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07/09/2017 12:00 AMThe North Haven Senior American Legion baseball team recently put together an excellent stretch in Zone 2 play by rattling off eight wins in 10 games to improve to 12-7 the in zone for the season. Post 76 won the finale of a three-game series with Branford, swept a three-game set from Milford, earned a lopsided win over East Haven, took two of three from Orange, and then split a doubleheader against Stratford in its recent action. North Haven is in third place in the Zone 2 standings, trailing both Stratford and Orange, who share the top spot at 14-5.
Beating Branford
On June 29, North Haven earned a 4-2 win at Branford after having dropped the first two games of the series. The game was tied 2-2 when Brendan Clark hit a two-run double in the top of the seventh inning. Clark also earned the win in relief by striking out four in 1.1 scoreless innings pitched. Chris Ciarleglio gave up two runs (0 earned) in 4.2 innings, after which Chris Stevens pitched 1.1 innings. Peyton Farina and Matt Iovanne both drew two walks, and Zack Pincince was 1-for-3 with an RBI for North Haven.
Three-Game Sweep (And Then Some)
After defeating Branford, North Haven swept a three-game series with Milford and won a makeup game versus East Haven. On July 1, Post 76 took both ends of a doubleheader at Milford behind scores of 10-0 and 11-0. The next day, North Haven posted a 4-0 home victory over Milford and a 13-1 win in East Haven.
Griffin Bottomley pitched all five innings of the first game against Milford, allowing no runs on two walks and one hit. Farina had a big day at the dish by going 3-for-4 with three stolen bases and a run scored. Clark singled, walked, scored two runs, and drove home two runs; Stevens had two walks with a run scored and two RBI; Kevin Lucey had a hit, drew a walk, and scored a pair of runs; and Dom Onofrio went 2-for-4 with an RBI as Post 76 claimed a 10-0 victory.
For North Haven’s 11-0 win in the nightcap, Nate Zalegowski was the winning pitcher as he tossed four scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk. Mark Tantorski pitched a scoreless inning, and Pincince closed it out with two scoreless innings. Clark went 3-for-3 with a triple, a walk, three runs scored, two RBI, and a stolen base to lead the attack. Steven Erbe was 2-for-4, including a double, to go with a walk, two runs, three RBI, and a stolen base. Farina went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk; Tom Myjak singled, walked twice, and scored a pair of runs; Onofrio had single, a walk, two runs scored, and an RBI; and Craig Somma walked three times and scored a run.
Tantorski picked up the win by pitching four scoreless innings when North Haven completed its sweep of Milford by winning 4-0. Tantorski gave up three hits and struck out six, after which Myjak pitched three scoreless frames for the save. Erbe was 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI, and a stolen base; Lucey doubled, walked, scored two runs, and stole a base; Farina hit a double, Onofrio singled with an RBI; and Clark singled, stole a base, and scored a run.
Later that day, Post 76 played at East Haven and prevailed 13-1. Ciarleglio earned the win by allowing one run in two hits in four innings, and Clark pitched a scoreless inning to finish it out. Erbe continued his torrid pace at the plate by going 3-for-3, including a double and a home run, with two runs scored and five RBI. Lucey also had a huge performance by going 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, three runs, and four RBI. Clark was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, a walk, an RBI, and four runs scored. Myjak singled twice, drew a walk, and drove in a run; Onofrio walked and scored two runs, and Andrew Laudano singled with two RBI to cap off the big weekend for North Haven.
Two Out of Three Over Orange
Now on a roll, North Haven squared off against Orange for a three-game series and won of the three games. Post 76 prevailed 6-5 in the opener and then won a 9-3 contest in the back end of a doubleheader to take the series.
In the opener on July 5, North Haven recorded a 6-5 victory in walk-off fashion when Pincince’s pinch-hit single drove home Myjak with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Post 76 trailed 4-1 before tying it with three runs in the fourth. Orange went up 5-4 in the top of the seventh, but North Haven plated a run in the bottom half on Erbe’s two-out double to send the game to extra innings. Erbe went 2-for-5 with a run scored, and an RBI; Laudano had a single, a walk, and two RBI; and Myjak singled, stole a base, and scored two runs. Bottomley pitched the first four innings for North Haven. Ciarleglio threw two scoreless innings, Myjak gave up an unearned run in his 1.1 innings, and Clark earned another win in relief by pitching 1.2 scoreless innings, in which he struck out five.
The next day, North Haven played a doubleheader at Orange and split the set with a 7-4 loss and a 9-3 victory. North Haven held a 4-2 lead through four innings in the first game, but Orange came back with five unanswered runs. Erbe, Stevens, and Pincince all had two hits for Post 76. Laudano had a run scored with an RBI, as did Dom Onofrio. Ciarleglio, Zalegowski, and Myjak shared the pitching duties.
North Haven rebounded to beat Orange 9-3 to gain a split of the doubleheader and win the series. Zalegowski earned the victory by allowing three runs (1 earned) in 5.1 innings pitched. Myjak worked 0.2 innings, and Clark pitched a clean seventh to close it out for Post 76. North Haven drew 12 walks in the victory, led by three from Nick Perillie and two apiece from Onofrio, Clark, and Laudano. Farina had a pair of doubles and drove home four runs. Kevin Lucey was 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs, an RBI, and a stolen base; Erbe was 2-for-4 and scored two runs, and Onofrio crossed home plate three times for North Haven.
On July 8, North Haven hosted Stratford for a doubleheader and split the two games. Post 76 took a 6-3 loss in the opener, but bounced back to win the second game by the score of 8-2.