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06/25/2017 12:00 AMRyan Santoro has had Branford baseball in his blood for years and, this summer, he begins the next chapter of his career in town as the new head coach of the Post 83 Senior American Legion team.
Santoro was a four-year varsity player at Branford High School who graduated in 2003, after which he competed in the Legion program and at Bryant University. Santoro then came back to his hometown and coached Branford’s Junior Legion team to several successful seasons between 2007 and 2015. Santoro spent last year as the Legion program’s assistant general manager and, when longtime Seniors Head Coach Rich Balzano retired at end of the season, Santoro got the nod to become the new skipper for the Branford Senior Legion squad.
Santoro said that it’s an honor to take over for Balzano, who led Post 83 to four state championships and four Northeast Region titles during his 12-year tenure. While Santoro has certainly been influenced by Balzano and wants to continue Branford’s run of success, he knows that he has to impose his personality on the team in order to truly make it his own.
“In the long term, I just want to continue what Rich and my father have built. Rich has always been a tough coach, but he’s been a fair coach in the sense that he gets guys to play at their maximum capacity, and I can’t be Rich Balzano; I can only be Ryan Santoro,” said Santoro, whose father Chet Santoro is Post 83’s general manager. “So the most important thing is to put my own stamp on and coach the team as I see fit to where I take some of Rich’s qualities and mine and learn from the best and make them my own. I think that’s the most important thing for the long term. Any time a new coach comes in, there’s a transition, but I think we are absolutely going to get through it, and it will be good.”
Santoro said that his squad’s mantra is to “play smart, play hard, and play to win.” Through the first two weeks of the season, Branford owns a record of 0-5 in Zone 2 and is 2-7 overall, although Coach Santoro is conveying another sentiment to his players to help them shake off the slow start and get ready to play their best baseball as the calendar turns to July.
“Like I tell the kids, ‘It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish,’ and I will drive that home,” he said. “It’s the pitching and defense. We have not jelled the right now, and I think some pitchers need to understand to just throw strikes, keep it away from hitters low and away, and let them ground out or swing at our pitches and let the defense make the plays, so we can get back to the playoffs.”
Post 83 has an inexperienced pitching staff at the Senior level that features two lefties in Eddie Zanor, a Branford resident who just finished his sophomore year as a varsity player at Notre Dame-West Haven; and Jeff Jablonski, who recently completed his junior season at North Branford High School. The team’s other pitchers are all right-handers in recent Branford graduates Devon Lawson and TJ Beaudin; DJ Caron, Daniel Lear, and CJ Miller, who were juniors at Branford this year; Colin Baxter, who recently finished his sophomore year at North Branford; and Justin Botte, who was a freshman at Branford.
“We’re going to see what we got. We’re going out there every day and starting to work toward getting more innings, but it’s been a challenge,” Santoro said. “We didn’t know what we had, but it’s a long season, and so as guys start getting in the rotation and more regular innings and into the flow, they will pick it up quickly, and we’ll be fine.”
Behind the plate, Santoro is going with a platoon between Robbie Barbash, who was the Hornets’ starting catcher as a junior this spring; and Mason Traca, who just finished his sophomore year at Branford High School. Santoro said that he’s looking for one of them to take the reins as Post 83’s regular catcher as the campaign unfolds.
Going around the infield, 2016 Branford graduate Devin DeRenzo is the first baseman, Caron plays second base; Bryce Baker, who graduated from Branford last year and now plays for UMass Amherst, is the starting shortstop; and Gio Tirollo, a recent North Branford graduate who earned All-Shoreline Conference honors this spring, will patrol third base. Zanor is the backup first baseman, while Lear, Miller, and Anthony Burzynski (who was a sophomore at Branford this year) are all utility infielders for Post 83.
Moving to the outfield, recent Branford graduates Trevor Brown and Jordan Botte will play left and center field, respectively, with James Wallace in right field. Brown just graduated from Branford and will walk on at the University of New Haven next year, Botte also graduated from Branford on the heels of his All-SCC season with the Hornets, and Wallace recently wrapped up his junior year at Branford. Caron and Miller will also see time in the outfield for Santoro, who gave an overview of how he wants his lineup to shape up during his first season at the helm.
“The middle of our order can do some damage, so as long as guys get on base at the top and the bottom, that will put runs on the board,” Santoro said. “But we also have to be smart about it and, if guys get on base with less than two outs, it’s important that the middle guy drives them in on sac fly. So it will be getting on base for the top and the bottom and production in the middle.”
In last week’s action, Branford took a 5-3 home loss to Zone 2 foe East Haven on June 20 and lost a 14-1 contest against the 89ers on the road the following day. Caron, Lawson, and Zanor pitched for Branford in the first game, which saw Post 83 rally for three runs in the seventh inning before East Haven got the final out with the bases loaded. Jordan Botte singled in Tirollo, DeRenzo singled home Caron, and Miller drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Botte to account for Branford’s three runs in the seventh.
From the Sidelines
First-year Branford Senior Legion baseball Head Coach Ryan Santoro is assisted by returning coach Kyle Heins, as well as Bruno Castaldi, who was head coach of the Prep Legion team last summer. Michael Krause is back for his second year as the Post 83 Junior Legion squad’s head coach. Krause is assisted by Trent Dillon, who returns to the dugout; and Tanner Giddings, who is in his first season. Dillon and Giddings are also assistant coaches for Branford’s Prep Legion squad, whose new head coach is Jeffrey Shannon. Chet Santoro is the general manager for the Branford American Legion baseball program.
The Post 83 Senior Legion squad competes in Zone 2, which also features Orange, Hamden, Stratford, East Haven, North Haven, New Haven, Milford, and West Haven.
Branford had recorded a pair of non-zone victories this season by defeating Waterbury (8-2) and Fairfield (5-2).