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07/23/2017 12:00 AMThe Branford Junior American Legion baseball team competed in the double-elimination portion of the State Tournament as the No. 11 seed last week. Post 83 lost its first game against Milford, but then kept its season going by notching victories versus Oxford and Milford before getting eliminated with a defeat against Stamford. Branford finished its year with an overall record of 12-13-1.
On July 17, Branford opened up states by playing at No. 6 seed Milford at Foran High School. Post 83 committed five errors as Milford went on to claim an 8-5 victory. Anthony Burzyinski led off the game with a double to help Branford score two runs in the first inning. The game stayed that way until the third, when Milford scored five runs on some timely hits and a few Branford miscues. In the fourth inning, Enrique Diaz scored on a hit by Aiden Ricciardelli. Post 83 tied the contest in the next inning, but Milford took the lead for good by plating three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Justin Botte and Henry Watson shared the pitching duties for Branford. Offensively, Burzyinski had a hit, a run scored, and two walks; Ricciardelli had two hits and an RBI, and Charles Russo had a hit with a walk and a run scored for Post 83.
Opening the tournament with a loss wasn’t the result that Branford wanted, but fortunately, Head Coach Michael Krause’s club still had another chance to get things going in the double-elimination bracket.
“What I’ve told the kids is that to win games at this level, you have to pitch, hit, and field. When we lost to Milford in our first game, overall, we did fine, but we lacked in the field. These kids have a lot of guts, though,” said Coach Krause. “We’ve had a lot of kids who were injured and not able to come back, kids that were cross-rostered and not with us for the whole season, but our kids just kept fighting. The kids have a lot of stamina to keep moving forward and it showed in the next two games.”
In its next game, Branford hosted No. 14 seed Oxford on July 19 and prevailed by an 8-7 final. Matt Judd started the mound for Branford, after which Dan Lear and Watson came on in relief. Watson earned the victory as he didn’t allow a run or a hit in his two innings of work. Burzyinski had a hit, a RBI, and a run scored; Ricciardelli had a hit, a walk, two runs scored, and a RBI; Mason Traca had two hits, a run scored, and a RBI; and Glen Iacovetti finished with a pair of hits and a pair of runs scored as Branford pulled off the victory in a crazy game.
“It was probably the sloppiest game I’ve been a part of on both sides of the field,” Krause said. “Luckily, our kids pulled it out.”
After that, Branford went back to Milford on July 20 and eliminated its familiar Zone 2 foe by defeating them for the first time this season, 9-4. Milford took an early 2-0 lead, but Branford scored three in the third to grab the advantage. The big hit in the inning came off the bat of Tyler Sibley, who lined a bases-loaded shot to the gap in right-center field to plate two runs. The following batter, Augie Gugliemo, drove home another run to make it 3-0. Branford scored five more runs in the following inning, led by Ricciardelli’s double that brought home Traca.
Ricciardelli had two doubles and four RBI, Lear had a pair of hits, Colin Baxter walked four times and scored twice, and Watson had a hit, a walk, and scored two times for Post 83. Traca started the game on the bump and allowed four runs (2 earned) on four hits with four strikeouts.
“The bottom line, Mason pitched an excellent game,” Krause said. “He threw about 94 pitches and held them in check to get us to the Stamford game [on July 22].”
On July 22, Branford traveled to No. 3 seed Stamford and was eliminated from the tournament with a 2-0 defeat as Stamford’s pitcher threw a no-hitter.
“We ended the season on a no-hitter. It’s not the way we wanted to go out, but I’m still proud of my kids,” Krause said. “Their pitcher was excellent. He threw a no-hitter and only gave up three walks. We attempted two bunts when Stamford gave up the walks, but on both occasions, we failed to execute.”
Botte threw a great game for Post 83 in the defeat. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning before Stamford scored both of its runs in the second on a base hit and a sacrifice fly. Botte ultimately scattered seven hits while taking the hard-luck loss.
Despite the defeat, Coach Krause saw how much his team had improved this summer as Branford had been blown out by Stamford, 16-2, in its first game of the season back on June 3.
“Considering where we were at the beginning of the year, every single player improved in some form, and that’s why my job is,” said Krause. “As I told the boys all season, if you hit, field, and pitch, you win the game. In this game, unfortunately, we only did two of the three. We just did not hit.”
Krause concluded by saying that he wants his athletes to hold their heads high after accomplishing a lot this year, while overcoming numerous obstacles along the way.
“Overall, I’m really proud of this team. They faced several challenges this season with starters having to help out the Senior team at different times, two starters being lost to injury, and, even in the last game against Stamford, a starter had to go on vacation. After the game, I told the boys to be proud of their accomplishments this season after being in the top 16 in the state,” Krause said. “The only other team from our zone that made it to the top 16 was Stratford, and they won our zone. The goals in the beginning of the season were to have each player improve their individual skills, which will make the team stronger; win the zone, make the tournament, and win. We accomplished two of the four as each player improved, and we made the tournament.”