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07/22/2017 12:00 AMOn the heels of notching a second-place finish in Zone 2, the North Haven Junior American Legion baseball team continued its great season by competing in the State Tournament for the second year in a row last week. Post 76 lost to Oakville in its first contest, kept its season alive by rallying for a 5-4, walk-off win versus Wilton in the next game, and was then eliminated by taking a 14-3 defeat against Oakville. North Haven went 11-7 in Zone 2 play to finish tied for second with Milford and was 11-12-1 overall for the regular season.
Entering the State Tournament as the No. 8 seed, North Haven started off by hosting No. 9 Oakville at DeMayo Ballfield on July 17. Oakville broke open a 1-1 game by plating three runs in the top of the eighth inning and went on to a 4-1 win. Starting pitcher Leo Konopka got a no-decision for Post 76 by allowing one run with five strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Justin Shea went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Dan Cannavaciolo had a single, a walk, and scored North Haven’s lone run in the loss.
Two days later, North Haven hosted 16th-seeded Wilton in an elimination game and scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to leave Wilton on the field and walk off with a 5-4 victory. Ryan Sullivan delivered a clutch single to bring home Cannavaciolo to win it for Post 76.
North Haven scored twice in the second, Wilton came back with three in the top of the third, and then Post 76 plated a run in the bottom half to tie the score at 3-3. The game stayed that way until the top of the seventh, when Wilton used a bases-loaded walk to force home the go-ahead run. However, despite still having the bases loaded and nobody out, Wilton was unable to cash in any insurance runs, setting the stage for North Haven’s game-winning rally.
In the bottom of the seventh, Christian Somma walked to lead off and Cannavaciolo reached first on a sacrifice bunt. Nick Rossi followed with a sacrifice bunt that moved both runners into scoring position, while he, too, made it to first base. Wilton’s pitcher then uncorked a wild pitch that scored Somma with the tying run and sent Cannvaciolo to third. Sullivan came up to the plate and hit a single to right field that scored Cannvaciolo with the winning run for a stirring 5-4 victory for North Haven.
Sullivan started on the mound and gave up three runs (1 earned) with seven strikeouts in four innings. Carson Leyerzapf threw two innings of relief, and John Gontarek earned the win by pitching a scoreless seventh in which he struck out two. Gontarek also had an RBI single, and Mason Balmer had an RBI for North Haven.
The next day, Post 76 saw its season come to a close with a 14-3 home loss against Oakville. North Haven was only down 5-3 heading into the sixth, but Oakville scored nine times in the sixth to put the game away. Cannavaciolo went 2-for-4 with a double and two run scored, Sullivan doubled, scored a run, and drove home two; and Justin Shea had a double with a walk and an RBI for North Haven.
On July 22, North Haven competed at the Dan Riccio Memorial Tournament that was held in honor of the late American Legion Post 76 commander. North Haven was the only Junior Legion team in the tournament and took a 5-3 loss to the Diamond Zone that was followed by a 2-1 defeat against Waterbury Senior Legion. Post 76 finished the year with an overall record of 12-16-1.
In its first game, North Haven took a 5-3 loss to Diamond Zone, which scored all five of its runs in the sixth inning. Somma, Balmer, and Colby Cusano all had two hits, with Balmer also scoring a pair of runs. Starting pitcher Owen Silk allowed two runs in five innings to go with a double and a run scored at the plate.
Later that day, Post 76 dropped a 2-1 decision to Waterbury, despite a great performance on the mound from Zack Pincince, who gave up just one run in five innings. North Haven led 1-0 before Waterbury scored a run in the sixth and another in the seventh to get the victory. Cannavaciolo and Cusano both hit doubles, while Shea had a triple for North Haven.