The North Haven baseball team had struggled at Branford in recent seasons, but April 19 told a different tale as Bob DeMayo’s club notched a huge division win against the Hornets, prevailing 6-2 for the Indians’ seventh consecutive win. North Haven also earned 6-2 win at Guilford and a home victory versus Cross to stand at 7-2 overall and 4-0 in the SCC Oronoque, leading East Haven for first place by one game.

Zack Brown pitched the first three innings versus Branford (4-5, 2-2) with Mike Acampora picking up the win with four stellar frames in relief.

“Playing at Branford over the last three to four years has been a jinx for us as we’ve been on the short end of some great games, but the kids were keyed up for this one all week and got a big win that gives us a leg up in the division,” Coach DeMayo said. “Our captains Mike Acampora and Matt Ostreicher have done a great job of making sure everyone our bench is up every game and the kids on the bench were really psyched for this one, which was big. And of course, the win was even bigger.”

North Haven went up 1-0 in the third when Vin Cretella walked and scored on a triple by Chris Brockett. The Indians added two in the fourth as Chandler Andrewsen tripled and scored on a single by Ostreicher, who then came home on an error. After Branford got back two in the fourth, North Haven answered with a pair in the fifth when Brockett doubled, Jaycen Torello walked, and both scored on Ostreicher’s triple for a 5-2 advantage. DeMayo’s squad added an insurance run in the seventh when Torello walked, took second on Andrewsen’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on a single by Acampora.

Coach DeMayo noted a few key defensive plays that spurred this victory. In the fourth, Josh Lopez made a diving catch to help his team escape trouble. That inning also saw Ostreicher throw out a Hornets’ runner attempting to steal second base. Then in the seventh, Brown went back to make an outstanding grab in left field to help secure the victory.

Earlier in the week against Guilford, Acampora pitched the first three innings with Brown tossing the final four for the win. Ostreicher walked and scored on a fielder’s choice from Lopez for the initial run in the second inning. Following Guilford putting up a run in the bottom half, the Indians came back with two in the third as Cretella walked, Torello singled, and both scored on Andrewsen’s single. Now leading 3-2 in the sixth, the Indians plated another pair when Ostreicher waked, DeCusati singled, and both scored on a single from Lopez to make it 5-2. North Haven added one more in the seventh on an RBI single from Andrewsen that scored Cretella, who had singled. Andrewsen and Lopez each had two hits and two RBI, DeCusati had two hits with one RBI, and Torelli added two hits.

In the one-sided Cross victory, Andrewsen pitched fifth strong innings for his third win, after which DeCusati and Jeff Cunningham worked the final two. The Indians, who put up double digits in the fifth inning, were led by offensive outpourings from Andrewsen (4 hits, including a double, with 4 RBI), Ostreicher (3 hits, 2 runs, 1 RBI), Lopez (3 hits, 3 RBI), and DeCusati (3 hits).