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10/14/2018 12:00 AMThe North Haven 18-U fall baseball squad recently competed in the Firecracker Tournament that featured a variety of teams from the New England region. North Haven earned four victories in the tournament to advance to the championship game, where the team took a 6-5 loss against the Bandits Baseball Club in an extra-inning game. A few days later, North Haven resumed local play by earning a 7-2 win versus East Haven to improve to 14-4-1 on the year.
North Haven started off the Firecracker Tournament by notching an 8-5 win versus the Connecticut Cadets. Kevin Vinning earned the win by pitching five scoreless innings for North Haven. Danny Cannavaciolo had two singles with a run scored and an RBI, Mason Balmer tripled with an RBI, and Hunter Garthwait doubled with a walk and a run scored. Jay Ostrowski hit a double and drew a walk, Gianni DiMartino had two singles with an RBI, and Colby Cusano singled to go with a run and RBI in the win.
North Haven followed up that victory by edging out the Base Astros by the final score of 4-3. The game was tied at 3 when Balmer hit a fly ball that brought home Nick Rossi with the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh inning. Garthwait allowed two runs (1 earned) in four innings pitched, Rossi got the win by allowing one run in 2.1 innings, and John Gontarek retired the final two batters of the game to get the save. Balmer had three RBI, Dave Christoforo singled and tripled, and Cannvaciolo walked twice and scored a run.
North Haven kept its momentum going by recording an 8-0 win against the Kingston Tigers. Ben Sbabo threw three scoreless innings for the win, after which Rossi and Gontarek each pitched a scoreless inning. Christoforo doubled twice with a run scored and an RBI, Cannavaciolo had a single and two RBI, and Garthwait doubled and scored a run. Cole Zalegowski drew two walks, scored two runs, and stole a base; Gontarek had a single to go with a run and an RBI, and Owen Silk had a single, a run, and a walk in the victory.
North Haven then posted a 4-0 shutout over Tri-County American Legion to reach the championship game. Sbabo tossed 5.2 scoreless innings to get the win, and Sullivan pitched 1.1 scoreless innings for the save. Garthwait tripled and scored a run, while Cusano had a single to go with a walk, a run, and an RBI for North Haven.
In the tournament final, North Haven lost a 6-5 decision to the Bandits Baseball Club. Trailing 5-4, the Bandits tied the game by scoring a run in the top of the seventh inning, after which they pushed the go-ahead run across the plate in the eighth. Cusano hit two doubles, scored a run, and drove home two runs; Silk had two singles with a walk and an RBI, and Christoforo singled to go with a run scored and an RBI. Additionally, Garthwait had a single with an RBI, Cannvaciolo walked twice, stole a base, and scored a run; and DiMartino singled, scored a run, and drew a walk.
A few days after the tournament, North Haven claimed a 7-2 victory in East Haven. Anthony Cincola got the win by pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief for North Haven. Silk tossed 1.1 scoreless innings, and Vinning closed it out with a scoreless seventh. At the plate, Ostrowski singled twice and had three RBI, Jack Peruso had a single with a double and two runs scored, and Christoforo singled and doubled with a run and an RBI. Jason Landino doubled with an RBI, Anthony Cretella also had a double, Balmer singled with an RBI and a stolen base, and Cannavaciolo had a single and an RBI in the win.