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07/06/2017 12:00 AMBrendan Clark is the type of baseball player that every coach wants—someone who can put the team on his back in big situations. That’s exactly what the North Haven baseball team saw Brendan do throughout the 2017 season, and there was no better example of the senior captain’s knack for delivering in the clutch than in the Class L State Tournament semifinals.
With a scoreless tie in the third inning, Brendan was called out of the bullpen to come into the game with the bases loaded and nobody out. He sat down the first two batters on strikeouts and then got a fly out to escape the jam unscathed. Brendan continued hanging zeros on the scoreboard for the rest of the game, while striking out nine. Then in the sixth inning, he doubled home the game’s only run as the Indians went on to a 1-0 victory. To top it off, Brendan struck out the side in the seventh to seal North Haven’s trip to the state final.
Knowing it could be his final game wearing a North Haven uniform, Brendan intended to leave everything he had on the field, regardless of whether his team won or lost. When the Indians did win, Brendan felt overwhelmed to have helped them secure such a nail-biting victory.
“I honestly—it’s so hard to put it into words. There was a point where I couldn’t hear anything. I think that’s what they call being in the zone,” Brendan says. “In the last inning, I couldn’t hear or feel anything. It was just so surreal. I didn’t think of myself at that moment. I thought, ‘We did it, us as a team. We’re going to the championship.’”
Brendan, who also played third base, had a heavy hand in North Haven reaching the state championship game, and his contributions went way beyond his performance in its semifinal triumph. Brendan finished the year with a mark of 9-2, three saves, and a 1.46 ERA on the mound, while recording 68 of his 154 total outs via the strikeout. In the batter’s box, he turned in a .391 batting average to go with 20 RBI and 22 runs scored as the Indians’ cleanup hitter.
It’s no wonder Brendan’s teammates and coaches voted him as North Haven’s Most Valuable Player. He also earned All-Quinnipiac Division and All-State accolades for his exceptional play.
Head Coach Bob DeMayo had seen Brendan come up big out of the bullpen time and time again this spring. Consequently, DeMayo had no trepidation whatsoever about calling on Brendan to pitch out of that high-pressure situation in the state semis.
“As a coach, who do you want with the bat in their hand in a clutch situation? Who do you want with the ball on the mound in a clutch situation? Who do you want fielding the ball in a clutch situation? In all those cases, it would be Brendan Clark,” says DeMayo. “That’s why the team voted him the MVP.”
Brendan’s value to North Haven was amplified by the fact that he displayed prowess both on the hill and at the plate. Brendan loves both aspects of the game, although he admits that he prefers one over the other.
“I love both equally, but I would have to say pitcher, because I get to dictate the game,” says Brendan. “I hold the ball, and you can only swing when I throw the ball.”
It’s taken a ton of hard work for Brendan to become one of the top baseball players in the state, however, he doesn’t shy away from things just because they are difficult. Coach DeMayo has been a firsthand witness to Brendan’s years of dedication—and how he’s vastly improved as a result.
“In the few years that I’ve coached him, he’s gone basically from an individual who had some talent to working hard to become one of the best players in the state,” says DeMayo. “Every year, my coaching situation is trying to bring everybody to the next level. When he started at the varsity level, he was a good player with potential. He worked as hard as he possibly could to actualize that potential and improve every year.”
Brendan will major in psychology at Quinnipiac University starting later this year. Brendan wants to make a positive impact on society, and he’s already doing that in a variety of ways. Brendan volunteers for the Best Buddies Program, where he connects one-on-one with kids who have intellectual and developmental disabilities; Project WIN, where he goes to North Haven Middle School to spend time with students who are having difficulties at home; as well as the town’s youth baseball and basketball programs.
“I feel blessed to be in the position that I was in this year,” Brendan says. “I would love to teach kids to take on that role and that leadership aspect. I like to see kids reach their goals and be everything they aspire to be and more.”
Brendan feels grateful to many people for helping him become the player and person that he is today. He thanks Coach DeMayo, as well as North Haven Senior Legion Head Coach Tim Binkoski for helping him progress into a better baseball player. Brendan also thanks his father Don, his mother Rose, his grandparents Jack and Mary Dell’Oro and Don and Alice Clark, and his older brother Justin for providing a motivating influence.
With everything that Brendan does, he wants to make his family proud. When his senior season at North Haven came to a close, Brendan knew that he had done just that.
“After the championship game, I came home and I found a note on my kitchen counter,” Brendan says. “It said, ‘I’m proud of what you’ve done this year, and I love you.’ And it was from my father. Obviously, it didn’t end the way that I’d like, but that was a proud moment for me. I’ll be keeping that note forever.”