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05/22/2022 12:00 AMSoftball
The East Haven softball team finished its regular season with a record of 18-2 and a 10-game winning streak intact after claiming victories in all three of its games last week. The Yellowjackets are competing in the SCC Tournament this week and then have the Class L State Tournament on tap after that.
On May 17, the Easties hosted Branford and defeated the Hornets by a 13-1 score in 5 innings on Senior Night. The Yellowjackets honored senior captains Emilee Bishop, Lena Barthel, and Jilien Ayala prior to the game. After taking the lead in the second inning, East Haven went on to end the contest in the fifth inning by scoring 8 runs during the frame.
Bishop pitched a 2-hitter with 10 strikeouts and also had a double with 2 RBI at the plate. Ayala had 2 hits with 2 RBI, freshman Lexi Heaphy had 2 RBI, junior Adriana Franceschi got 2 hits, and junior Lily Gagnon hit a triple for East Haven. Barthel, Bishop, Heaphy, Franceschi, and freshman Gianna Santoro all scored 2 runs in the victory.
The following afternoon, East Haven traveled to Woodbridge to face Amity and earned a 7-1 victory over the Spartans. East Haven jumped on Amity by scoring 4 runs in the first inning and 3 runs in the second inning, led by a grand slam from Heaphy in the first. Bishop tossed a 3-hitter for the Easties. Sophomore Gianna Fowler had 2 hits on the day.
Then on May 19, the Yellowjackets posted a 5-0 shutout at North Branford. East Haven took a 1-0 lead when Santoro drove in Franceschi in the fifth inning. The Easties went on to put the game away by plating 4 runs in the seventh. Bishop finished off her big week by throwing a 2-hitter with 11 K’s. Santoro had 2 hits, Heaphy clubbed a 2-run double, and Franceschi scored 2 runs for Head Coach Ed Crisafi’s squad.
East Haven has the No. 1 seed in the SCC Tournament and hosted No. 8 Shelton in the quarterfinals on May 23 (after press time). With a win, the Yellowjackets would have hosted the winner of No. 4 West Haven and No. 5 Cheshire in the semis on May 24 (after press time). The SCC final takes place at Biondi Field in West Haven on Thursday, May 26 at 7 p.m.
Girls’ Outdoor Track
Junior Alice Stettinger took first place in the javelin when the East Haven girls’ outdoor track team competed at the SCC East Sectional Championship at Bowen Field on May 17. The Yellowjackets scored 57 points as a team and finished in sixth place at the meet.
Stettinger launched a throw of 120 feet-1 inch on her way to winning the javelin for the second-straight year at sectionals. Stettinger’s throw was 30 feet better than runner-up Madison DiPasquale from Sheehan (92-10). Stettinger also finished third in the discus (102-3) and placed third in the shot put (33-5.75) for the Yellowjackets.
Senior Morgan D’Auria finished second in the long jump (16-6) and also earned runner-up honors in the triple jump (35-0) at the sectional meet. Junior Jessica Urban finished fourth (17.82) in the finals the 100 hurdles after placing fifth (18.09) in the preliminaries. Sophomore Erica Canfield took fifth place (18.12) in the finals of the 100 hurdles, moving up three spots from her eighth-place finish (19.39) in the prelims.
Senior Emily Mazzucco finished sixth in the long jump (15-11) and placed seventh in the triple jump (32-6) for the Easties. Urban also finished ninth in the triple jump (15-1) and was 11th in the high jump (15-1). Canfield finished ninth in the 300 hurdles (53.97) and came in 15th place for the high jump (4-2).
Senior Zayuri Castaneda finished sixth in the javelin (83-3) and took eighth place in both the discus (81-11) and the shot put (28-1). Sophomore Aniya Franklin finished eighth in the shot put (29-11.75) and placed 14th in the javelin (64-1).
Senior Princess Aggrey finished 12th in the discus (71-4) and took 14th place in the shot put (26-11.5) at East Sectionals. Senior Juliana Espinoza finished 13th (16:14.49) in the 3,200 for the Yellowjackets. Sophomore Nicole Brown finished in 20th place (56-4) in the javelin.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
Junior Dom Salato posted a first-place performance in the javelin on behalf of the East Haven boys’ outdoor track team at last week’s SCC East Sectional Championship. The Yellowjackets finished in 10th place with 20 points scored when the sectional meet took place at Bowen Field on May 17.
Salato recorded a top toss of 158-10 inches to take first place in the javelin at the East Sectional Championship. Salato came in ahead of runner-up Kyle DeRienzo of Amity (154-4) for the gold medal in the event. Salato also claimed third place in the triple jump with a distance of 39-8.5 for the Yellowjackets.
Freshman Dante Rodriguez ran his way to fifth place (45.64) in the 300 hurdles at the sectional meet. Rodriguez also finished 12th in the high jump (5-0) and placed 14th for the preliminaries of the 110 hurdles (19.06). Junior Ronald Koye finished ninth in the prelims of the 110 hurdles (18.03) and also finished 17th in the 300 hurdles (48.71).
Junior Jason Toth finished in 11th place for the discus (110-1) for East Haven. Freshman Rocco D’Amato took 14th place in the long jump (18-1). Senior Justin Hernandez came in 20th place in the discus (89-10) at the meet.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The Branford-East Haven (Bfd-EH) boys’ lacrosse team played a pair of games to wrap up regular-season play for the 2022 campaign last week. Bfd-EH, which has qualified for the Class L State Tournament, came away with victories in both contests to conclude the regular season with a record of 10-6.
Bfd-EH started the week by earning an 11-7 home win over Berlin at Branford High School on May 17. Senior Cam Paleski and junior Sean Bosworth both scored 3 goals, while junior Matt McNulty and freshman Gennaro Pompano each had 2 goals with 2 assists in the victory. Junior Alex Milne had 2 assists, and junior Jack Linder scored 1 goal. Senior goalie Aidan Strebel made 14 saves in net.
Two days later, the Hornets hit the road to face West Haven and claimed an 18-2 win. Bosworth netted 7 goals for the Hornets. Pompano had 3 goals and 2 assists, Milne also scored 3 goals, Paleski had 1 goal with 3 assists, and McNulty scored 1 goal with 2 assists. Senior Kevin Lee scored 1 goal, while Strebel, Linder, and senior Dimitrios Gionteris all had 1 assist. Strebel made 6 saves, and freshman Max Rosenberg stopped 3 shots in goal for Head Coach Jim May’s squad.
Boys’ Golf
The East Haven boys’ golf team took two defeats and also earned a tie in last week’s action. The Yellowjackets have an overall record of 8-6-1 as they enter the final week of their regular season.
On May 16, East Haven hosted Jonathan Law at Alling Memorial Golf Club and played the Lawmen to a 186-186 draw. Junior Dom Plano shot a 43 to share medalist honors with Jayden Archuleta of Law. Senior Ethan Roach shot a 45, senior Nick Sorrentino carded a 46, and sophomore Mike Savo finished with a 52.
The next day, the Yellowjackets took a 170-198 road loss versus Branford at Pine Orchard Country Club. Plano recorded East Haven’s low score of the day with a 42. Roach scored a 50, while Savo and Sorrentino both posted a score of 53.
Then on May 18, East Haven was back on the road to face Guilford and lost the contest by a 168-191 score at Madison Country Club.
Girls’ Tennis
The East Haven girls’ tennis team lost two contests last week to move to 6-12 entering the last week of its regular season.
East Haven took a 6-0 defeat against Shelton in a road match on May 16. The following day, the Yellowjackets hosted Mercy and lost the contest by a 7-0 score.
Boys’ Tennis
The East Haven boys’ tennis team took three defeats during the final week of its regular season. The Yellowjackets finished the regular season with an overall record of 4-16.
On May 16, East Haven took a 7-0 road loss to Sheehan. Then on May 18, the Yellowjackets hosted Jonathan Law and lost the matchup by the score of 6-1. The next day, East Haven took a 7-0 defeat at North Haven in its last match of the regular season.