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07/07/2018 12:00 AMSenior Legion Baseball
The North Haven Senior American Legion baseball team swept a doubleheader against Branford, picked up two wins over New Haven via forfeit, and then recorded a dramatic victory versus Hamden in its recent Zone 2 matchups. Post 76 improved to 8-2 in zone action for the season and is currently in third place in the standings, trailing Hamden (12-2) by just two games for the top spot. Dave Christoforo hit a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning to lead North Haven to its big win against Hamden last week.
North Haven started off its week by hosting Branford for a doubleheader on June 29 and swept the twin bill with a 7-3 win and a 5-4 victory. Post 76 had taken a 3-2 defeat at Branford in the first game of the series on June 27. In the first game of the doubleheader, Luca Lawrence earned the win on the mound by pitching four scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts. Tom Myjak tossed a scoreless seventh to solidify the victory. Starting pitcher Brendan Clark gave up three unearned runs in two innings for North Haven.
Post 76 fell behind 3-1, but then tied the game by plating two runs in the bottom of the third. Steven Erbe walked and scored the tying run on a single by Gianni DiMartino. North Haven went up 4-3 in the fifth inning as Zach Pincince singled, stole second base, and scored on another RBI single from DiMartino. North Haven tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Kevin Lucey hit a sacrifice fly and Dave Christoforo had an RBI single to highlight the inning.
Hunter Garthwait scored a pair of runs, while Clark stole two bases to go with a single, an RBI, and a run scored for Post 76. Erbe also had two stolen bases in the 7-3 victory.
In the second game, North Haven rallied from a 4-0 deficit by scoring five runs in the fourth inning to get the 5-4 win. Andrew Laudano and DiMartino walked to get it going, and then Laudano scored on a single by Garthwait. Pincince followed with a single that scored DiMartino to cut it to 4-2. After a walk by Clark, Erbe’s sacrifice fly brought in Garthwait to make it 4-3. Myjak then clubbed a two-run double that scored Pincince with the tying run and brought home Clark with the go-ahead run to put North Haven up by a run.
Myjak picked up the win by allowing just one unearned run and striking out five in four innings of relief. Pincince came on in the seventh and got the final two outs of the game on a 4-6-3 double play. Clark also started this game on the mound and allowed three unearned runs in 2.1 innings pitched. Pincince also went 3-for-3 at the plate against Branford, which is in second place in Zone, just one half-game ahead of Post 76 with a record of 9-2.
North Haven was then awarded two wins over New Haven by forfeit for games that were scheduled to be played on July 2 and July 6, respectively.
Post 76 capped off their week by capturing their fifth straight victory with a 5-2 road win over Zone 2 frontrunner Hamden on July 7. North Haven was trailing 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning, when Christoforo launched a grand slam to give North Haven the lead, scoring Pincince, Lucey, and Erbe ahead of him. Christoforo, Pincince, and Christian Somma all had two hits, plus Somma also drove in a run. Peyton Farina added a double for Post 76.
Nate Zalegowski doubled and scored a run, in addition to getting the win by pitching a scoreless inning of relief. Lawrence earned the save by retiring the last four batters of the game. Starter Griffin Bottomley turned in a solid effort on the mound as he pitched 4.2 innings, allowing just two runs (1 earned) and striking out five for North Haven, which improved to 14-2 overall on the season.
Junior Legion Baseball
Post 76 picked up three Zone 2 victories last week to move to 9-2 in zone play this summer. North Haven earned a 3-1 win against Orange, before sweeping a doubleheader against zone opponent East Haven later in the week. North Haven sits in second place in the Zone 2 standings, trailing Hamden (14-2) by 1.5 games for first place.
North Haven hosted the Connecticut Hurricanes for a non-zone doubleheader on June 30 and lost both contests by taking a 6-1 defeat and an 8-3 defeat. Dan Meyers pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Post 76 in the first game. Colby Cusano drove home Nick Rossi for North Haven’s only run. In the second game, starting pitcher Anthony Cincola allowed just one unearned run in three innings pitched. Alex Page had an RBI, while Jason Ostrowski singled and scored a run.
North Haven resumed Zone 2 play when it hit the road to face Orange on July 3. Post 76 scored two runs in the fifth inning and one more in the seventh on their way to a 3-1 victory at Brinley Field. Starter Ryan Sullivan gave up one run and struck out five in three innings for North Haven. Cincola got the win by tossing two scoreless innings, and Meyers recorded the save with two shutout innings.
Cusano had two hits with an RBI, Sullivan also had two hits, and Anthony Cretella drove in a pair of runs for Post 76. Mason Balmer singled and scored a run, while Jason Landino scored two runs in the win.
Then on June 7, North Haven took both ends of a Zone 2 doubleheader versus East Haven at home. Post 76 recorded a 9-2 victory in the first game and took the nightcap by the final score of 7-5 for their sixth straight victory in zone play.
Prep Legion Baseball
North Haven notched a couple of victories against the first-place squad in Zone A by defeating Wallingford twice in last week’s action. Post 76 improved to 5-9 in the zone and trails Wallingford (10-4) by five games for first place.
On June 30, North Haven took an 11-3 defeat at Zone A opponent Meriden. The next day, North Haven hosted Wallingford and prevailed by a 5-1 final. Then on July 3, Post 76 was on the road to face Wallingford and came away with a 6-2 victory.