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06/24/2019 12:00 AMWith a sophomore-laden squad, there were some question marks as to how things would pan out for the Haddam-Killingworth baseball team in the 2019 season. However, the Cougars quickly grew as a group and pieced together another great campaign that saw H-K make its mark in the playoffs and ultimately finish with 18 victories.
Head Coach Mark Brookes’s club notched a regular-season record of 14-5 to earn the No. 2 seed in the Shoreline Conference Tournament. H-K dispatched No. 7 seed Old Lyme (11-4) and No. 3 North Branford (4-2) in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively, to reach its first conference final in nine years, where the Cougars took a 2-1 loss in eight innings against top-seeded Portland.
After Shorelines, the Cougars competed in the Class M State Tournament as the No. 9 seed. H-K posted a 3-1 win over No. 24 seed Stonington in the first round and scored a 3-2 road win at No. 8 East Catholic in a second-round matchup. The team went on to take an 8-0 loss against top-seeded Wolcott in the quarterfinals to finish at 18-7 overall.
Coach Brookes thought that H-K exceeded preseason expectations with its win total this spring. More importantly, Brookes said that his athletes completely committed themselves to creating one of the best postseason runs in the program’s storied history.
“We had such a young group, and so I figured us in the 12-win range. We had a lot of work to do in terms of getting the kids to play together and turning sophomores into juniors,” said Brookes. “I was very pleased with the fact that we won 18 games and went as far as we did in the Shoreline and State tournaments. We played more like a team, especially after May 1. They got to a point I didn’t think they would reach. It was one of the more successful seasons we had.”
Brookes felt that H-K made big-time strides by continually getting better throughout the campaign. The Cougars displayed just how much they had improved by recording a quartet of victories when the stakes were at their greatest during postseason play.
“The line of work we put in to get to the Shoreline finals was extraordinary. We didn’t always execute the way we should have, but we reached that point, and I was proud of them for doing so,” Brookes said. “We played well in the Shoreline final versus Portland, and then we had a big win at East Catholic in states.”
Jon Civiello and Mike O’Toole led the Cougars as the team’s senior captains this year. Civiello split time between the pitcher’s mound and outfield, while O’Toole played the infield for H-K. Civiello earned All-Shoreline Conference First Team honors and was also named to the New Haven Register’s All-Area Team. O’Toole, senior outfielder Griffin Izzo, and sophomore infielder Alec Erskine were All-Shoreline Conference Second Team selections. H-K’s two other seniors were pitcher Noah Snyder, outfielder Ian Danaher, and fellow outfielder Darren Hiller.
“Jon did a lot in terms of performance that helped us tremendously. He and Michael did so much to help get the younger kids into the mainstream of what we were trying to do,” said Brookes. “Griffin hit better than he’s ever hit. His contributions on the field saw a dramatic improvement from his junior year. Noah and Ian were team players. They contributed in ways that helped us come together as a team and teach the young guys the dos and don’ts of the team. Darren finished well and was an outstanding contributor in the postseason.”
With a good chuck of his roster moving into the upperclass ranks, Coach Brookes feels cautiously optimistic heading into the 2020 campaign. Brookes hopes that H-K’s growth in 2019 will motivate his players to shoot even higher in the playoffs next season.
“Our team was predominately sophomores this year, so they will become juniors next year. I’m always cautious about projections, but I feel good about who we bring back,” Brookes said.” The job will be for us to improve upon this year and then, if we do that, then we can do things to be proud of next year.”
From the Sidelines
Mark Brookes finished his 43rd season as the skipper of the Haddam-Killingworth baseball team. Ryan Fuller and Ryan Frazier were the Cougars’ assistant coaches.
During the regular season, H-K earned two victories against Valley Regional (11-2 and 4-0) and North Branford (5-1 and 4-0) to go with one win apiece versus Old Saybrook (10-0), Hale-Ray (11-4), East Hampton (2-0), Morgan (2-1), Coginchaug (9-2), Westbrook (14-0), Cromwell (2-1), Old Lyme (6-3), Windsor Locks (7-1), and Ellington (10-8).
H-K took losses against Portland (3-2), Coginchaug (8-6), Cromwell (13-4), Morgan (3-0), and Coventry (1-0).