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07/10/2017 12:00 AMThe East Haven Senior American Legion baseball team recently rattled off a slew of victories versus Zone 2 opponents to keep itself in the playoff conversation entering the final week of the regular season. The 89ers earned a win against Stratford, took two of three from Hamden, claimed a victory versus Orange, and then edged out New Haven 5-4 to improve to 11-9 in zone play this summer. The top four teams in the zone make the State Tournament and, as of press time, East Haven was in a three-way tied for fourth place with Hamden and New Haven with four games left on the schedule.
“We have four teams battling for the playoffs, so it’s going to be quite an interesting end of the season,” Head Coach John Longley said.
On July 1, East Haven hosted Stratford for a doubleheader and lost both contests. Mike Mancuso pitched well in the first game, but East Haven took a 2-0 defeat. Mancuso allowed six hits and struck out four for the 89ers, whose offense was limited to a pair of doubles from Mark Smith and Tyler Leone.
“Both teams played very well, but they got two across, and we couldn’t put a few hits together,” Longley said. “We hit the ball hard, but we just didn’t catch a break. It was a tough first game of the series that we lost.”
Stratford won the second game by a 1-0 final after scoring an unearned run. Nick Kraszewski allowed four hits and struck out five to go with a double at the plate in the loss.
The 89ers immediately put those two games behind them when they traveled to Stratford to finish off the series the next morning. East Haven prevailed 5-2 as Frank Longley scattered seven hits to get the victory. East Haven’s offense perked up, while its defense turned three double plays. Jake Ferrara had two hits and two runs scored, Kraszewski had a hit and an RBI, Longley had a hit, an RBI, and a run scored; Smith had a triple with an RBI and a run, and Dom Delbasso had a hit and scored run for East Haven.
Later that day, the 89ers came back home to host North Haven for a makeup game and took a 13-1 defeat.
On July 3, East Haven began its series with Hamden and lost by a 2-1 margin. Gabe Longley started on the hill and gave up just three hits in the loss. Hamden used some timely hits to push across its two runs in the sixth inning. Leone scored East Haven’s lone run early in the game. In the seventh inning, the 89ers had runners on second and third with two outs, but were unable to score.
East Haven returned to action on July 5 and defeated Hamden by the score of 3-1. Mancuso was lights out on the hill as he allowed six hits and fanned eight. Tristan Punzo had three hits, including a double; Michael Wajdowicz had a hit, Smith had a hit and two RBI, and Gabe Longley had a hit and a RBI to aid the 89ers’ offense.
East Haven came back to grab a 2-1 win over Hamden in the rubber game of the series the next day. Jake Ferrara scattered seven hits to pick up the victory and helped his cause by getting a pair of hits at the dish. Frank Longley also had two hits, as did Leone, who also drove in two runs.
“This was another game where we played outstanding defense,” Coach Longley said. “We made some great plays and had some diving catches to stop their momentum, so we could hold on in the end to get the win.”
On July 8, East Haven split a doubleheader against Orange, which took the opening game, 11-2. Leone, Kraszewski, and Frank Longley all had two hits for the 89ers, while Kraszewski and Frank Longley both had an RBI.
In the second game, East Haven left Orange on the field by recording a 4-3, walk-off victory. With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh, Andrew Luzzi led off with a double, was sacrificed to third on a bunt by Leone, and then scored when Frank Longley knocked home the game-winning base hit. Delbasso had a hit and a RBI, and Jack Zimmerman hit a double for East Haven. Kraszewski earned the win in relief after throwing one pitch to get the final out of the top of the seventh inning. Gabe Longley pitched the first 6.2 innings for East Haven, but was taken out of the game after reaching his pitch limit.
The 89ers played two games the following day, dropping an 8-6 decision to Orange in the rubber game of that series, after which they notched a 5-4 triumph at New Haven to generate some momentum with their playoffs lives at stake entering the last week of the year.
“As I tell the kids, you can’t overlook anybody. They want to play and win so they’re going to play hard,” Coach Longley said. “We have to keep our attitude the right way and take it one game at a time and hope to get ourselves in the playoffs.”