This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
07/12/2020 12:00 AMBaseball is officially back in town with East Haven competing in the Connecticut Elite Baseball Association (CEBA) this summer. East Haven is one of 36 teams that is playing at the U-19 level in the CEBA. East Haven’s team, which is coached by Kevin Sabin, kicked off its season in the new league by winning two of its first three games for an early record of 2-1.
The CEBA was formed after American Legion baseball canceled the 2020 season nationwide due to COVID-19. The Connecticut American Legion baseball committee called off its season on May 11, but after several of the state’s Legion zone directors started looking for an alternative to play, the CEBA was born.
East Haven is competing in Division 2, which features the same teams from Zone 2 in the American Legion league. Aside from East Haven, the teams in Division 2 are Madison, Milford, Orange, West Haven, Wallingford, Hamden, Branford, North Haven, and New Haven. During its opening week, East Haven split a pair of games against Branford before earning a victory versus North Haven.
“The boys, myself, the other coaches—we’re excited to be out here,” Coach Sabin said. “Obviously, with all the COVID craziness, a lot of these kids, especially the seniors, they all lost their high school season. They’re getting an opportunity to play, which is good.”
On July 2, East Haven traveled to take on Branford for its first CEBA matchup, claiming a 7-2 victory in the game. Gianni Mumford pitched the first two innings for East Haven and then Jake Marquardt came on in relief to pitch the next three. Jonathan Crisci tossed the last two innings to close out the win for Coach Sabin’s club.
East Haven’s pitchers combined to take a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Branford got its first knock of the contest. Mumford had a single, a double, and a triple in the victory, while Marquardt went 2-for-4 at the dish.
Coach Sabin felt that his squad looked sharp in its CEBA opener. He said that East Haven hit the ball well and was able to capitalize on Branford’s mistakes. Sabin added that his team was aggressive on the basepaths and provided some timely hitting, despite having little time to practice.
Four days later, East Haven hosted Branford and dropped a 2-1 decision in its second game of the year. Giro Esposito got the start on the mound and pitched two innings, after which Crisci worked the final five innings for East Haven.
With East Haven playing so many games in a short span, Coach Sabin has been focusing on his player’s pitch counts when they’re on the mound. Depending on age, certain pitchers can only throw so many pitches before they are ineligible to pitch again. Coach Sabin said that all of his players have been pitching in practice. In the two games against Branford, Sabin and his coaches made sure that they managed the pitch counts of their top hurlers.
“The biggest thing with this league is we’re playing a large amount of games in a short amount of time. So, pitching is at a premium,” Sabin said. “We watch pitch counts. Kids have pitch count maximums. We log the pitching for every single game. If they throw one pitch, it will be recorded. Once they get to a certain point, you can’t use them.”
With Coach Sabin keeping a close eye on pitch counts, Marquardt made life easy on everyone when he threw a two-hitter in East Haven’s 2-0 home win over North Haven on July 7. Marquardt struck out nine in his complete-game effort and was so efficient that Sabin never had to think about going to his bullpen.
“Jake threw 84 pitches. For his age group, he can throw 105, so he wasn’t even close to maxing out,” Coach Sabin said. “Jake is one of our absolute top players. He’s a great hitter, great fielder. I’ve been coaching Jake on and off since Little League. I don’t think I’ve ever coached a kid who has a better baseball mind than him. He’s always two steps ahead.”
East Haven only allowed four runs through its first three games of the campaign. As the season progresses, Coach Sabin will be relying on Marquardt, Mumford, and Crisci to lead the team from the pitcher’s mound. Sabin said that Marquardt and Mumford take a more methodical approach to pitching, while Crisci has the ability to strike out batters with his heat.
Offensively, Marquardt and Mumford are batting out of the No. 3 and 4 holes, respectively, for East Haven. Esposito, who plays second base, is the team’s leadoff hitter. Coach Sabin added that outfielder Mike O’Connor has made solid contact with the bat thus far this season.
Coach Sabin attributed East Haven’s good start to the excellent chemistry on his team. Although the CEBA is a new league, many of East Haven’s athletes have been playing together for a long time, and Sabin said that camaraderie is playing a big role in the early success.
“During the games and at practice, this group of kids are constantly picking each other up. It’s super refreshing to see my older kids mentoring the younger kids,” said Sabin. “A lot of it is obviously hard work. The kids put in the time, and they’re having fun. They hustle on every ball in practice. Against North Haven, we had the bases loaded in the first two innings and didn’t get a run across. The kids that didn’t produce, there were 14 kids waiting for them saying, ‘Shake it off. You’ll get it next time.’”
East Haven has a big slate on its schedule this week, including a game against North Haven, two contests versus Division 2 frontrunner Madison (3-0), a doubleheader with West Haven, and a game versus Wallingford. After beginning the season with a nice first week, Coach Sabin is looking for East Haven to continue producing on the field in order to find its way to the playoffs.
“We’re certainly hoping to make it into the playoffs. Every other team is facing the same problems we are. Everyone has tough schedules,” Sabin said. “I would like to see these guys make a nice little run in the playoffs and come away feeling good about their season, feeling like they had a successful year and that everybody contributed.”