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North Haven Piles Up the Runs During Action-Packed Week

The North Haven baseball team is heating up as weather warms up this spring. Last week, North Haven broke out the bats by scoring 41 runs between its four contests, hitting a handful of homers along the way, on its way to three victories that put the team’s regular-season record at 10-8.

North Haven notched a 15-11 win versus Foran and a 12-1 victory over Guilford before splitting a two-game set with East Haven, losing the first game by a 3-2 score in eight innings and then taking the nightcap by a 12-2 final. Head Coach Bob DeMayo’s squad is competing in the SCC Tournament this week and then has the Class L State Tournament after that.

North Haven started off the week by earning a 15-11 victory at Foran in a slugfest on May 17. North Haven’s offense produced 10 hits and drew 10 walks in the win. Junior Alexander Bauman picked up the win on the mound by pitching five innings of relief for North Haven. Junior Owen Pincince retired the last two batters in the seventh inning to solidify the victory.

North Haven scored three runs in the first inning, getting a two-run double from senior captain Cole Zalegowski, who later came home on an error to make it 3-0. Foran responded with five runs in the second inning, but North Haven went on to put up three runs in the third for a 9-5 lead that it would never relinquish. Junior Mike Anquillare hit an RBI single, Zalegowski and junior Derek Novicki both had RBI singles, junior Ryan Balzano drew a bases-loaded walk, and Pincince had a two-run single to highlight North Haven’s big inning.

Junior Anthony Acampora drove home a couple of runs for North Haven in the fourth inning, and then Pincince hit a solo home run in the fifth. North Haven had a 12-7 lead entering the top of the seventh inning, when the team tacked on three more runs. Pincince hit an RBI double, Anquillare drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, and then Zalegowski added an RBI single to make it 15-7. Foran rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh, but North Haven escaped further damage and held on for the win.

Pincince had a huge day at the plate by going 3-for-3 with a double, a home run, two walks, four runs scored and four RBI for North Haven. Zalegowski was 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, three runs scored, and four RBI in the victory. Acampora went 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, Anquillare went 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, two runs, and two RBI; and Novicki was 1-for-3 with a walk, a run, and RBI, and a stolen base.

Two days later, North Haven was on the road to face Guilford and prevailed by the final score of 12-1 in six innings. Senior captain JJ Mazzaro earned the win on the mound by allowing one run on two hits and one walk in five innings for North Haven. Pincince closed out another one by pitching a scoreless sixth.

North Haven pounded out 14 hits in its win over Guilford. Coach DeMayo’s club struck quick with five runs in the first inning and then added two runs in the second, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth before the game was called.

Balzano hit a two-run homer in the first inning and then Pincince followed with a solo shot to give North Haven a 3-0 lead. Novicki added an RBI double later in the frame as North Haven was up 5-0 after its first at-bat. Guilford scored its lone run of the game in the bottom of the first.

Anquillare doubled and scored on a double by Zalegowski in the second inning. Zalegowski later scored on an RBI single from sophomore Steven Vincent to make it 7-1.

Novicki and Acampora both drove home runs on fly balls in the fifth inning, after which Balzano’s RBI single extended North Haven’s advantage to 10-1. In the sixth, sophomore Tyler Harger had a sacrifice fly, and Acampora added an RBI single to give North Haven a 12-1 lead.

Zalegowski had another three-hit day by going 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored, an RBI, and a stolen base. Novicki went 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and two RBI. Balzano went 2-for-4 with a home run, a run scored, and three RBI in the victory. Pincince went 1-for-3 with a walk, a homer, a run, and an RBI on the day.

Vincent went 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs, an RBI, and a stolen base; Acampora was 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBI; Harger was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI; and junior Shaun Murray had a walk with two runs scored and a stolen base.

North Haven completed its regular season by hosting East Haven for two games at DeMayo Ballfield on May 22. North Haven split the set by taking a 3-2, eight-inning loss in the first game and winning the second contest by a 12-2 score in five innings.

In the opener, North Haven took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Anquillare. After East Haven tied the score with a run in the top of the third, North Haven went up 2-1 in the bottom half on a solo homer from Zalegowski. However, the Yellowjackets tied the game with a run in the sixth and then scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth to get the 3-2 victory.

Bauman started the game and allowed two runs on five hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in five innings pitched. Pincince pitched 2.1 innings of relief for North Haven, and Mazzaro threw two-thirds of an inning.

Zalegowski went 2-for-4 with a homer, a run scored, and an RBI. Balzano singled and scored a run, while Novicki had a single with a walk and two stolen bases.

North Haven’s offense responded with a 19-hit onslaught in its 12-2 victory in the nightcap. Vincent pitched all five innings to get the victory, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

North Haven scored four runs in the first inning, two runs in the third, four runs in the fifth, and two more in the fifth before the game was called. With North Haven trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Anquillare blasted a three-run homer to give his team a 3-1 lead. Harger added an RBI single to make it 4-1 through one. In the third, Harger hit an RBI double, and then Novicki hit a run-scoring single to increase the lead to 6-1.

East Haven scored a run in the top of the fourth, but North Haven came back with a four-spot in the bottom half of the inning. First, Zalegowski hit yet another home run for North Haven on the week by rocketing a three-run bomb to make the score 9-2. Later in the frame, Acampora hit an RBI single for a 10-2 advantage. North Haven finished off the game with two runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Vincent and Harger.

In addition to getting the win on the mound, Vincent went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, an RBI, and two stolen bases for North Haven. Harger was 3-for-4 with a double, a run, and three RBI; Balzano went 3-for-4 with two runs and a stolen base; and Acampora was 3-for-3 with an RBI.

Zalegowski went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, two runs scored, and three RBI; Anquillare was 2-for-4 with a homer, two runs, and three RBI; and Pincince went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, two runs scored, and a stolen base.

North Haven kicks off postseason play by competing in the SCC Tournament as the No. 8 seed this week. North Haven played at top-seeded Hand in the quarterfinals on May 24 (after press time). If North Haven won, it faced the winner of No. 4 West Haven and No. 5 Xavier in the semifinals on May 25 (after press time). The SCC final takes place at West Haven High School on Thursday, May 27 at 5:30 p.m. After SCCs, North Haven will participate in the Class L State Tournament that begins on Saturday, May 29.