North Haven Baseball Blanks Fitch, 1-0, to Advance to Class L State Final
Baseball
The North Haven baseball team is heading to its seventh state final in program history after shutting out Fitch 1-0 in the semifinals of the Class L State Tournament at Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford on June 7. The 7th-seeded Indians are now 18-7 overall and will face No. 32 seed Foran (11-13) for the state title at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 10 at Palmer Field in Middletown. Foran defeated No. 20 seed Watertown, 10-5, in its semifinal contest. North Haven has won five state championships in Head Coach Bob DeMayo's tenure, including the Class L title two years ago.
Senior Brendan Clark pitched five hitless innings of relief in which he struck out nine for his ninth win of the season when the Indians blanked 30th-seeded Fitch in the Class L semis. He also doubled home sophomore Matt Solomon with the game's lone run in the sixth inning. Junior Luca Lawrence started on the mound for the Indians and pitched two scoreless innings. Clark came in for Lawrence in the third inning and worked out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out.
Prior to beating Fitch, the Indians posted victories against Platt, Avon, and Notre Dame-West Haven in three rounds of the Class L State Tournament. North Haven opened states with a 3-2 win over No. 26 seed Platt in a first round matchup on May 30. The Indians scored a run in the first and another in the fourth before Platt plated a pair of runs in the sixth to tie the game. However, North Haven won it on a walk-off in the bottom of the seventh when Solomon singled to bring home Chris Stevens, who had walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Lawrence pitched 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts for the Indians. Clark picked up the win in relief by tossing 1.1 scoreless innings. Matt Solomon went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI; Clark singled, scored a run, drove home a run on a sacrifice fly, and also had a sacrifice bunt; Chris Stevens had a single with a walk and a run, and Kevin Lucey doubled for North Haven.
The following afternoon, the Indians hosted No. 10 seed Avon for a second round contest and prevailed 3-2 in nine innings. North Haven also won this game in walk-off fashion by scoring in the bottom of the ninth when Lucey singled in Clark, who led off with a single and advanced to third on Tom Myjak’s single. Avon had taken a 2-0 lead before the Indians scored one in the third and another in the fourth.
Clark earned another win as the senior threw 6.2 innings of relief and allowed no runs on one hit, while striking out nine. Clark also went 3-for-3, drew two walks, and scored a run. Solomon hit a solo homer and drew a walk, and Dom Onofrio had two hits with two stolen bases. Lucey had a single, a walk, and a stolen base to go with his game-winning hit; Peyton Farina drew a pair of walks, had a sacrifice bunt, and scored a run; Myjak had one hit, an RBI on a sacrifice fly, and a stolen base; and Vinnie Anastasio added two hits.
On June 3, the Indians hosted No. 18 seed Notre Dame-West Haven in the quarterfinals and won 5-2. North Haven trailed 2-1 before scoring three runs in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth. Starting pitcher Lawrence allowed one unearned run in 3.2 innings, after which Clark notched his eighth victory by giving up one run in 3.1 innings. Solomon went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, Onofrio had two hits and an RBI, Steven Erbe was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a stolen base, and Farina had a single with an RBI.
Softball
After losing to Guilford in the SCC Tournament semifinals, North Haven opened play in the Class L State Tournament last week. The Indians won their first two games to advance to the quarterfinal round, where they dropped a 2-0 decision against Torrington. North Haven finished the year at 20-5.
North Haven’s first states game was at home against Bunnell on May 30, and the Indians sailed to a 15-0, five-inning win against the 28th-seeded Bulldogs. Pitchers Lauren Card and Eryn Sheeley combined to throw a no-hitter in the victory. Card worked the first three innings, and Sheeley threw the final two. North Haven scored one run in the first inning and exploded for 14 runs in the third. Caroline Gabrielle went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and five RBI. Sarah Lombardi was 2-for-2 with a two-run home run and three RBI. Caitlin Ranciato went 2-for-3, while Laurissa Amaker and Ariana DelVecchio added doubles.
The next day, North Haven hosted No. 12 seed Farmington and prevailed 7-4. The Indians led 3-0 before Farmington tied the game in the fourth inning. However, North Haven came back with a run in the bottom of the fourth, scored two more in the fifth, and added another in the sixth for the 7-4 final. Card allowed six hits with no walks and struck out four to get her 17th win. Ranciato was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and four RBI, Amaker hit a solo home run, and Olivia Peterson doubled.
Then on June 2, North Haven took a 2-0 loss at No. 4 seed Torrington in a quarterfinal game.
Previously, in the SCC semifinals, the Indians lost 6-3 to Guilford at West Haven High School on May 27. No. 2 seed North Haven trailed 2-1 before scoring a run in the fourth and another in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead. Third-seeded Guilford tied the game with a run in the top of the seventh inning and then scored three in the eighth to go up 6-3. Lombardi had an RBI for North Haven.
Boys’ Lacrosse
The North Haven boys' lacrosse team saw its season come to a close with a 7-4 loss against 11th-seeded Hand in the semifinals of the Class M State Tournament at West Haven High School on June 7. North Haven, which was the No. 2 seed, finished the year with an overall record of 15-4.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Hand scored the only two goals of the second quarter to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Both sides traded two goals apiece in the third quarter, and Hand led 4-2 entering the fourth. The Tigers outscored North Haven 3-2 in the final frame to come away with the 7-4 victory. Korbin Pecora scored three goals, and Bowen Brennen had one goal for the Indians.
The Indians were victorious in their first two contests in the Class M State Tournament to advance to the semifinals. North Haven defeated Brookfield and Pomperaug in states to move on to its semifinal contest against Hand.
North Haven began states by defeating 18th-seeded Brookfield, 9-4, in first round action on May 30. It was a 4-4 game entering the fourth quarter, when the Indians scored five goals. Pecora led the Indians’ offense by scoring four goals to go with two assists. Zack Orth scored three goals, Brennan had a goal with two assists, PJ Saracino dished out three assists, and Jack Broggi scored a goal. Dustin Byrnes made six saves in net.
Then in the second round, the Indians hosted No. 7 seed Pomperaug on June 3 and prevailed 14-7. North Haven led 5-2 after the first quarter and held a 7-2 halftime advantage in the victory. Brennan scored four goals, Pecora and Orth both had three goals, Saracino scored two goals, while Broggi and Max Sullivan added one goal apiece. Saracino had a pair of assists, with Brennan and Pecora both recording one for the Indians, who received six saves from Byrnes.
Girls’ Lacrosse
The Indians lost a 20-5 contest at Lauralton Hall in the first round of the Class M State Tournament on May 30. North Haven finished its season with a record of 9-7.
Girls’ Outdoor Track
Sophomore Erica Marriott took first place in the long jump at a state meet for the second year in a row with her victory in the Class MM State Championship at Willow Brook Park in New Britain on May 31.
Marriott reached a mark of 18 feet-0.75 inches to defeat Law’s Kiara Smith (17-9) for the long jump title. She had previously won the event at last spring’s Class L State Championship, as well as the recent SCC West Sectional Championship and SCC Championship. Between her indoor and outdoor track careers, Marriott has now recorded eight first-place finishes at postseason meets. Marriott also took third place in two events at this year’s Class MM State Championship. In the 100-meter dash, she ran 12.73 seconds to place second in the preliminaries, after which she finished third for the finals at 12.85. Marriott additionally finished third in the 200-meter dash at 26.20 seconds. All totaled, Marriott scored 22 points that helped North Haven finish eighth at states.
Senior Sarah Vanacore recorded points for the Indians by placing second in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet-1 inch. Sophomore Camille Sahirul accounted for North Haven’s other points with a seventh-place showing in the triple jump behind a leap of 33-4.75.
Senior Elise Symon finished ninth in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 5:24.09. Symon also ran with junior Macey DiCarlo, sophomore Clare Connell, and senior Maily Tran on the 4x800 relay that finished 10th at 10:45.28. Ashley Brown took 11th in the 400 with a 1:02.02 and was part of the 4x100 relay that placed 13th in 52.51 and also featured freshman Sammy Curcio, sophomore Sarina Sandwell, and Sahirul.
Senior Kayla Rodriguez finished 12th (93-7) in the discus with Vanacore in 13th (92-0). Junior Kyla Delvecchio placed 13th in the javelin with a toss of 102-2. Senior Nina Maratea finished 14th for the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles (18.58), Curcio took 16th in the 200 (27.57), junior Sarah Bouffard finished 24th (28-10.5) in the shot put with Rodriguez in 27th (28-6), Sahirul was 26th in the long jump (14-9), and senior Gabrielle Ferrara finished 32nd in the javelin at 67-5.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
Senior Omar Gebril defended his state title in the 400-meter dash by winning the event for the second straight season at the Class MM State Championship last week.
Gebril ran a time of 49.45 seconds to defeat runner-up Nikholas Parker of Weston for first place in the 400. Gebril, who had recently won the 800 at the SCC West Sectional Championship and the SCC Championship, now has 11 postseason victories between his indoor and outdoor track careers. Gebril also finished seventh in the 200 (23.31) and eighth in the triple jump (40 feet-10 inches) to help the Indians finish in 13th place at the Class MM State Championship.
Senior Josh Bryson also contributed to North Haven’s point total with his performance in the 110-meter high hurdles. Bryson just made the cut for the finals by timing in at 16.87 seconds for eighth place in the preliminaries. Then in the finals, Bryson ran a 16.78 to move up to sixth place. Senior Eric Milliard finished eighth in the shot put (43-9), while freshman Ethan Okwuosa was eighth in the long jump (19-9) to round out the Indians’ point total.
Additionally, Bryson finished 11th in the 300 intermediate hurdles (44.04), senior Michael Tran took 12th (101-3) in the discus with freshman Kyle Maruca in 14th (90-10), and sophomore Chris Moran placed 12th (39-7) for the triple jump, while Okwuosa came in 19th place at 37-6.
North Haven’s 4x800 relay of junior Cory Reilly, sophomore Jack Opramolla, senior Jonathan Goodrich, and senior Jordan Tong finished 14th with a time of 8:46.09. Junior Joe DePrimo placed 23rd in the shot put (36-6.5), sophomore Jianni Snipes was 26th for the prelims of the 100-meter dash (11.89), and Snipes also finished 39th in the 200-meter dash in 24.63 seconds.
Girls’ Tennis
North Haven took a 4-3 home loss to Guilford in the first round of the Class M State Tournament on May 27. The Indians finished the year at 18-5.
No. 5 seed North Haven won three singles matches against 12th-seeded Guilford. Julia Migliorini continued her undefeated campaign by earning a 6-1, 6-2 win versus Claire Dinauer in the No. 1 singles match. At No. 3 singles, Hillary Hoyt defeated Acadia Hall 6-0, 6-2. Rachel Petry won 6-0, 6-2 over Emma Rand in the No. 4 singles contest.
Migliorini and Olivia Hoyt then competed in the singles bracket at the State Open Tournament. As the No. 8 seed, Migliorini defeated both Hamden's Katie Esposito and Madeline Massey of Barlow by 8-0 scores to reach the quarterfinals and earn All-State honors for the second straight year. Hoyt earned an 8-1 first round win over Gabby Gatto from St. Joseph before dropping an 8-3 decision against Farmington's Carolyn Szwed in the second round.
Boys’ Tennis
The Indians sent their entire varsity lineup to the Class L State Championship and saw the team of Johannes Eisenberg and Jack Steinman win two matches to advance to the third round of the doubles bracket.
Eisenberg and Steinman were the No. 14 seed and started off states with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Cameron Tripp and Noah Sobel-Pressman from Hall. Then in the second round, they blanked South Windsor’s Jason Rickenbacher and Daniel Zhu, 6-0, 6-0. After that, Eisenberg and Steinman faced the 3rd-seeded duo of Romano DiCaprio and Cooper Murphy from Darien and lost 6-1, 4-6, 10-4.
Also in the doubles bracket, the Indians’ tandem of Quinn Dallai and Mike Gagliardi won 6-1, 6-1 against Fitch’s Maxwell Cartier and Noah Kennedy to move on to the second round. Dallai and Gagliardi then faced New Canaan’s top-seeded team of Matthew Brand and Luke Crowley and lost 6-0, 6-0. North Haven’s team of Matt Carroll and Riley Powell lost a 7-5, 7-5 contest in their first round match.
Over in the singles bracket, Nick Cristante won his first round match via forfeit and then took a 6-0, 6-2 loss against 6th-seeded Brandon Sze of South Windsor. Ryan Griffiths won 8-0 against Kurt Miskell from Bristol Eastern in qualifying round action before losing 6-0, 6-0 to No. 1 seed Bobby Neuner from Darien in the first round. Billy Sgro took a 6-0, 6-1 loss in his first round match, while Max Petruzziello lost 8-3 in his qualifying round match.