The North Haven Prep Legion baseball team has won three-consecutive games in Zone 2 play to take sole possession of third place in the standings. That's great news for Post 76 because teams that finish in the top three qualify for the State Tournament. North Haven capped last week by winning a pivotal contest against West Haven to improve to 6-6 in the zone.

The Post 76 U-15 squad began its recent string by earning a 6-2 win at Branford on July 5 and edged that same club at home 2-1 the next day. North Haven then split a pair of non-zone duels by taking a 13-0 home loss to Stamford that was followed by a 9-1 triumph at Wallingford on July 8. After that, Post 76 picked up a crucial 7-2 home victory versus West Haven on July 11. North Haven is now 2.5 games ahead of West Haven (6-9) for third in the zone and only half a game back of Stratford (8-7) for second. East Haven is in first place at 10-1.

"The goal we've set for ourselves right now is to get into the playoffs," said first-year Head Coach Jake DeRosa, whose club is 9-8 overall. "At the beginning of the season, I didn't know that there were playoffs and so we were playing to get better and step up the level of our game. Now that we've found out there are playoffs, we're really raising our level of competition to go out and beat teams. We're on track right now."

North Haven was a little slow out of the gates this season as it took two 11-1 losses to East Haven and dropped a 22-12 contest to Stratford. Since then, DeRosa's club has won six of 10, including a 5-2 victory at East Haven. Coach DeRosa said his team has come a long way in a short span on the diamond

this summer.

"The biggest thing with the team is the level of growth. We're halfway through the season and, when I look back, we're a completely different team than we were in the first half. They've put in the work to get better and really stepped up to where they need to be. All around, they've stepped up to a level where they're playing like they're in high school and most of the guys are 13 and 14," DeRosa said. "The work ethic is excellent. One of the big things I've instilled is to work as hard as they can to get to the next level. The whole point of this team is to prep them for high school and get ready to play at the next level and compete and that's what we're trying to do—force them to work hard and step up their level of play."

The first of North Haven's three-straight zone wins came at Branford on July 5 and saw Justin Shea allow just one run through five to get the win. Post 76 used excellent defense and contributions throughout the lineup to collect the victory.

North Haven and Branford (1-11 in Zone 2, 1-17 overall) were back at it the next evening at Post 76's home of Brook Field. This one was much closer, although North Haven prevailed again by a score of 2-1. Leo Konopka pitched a great game with Dave Christoforo earning the win in relief. DeRosa's club rallied to win in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh. Joe Gargano beat out an infield single and stole second base, after which Christoforo doubled down to score Gargano with the tying run. Christoforo then came home from third with the winning run when Branford's pitcher committed a balk.

"It was a great win. It was a team we should have beat and we ended up beating them. One thing I talked to the guys about before the game is stepping up their level of play against teams that we should go out and be beating. We started off a little slow, but that's how baseball is. We told them that those are games they have to stay in and fight to win and stay persistent and fight. I'm happy they were able to pull it off," said DeRosa. "Leo Konopka is one of the best pitchers on the team and threw a great game for us and Dave Christoforo came in relief and shut them down. We needed him to keep us in the game and he was strong and gave the team the relief it was looking for."

Following the lopsided loss to Stamford (17-0 in Zone 4, 21-1 overall), North Haven rebounded by notching a 9-1 win at Zone 3 opponent Wallingford (7-4, 10-6). Gargano tossed five scoreless innings and Post 76 gave him all the support he needed when Shea clubbed a two-run double in the third and later scored for a 3-0 lead. Post 76's offense was spurred by multi-hit games from Shea (who also hit an inside-the-park homer), along with Christoforo, Alex Ciaburro, Ryan Sullivan, Matt DeRosa, and Jared Signore.

"The bats had been dry and I told them before the game to go out and wake the bats up and feel good again. That's what they did. In the third inning, they strung hits together and caught fire from there. We were just banging the ball all around to gaps with extra-base hits," Coach DeRosa said. "This was actually Joe Gargano's second time throwing. We're deep in the season, so we're looking for pitching to help us in the playoffs. We tested him out and he threw excellent and pitched five innings."

Then for the big zone win versus West Haven, Shea and Konopka teamed up on the mound to allow just two hits to the opposition. Shea and Christian Somma each had multiple hits at the dish, Ciaburro scored two runs, and Somma and Sullivan made some game-saving plays in center field and at third base, respectively, to aid Post 76.

North Haven closed the week by taking an 8-3 defeat at Fairfield in a non-zone contest.

In terms of North Haven's highlights from earlier in the season, the team's first victory was a 12-4 win at Wallingford on June 12. Konopka roped a double and a triple in that one.

The next day, Post 76 prevailed at Branford 6-5. Shea hit an RBI triple and scored the winning run with additional contributions coming from Sullivan, Christoforo, Signore, Jack Peruso, and Somma. Konopka toed the rubber in the victory.

On June 20, North Haven split a doubleheader against Stratford by winning 12-9 and losing 22-12. Gargano hit two triples with Christoforo, Ciaburro, and Mason Balmer adding to the big day with the bats. Two days later, Shea and Somma combined on the mound to shut down Wallingford in a 9-1 win.

Then in the 5-2 victory at East Haven, Konopka turned in another sterling showing on the mound to avenge North Haven's two previous losses to the Zone 2 frontrunner.

Post 76 followed that with two narrow defeats versus West Haven. North Haven lost on the road by a 4-3 score on June 30 and then took a 7-5 home defeat on July 2. Sullivan hurled a gem in the first game, but gave up two runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the one-run loss. For the second contest, Christoforo pitched five excellent innings of relief that allowed Post 76 to rally from a 4-1 deficit and bring a 5-4 lead to the sixth after DeRosa's bases-loaded double. Unfortunately, North Haven couldn't hang on and dropped a 7-5 decision in extra innings.