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07/17/2017 12:00 AMAfter sweeping a doubleheader from West Haven to take third place in the Zone 2 standings, the North Haven Senior Legion baseball team opened play in the State Tournament last week and blanked Bethel 2-0 in its opener before taking a 3-0 defeat versus Trumbull. North Haven finished at 14-9 in Zone 2 games on the year, went 16-12-1 overall for the regular season, and completed the campaign with a total record of 17-13-1 including its playoff games.
North Haven entered the State Tournament as the No. 13 seed and played at No. 12 Bethel on July 15. Brendan Clark pitched a complete game four-hitter in which he struck out nine, while allowing just four hits and one walk, to lead Post 76 to victory. Peyton Farina walked to lead off the game and later came home on an error by Bethel for a quick 1-0 North Haven lead. Post 76 added insurance in the seventh inning, when Matt Iovanne reached on an error and then scored on another Bethel error. Farina drew three walks in the victory, and Steven Erbe had a single and a stolen base for North Haven.
The next day, Post 76 hit the road again to face No. 5 seed Trumbull and dropped a 3-0 decision. Chris Ciarleglio pitched the first 4.2 innings, Griffin Bottomley pitched an inning, and Tom Myjak worked one-third of an inning in the defeat. Kevin Lucey doubled and walked, while Clark had a single with a walk for North Haven.
North Haven had closed the regular season by sweeping a home doubleheader against West Haven behind final scores of 7-1 and 4-0 on July 12. In the opener, Ciarlegio picked up the win on the hill by allowing just one run in five innings pitched. Myjak and Chris Stevens worked a scoreless inning apiece to close it out for Post 76, who scored three runs in the first inning and went on to the win. Dom Onofrio was 4-for-4 and scored a pair of runs for North Haven. Lucey was 2-for-2 with a double, two walks, a run scored, and two RBI. Clark had a single with two walks, two runs scored, and two stolen bases. Myjak had a hit with a run and two RBI, while Nate Zalegowski singled, walked, and drove home a run for Head Coach Tim Binkoski’s team.
North Haven completed its sweep of West Haven with a 4-0 win as Bottomley threw four shutout innings, followed by scoreless relief efforts from Stevens (1 inning), Myjak (1.2), and Zack Pincince (0.1). Post 76 plated a run in the third, two in the fourth, and one in seventh on its way to the win. Myjak had a single with two RBI, Peyton Farina had two hits, a walk, two stolen bases, and a run; Clark singled, walked twice, stole a base, scored a run, and knocked home a run; Lucey had two hits with a run and a steal, and Onofrio singled with an RBI to lead North Haven’s offense.
Two days before that, Post 76 dropped a 1-0 decision at Hamden, which scored the game’s only run in the first inning. Clark turned in a great effort on the mound by allowing just the one run on three hits with no walks in six innings pitched. Clark also singled, walked, and stole a base, and Steven Erbe hit a double for Post 76.
The previous weekend, North Haven dropped two of three in a series against Stratford. On July 8, the two teams split a doubleheader in North Haven as Stratford took the first game 6-3 with Post 76 claiming an 8-2 win in the second contest. The following day, Stratford won a 5-4 decision on its home field in a game that went to the eighth inning.
The first game of the doubleheader was tied 3-3 before Stratford scored a run in the fourth and two in the fifth on its way to the win. Myjak pitched the first three innings, with Stevens tossing the final four for North Haven. Onofrio had a single and a double with two runs scored, while Farina singled, walked, scored a run, and stole a base.
Mark Tantorski threw a great game by allowing a run on three hits and a walk as North Haven came back to split the doubleheader with an 8-2 victory in the nightcap. Post 76 scored five runs in the first inning and added three more in the second inning of their lopsided win. Onofrio was 3-for-4 with a run, Erbe went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI; Lucey had a hit with two runs and a pair of RBI, Clark singled, walked, and scored two runs; and Pincince singled with two RBI and also pitched the seventh inning for Post 76.
North Haven took a 5-4 defeat in the deciding game of the Stratford series. Bottomley pitched the first three innings, Clark threw two scoreless innings, and Pincince allowed one unearned run in his two innings. Lucey and Clark each walked three times, while Farina and Stevens both drew two walks, with Farina also stealing three bases and driving in two runs. Zalegowski added two hits for North Haven.