular season with a record of 4-2 in the SCC Quinnpiac Division to share the title with East Haven. The Indians recorded victories versus Torrington (17-1), Cheshire (9-4), Sheehan (2-0 and 2-1), Law (9-0 and 6-4), East Haven (8-2), Branford (7-3), Shelton (9-4 and 12-1), Xavier (4-2 and 4-3 in 11 innings), and North Branford (5-3 and 12-6). They also took losses to Notre Dame-West Haven (7-2 and 5-4), Ridgefield (4-1), Cheshire (4-3), East Haven (7-1), and Branford (8-2).
In the SCC Tournament, North Haven dropped a 7-6 decision against East Haven in the quarterfinal round. In the Class L State Tournament, the Indians defeated Platt (3-2), Avon (3-2 in 9 innings), and Notre Dame-West Haven (5-2) prior to beating Fitch and Foran.
This marked North Haven’s seventh appearance in a state final. The Indians beat New Britain 1-0 in the Class LL final in 1975 and defeated Andrew Warde 7-6 in the Class LL final in 1982. North Haven’s other state final appearances have all been in Class L. North Haven blanked Newtown 4-0 in 1985, defeated Seymour 10-0 in 2003, took a 7-6 loss in nine innings against RHAM in 2004, and defeated East Lyme 3-2 in 2015