Printer Friendly Version - North Branford Baseball Notches Three Wins on the Week

Junior Enrique Diaz had some key hits to help the North Branford baseball team post three victories in as many games last week. The T-Birds are sporting a record of 7-2 on the year. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Sound

The North Branford baseball squad claimed victory in all three of its games during the spring break last week. The Thunderbirds started off the stretch by earning a 5-3 win at Cromwell, after which they scored home wins against Westbrook (6-1) and Lyman Hall (8-5) to improve to 7-2 on the year. With one more victory, North Branford will qualify for the Class S State Tournament.

On April 16, the Thunderbirds headed to Cromwell and defeated the Panthers by a 5-3 final in Shoreline Conference action. The Thunderbirds were bolstered by a solid outing on the mound from junior John Pollock, who picked up his third win of the season.

North Branford’s offense did all of its damage in the fourth inning, when the T-Birds sent 11 guys to the plate and hit eight singles in the frame. North Branford received six consecutive singles from senior Carl Jacobson, freshman Dominic Scalia, junior Enrique Diaz, sophomore Jadon Canelli, junior Sean Lucibello, and senior Giovanni Parillo to spur the rally. Senior Steve Galluba and Pollock both hit an RBI single in the big inning, as well. For the game, Galluba and Lucibello had two hits apiece, while Diaz contributed a pair of RBI.

The next day, North Branford hosted Westbrook for another Shoreline Conference matchup and notched a 6-1 win over the Knights. Junior Bret Fee turned in a dominating performance on the hill by tossing a complete game with 11 strikeouts for the Thunderbirds.

North Branford’s offense collected 10 hits and scored its runs in spurts. The T-Birds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, when Galluba singled, stole second, and eventually came around to score on a two-out single by Jacobson. North Branford added two more runs in the second inning as Galluba and Pollock each hit RBI singles after Diaz and Fee had led off the inning with walks.

The Thunderbirds continued the trend and scored two more runs in the third inning, plating one run when Jacobson scored on Diaz’s fielder’s choice and another when Lucibello doubled home Scalia to make it 5-0. Scalia drove in Galluba for North Branford’s final run later in the game. Galluba finished the day with three hits, one walk, and two runs scored. Jacobson and Scalia had two hits apiece for the T-Birds.

To close out the week, North Branford recorded an 8-5 home victory over Lyman Hall in a non-conference game on April 19. Canelli pitched 5.2 innings to get the win and improve to 2-1 this year. Canelli scattered six hits with four strikeouts, and Scalia got the save in relief. Senior Colin Baxter had three hits, three runs scored, and an RBI for North Branford. Jacobson had two hits and scored three runs, while Diaz had three hits with three RBI to help the T-Birds go 3-0 on the week.