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08/03/2019 12:00 AMThe Max Sinoway Little League Majors All-Star baseball team went on a remarkable run that saw North Haven win its first District 4 title since 1967 on its way to making the championship game of the State Tournament this summer. Unfortunately, Sinoway’s wild ride came to an end when the team took a 6-0 defeat to Madison in the state final at Lower Legion Field in Willimantic on July 31.
After losing its first contest of the double-elimination tournament for ages 10 to 12, Max Sinoway had to win two games while facing elimination to advance to the championship. Sinoway took care of business by winning both of those games to earn the right to play Madison in the final.
As a result of its previous loss, Sinoway needed to notch two wins versus Madison, which came in undefeated, in order to claim the state title. Sinoway posted a 6-4 victory on July 30, but Madison prevailed by a 6-0 score in the winner-take-all rematch the following night to win the tournament and move on to the New England Regional.
Despite the defeat, Head Coach Angelo Romano felt extremely proud that Max Sinoway made history and was one of the last two Little League teams standing in Connecticut.
“It was a great season. I’m super proud of my kids and my coaches,” Romano said. “This team has been together since they were nine years old, most of them, so we’ve got a lot of history together—a lot of tears, a lot of dirt, a lot of grinding. I’m proud of them and I’m proud of our town. We put North Haven on the map. They know who we are now. We made some noise.”
Max Sinoway’s journey to the state final began when North Haven won the District 4 Tournament by beating Milford in the title bout, after which Coach Romano’s squad competed in the Section 1 Tournament. Sinoway won all three of its games in sectionals, clinching the crown with a victory over Darien in the championship game.
Sinoway then opened play in the State Tournament, where the team dropped an extra-inning decision against Simsbury in its first game, putting North Haven’s back against the wall. Sinoway responded by winning elimination games versus Brooklyn-Pomfret and Simsbury to advance to a championship showdown against Madison.
Even though Sinoway wasn’t able to take home the title, Coach Romano said that his athletes showed what they were made of by coming up clutch time and again during several high-stakes situations throughout the tournaments.
“Never giving up. That’s what it came down to. We were down four or five times during this postseason and came back to win,” said Romano. “They fight. They just find it deep inside and they know they can make a play. We made a lot of big plays that got us to this point. We surprised some people. The drive, the commitment, the pride, and the fight—that’s what it comes down to.”
State Championship Showdowns
Max Sinoway trailed Madison 3-0 early during their first game of the state championship, but rallied to score three runs in the top of the third. With one out, Joe Mastroianni was hit by a pitch and then John Slais and Jaden Wells drew walks to load the bases. Alex Bowery came off the bench and delivered a two-run pinch-hit single that brought home Mastroianni and Slais to cut the deficit to 3-2. Later in the frame, Wells scored on an error and the game was knotted at 3-3.
Meanwhile, Sinoway pitcher Jordan Higgins shook off Madison’s three-run second inning by retiring the side in order in the third, then got a little help from his defense to escape a major jam in the fourth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Madison’s batter hit a sharp shot that Sinoway first baseman Bryce Montabana snared on the backhand and then stepped on the bag for the third out.
The game stayed tied until Max Sinoway plated three runs during the top of the sixth inning. Brandon Stevens got aboard via an error and Chris Cretella reached on a bunt to set the stage. Mastroianni followed with an RBI single that scored pinch runner Nick Romano to give Sinoway a 4-3 lead. With one out, Wells hit a groundout to second base that brought in Cretella to make it 5-3. Two batters later, Higgins laced an RBI single that scored Mastroianni for a 6-3 advantage.
Higgins went back out to the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning. He gave up a leadoff home run, got an out, and then allowed a double. Coach Romano brought in Cretella, who retired the last two batters of the game with the tying run at the plate to solidify the 6-4 victory for Max Sinoway.
Higgins earned the win on the mound by pitching 5.1 innings with six strikeouts, while Cretella got the save by closing out the game. Higgins also went 3-for-4 with an RBI at the dish to help Sinoway live another day.
“We went down 3-0 early and then we just fought back,” Coach Romano said. “Knowing that we can beat a team like Madison, we came back today knowing that we had a chance, that we could win.”
Just 24 hours later, Max Sinoway and Madison traveled back to Willimantic to face other with the state title on the line on a rainy night. Madison scored three runs in the top of the third inning, added two more runs in the fifth, and then scored another run in the sixth to earn a 6-0 victory and claim the state championship.
Madison used an RBI double to take a 1-0 lead and then pushed two more runs across on an infield single to make it 3-0. In the fifth, Madison hit a two-run homer to increase its lead to 5-0. Madison scored its last run on an RBI double in the sixth. Sinoway got two men on base in both the third and sixth innings, but was unable to muster a run.
“That’s a great team over there and good luck to them, but today, we just didn’t hit. We hit it, but we didn’t hit it hard, and it just seemed like we found fielders every time we did hit it,” said Coach Romano. “We had a tough time coming back. Their pitcher pitched really well and the sticks just weren’t working.”
The athletes on Max Sinoway’s roster are Nate Acevedo, Alex Bowery, Chris Cretella, Jordan Higgins, Chris Kottage, Joe Mastroianni, Bryce Montabana, Nick Romano, Ryan Semple, Brandon Stevens, John Slais, and Jaden Wells. Head Coach Angelo Romano is assisted by coaches Vic Acevedo and Chris Cretella.
Coach Romano said that he will always cherish everything his team accomplished this season. Romano appreciates the effort that everyone affiliated with the program gave in order to help Max Sinoway go on a run to remember.
“It says a lot for our town and our Little League. We have a great Little League in our town. There’s a lot of volunteers that help, and a lot of parents that are committed and really good with getting their kids to practice,” Romano said. “So that’s helped a lot with this team—the commitment. It’s all about hard work and commitment, and that’s what got us here.”
The Road to the Final
Max Sinoway had to win the District 4 Tournament and the Section 1 Tournament to advance to the State Tournament. In the District 4 bracket, North Haven notched a 7-4 win over North Branford, took a 7-5 loss to Milford, and then posted a 17-1 victory versus Branford and a 13-7 win against Orange in the round-robin portion. Sinoway went to earn a 7-4 win against West Haven in the quarterfinals, a 14-4 victory over North Branford in the semis, and a 5-1 triumph versus Milford in the championship game on July 14 to win its first district title in 52 years.
Higgins pitched a complete-game four-hitter in the final. Sinoway was bolstered by RBI singles from Stevens, Bowery, and Slais, as well as an RBI on a bases-loaded walk by Cretella. Kottage made a couple of excellent defensive plays in center field to help North Haven prevail.
For the Section 1 tourney, Sinoway earned a 7-6 win over Fairfield American, defeated Darien by a 9-3 score, and then beat Darien by the final tally of 7-1 to win the tournament on July 24. North Haven rallied from a 5-1 deficit to edge out Fairfield in its opener. Bowery hit a two-run homer that tied the game in the fourth, after which Stevens doubled and scored on an error to give Sinoway the lead. Mastroianni earned the win on the mound, and Cretella locked up the save.
In the first win over Darien, Wells blasted a grand slam in the second inning and hit a two-run shot in the fifth to help Sinoway run away with the victory. Cretella had two RBI singles to aid North Haven. Mastroianni was the winning pitcher by tossing five solid innings.
Higgins threw another complete game for Max Sinoway against Darien in the championship game. Sinoway broke open a scoreless contest by scoring four runs in the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth. Bowery had a pair of doubles and three RBI.
Max Sinoway started off the State Tournament by taking a 5-4, eight-inning loss against Simsbury. With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the eighth, Simsbury plated a pair of runs to take a 5-3 lead and then held off Sinoway’s comeback bid in the bottom half of the inning.
Facing elimination, North Haven posted a 3-1 win versus Brooklyn-Pomfret to stay alive. Higgins pitched 2.1 innings for the win, Bowery threw the next 1.2 innings, and then Cretella got the save by working the last two frames. Cretella also had an RBI single during Sinoway’s two-run second inning, and Kottage hit a sacrifice fly that gave Sinoway an insurance run in the fifth.
Max Sinoway went on to post a 3-0 shutout over Simsbury in another elimination game. Mastroianni pitched a complete-game four hitter to lead North Haven to the win. Acevedo clubbed a two-run home run that gave North Haven a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Mastroianni drove in another run on an infield single to help Sinoway prevail and move on to the championship.