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Branford Senior Legion Came Up Just Shy of States This Summer

The Branford Senior American Legion baseball team won four of its last five games this summer, but was unable to secure a berth in the State Tournament after finishing with a record of 13-14 in its Zone 2 games. Post 83 came in third place in the Zone 2 Eastern Division standings, finishing two games behind Wallingford for second place and a spot in states.

Head Coach Kyle Heins had big expectations for what Branford could achieve in 2019. Unfortunately, those expectations never came to pass.

“This summer was difficult. We had a lot of injuries, kids on vacations, and ultimately fell short of our goal,” Coach Heins said. “We had four goals: Make the playoffs, win states, win regionals, and get back to Shelby [North Carolina] for the American Legion World Series for the first time since 2013. But we came up short with reaching those goals.”

Post 83 kicked off its year on the right note by winning six of its first eight games in Zone 2 play. After the hot start, Branford saw some struggles during the middle of the season and found itself in a situation where it needed everything to break the right way in order to make the State Tournament.

During the final week of the regular season, Branford earned a win versus East Haven, before taking on Meriden for a pivotal three-game series. Post 83 notched a 7-1 victory in the first contest on July 16. Two days later, Branford played a doubleheader against Meriden and won the first game by a 10-0 score in five innings, after which Post 83 took a 9-5 loss in the second matchup.

“We put ourselves in the position of having to try and win out, and we did what we could,” said Heins. “Meriden beat us that day and sealed our fate for the season.”

Despite coming up a little short of making states, Coach Heins was pleased with the competitiveness that his team showed this year.

“We never gave up,” he said. “Even when we were losing a lot of close games, we stayed focused and competitive.”

Branford was led by veteran players Alphonse Suppa and Carson Mendoza. Suppa and Mendoza both brought a presence to the plate as key people in Post 83’s lineup, in addition to providing solid play in the field. Zane Kimetek anchored the starting rotation for Branford, while Mendoza, Suppa, and Eddie Zanor helped carry the load on the mound.

Branford was without starting catcher Robbie Barbash due to an injury, but Coach Heins felt proud about how Carter Shannon stepped up to help fill the void behind the dish. Barbash, Suppa, Kmietek, and Mendoza have played their final seasons for Post 83, as have Brandon Kilfeather, Jake McPartland, Damien Maniscalco, Matt Judd, and, Anthony Burzynski. Heins said that he is going to miss working with this collection of players.

“I’m very proud of these kids,” said Heins. “This is a really good group of kids, and they really enjoyed playing with one another this summer.”

As far as the future is concerned, Coach Heins feels confident that Branford is going to regroup and continue to build a strong foundation to help both his players and the program succeed.

“I am happy where we are,” Heins said. “Sure, we are losing lots of kids this year, but the fact that kids are coming back and playing summer baseball is awesome. These kids get to play for one of the most historic programs in the state of Connecticut for Senior Legion, and I am looking forward to seeing the team continue to succeed.”

Branford’s roster featured Robbie Barbash, Jake Bodner, Alec Bruchman, Anthony Burzynski, Daniel Farricielli, Bennett Gentile, Matt Judd, Brandon Kilfeather, Zane Kmietek, Damien Maniscalco, Jake McPartland, Carson Mendoza, Aidan Ricciardelli, Carter Shannon, Alphonse Suppa, Zach Vandale, and Eddie Zanor. Coach Heins was assisted by coaches Trent Dillon, Steve Prota, and Jeff Shannon. Chet Santoro is the general manager for Post 83, which was once again sponsored by Massey’s Glass this year.

During the season, Branford notched three victories versus East Haven (6-5, 11-0, and 8-5) and New Haven (5-2, 2-1, and 8-3), two wins over Wallingford (7-0 and 5-2) and Meriden (7-1 and 10-0), and one win against Madison (13-2), Orange (4-2), and Cheshire (7-0) in Zone 2 action.