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07/25/2014 12:00 AMThe North Haven Prep Legion baseball team is in the home stretch of its debut campaign and Coach Chris Farina said he’s pleased with how his athletes are performing as they’re learning more about the game while winning some games.
Post 76 sports a mark of 9-11 and is in the mix to qualify for the East Shore League Tournament that takes place next weekend. North Haven’s fate may hinge on how its fares in its final four regular season contests that take place at Bailey Road Field this weekend. Farina’s club hosts the Stratford Spartans for a doubleheader at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 26, followed by another double-dipper against the Shoreline Hammerheads at 9 a.m. on Sunday, July 27.
“It’s been a great year and the kids are learning a lot. We’ve had some defensive struggles and mental errors in the field, but other than that, the kids have played well. They come to the games to compete. They want to win and we’re trying to get better and stronger fundamentally every day,” said Coach Farina, a lifelong town resident. “It would be exciting for the kids if we made the playoffs. It would just be more baseball for them and I think they know that, when they put the pieces together, they can play with anybody in this league.”
North Haven is a U-14 squad that typically bats all 12 of its athletes in each game—similar to how teams compete at the younger Babe Ruth level. Post 76’s top two hitters thus far this summer have been catcher Peyton Farina and second baseman/shortstop Matt Mezzano.
“Peyton is a contact hitter who’s had multiple hits in most of our games and hits the ball to all fields,” Farina said. “Matt is more of a power hitter. We play with aluminum bats, but he’s used a wood bat all year, and everything he hits, he hits it hard.”
Going around the horn, North Haven’s first baseman is Lou Migliozzi and at second base is Brendan Ziaks, both who Coach Farina complimented for their strong defensive play. At shortstop is Chris Stevens, who’s also a relief pitcher and who Farina said is “the anchor of the infield who has a good arm with great range.” Mike Salzano sees time at both first and third and the hot corner is additionally shared between Luca Lawrence and CJ DeBridgita, who are also the squad’s top two starting pitchers. They are each right-handers.
“Luca has been tremendous. He’s pitched against the top teams and he’s not overpowering—he just knows how to pitch. Luca uses his breaking ball well and gets a lot of ground balls and pop outs,” said Farina, who’s assisted by Paul Barbiero, Mike Salzano, and Bob Ziaks. “CJ doesn’t locate his breaking stuff as well as Luca, but throws a little harder and keeps hitters off-balance. He’s becoming a pitcher instead of a thrower.”
Post 76 has one other regular on their pitching staff in Jake Bencivengo, who also patrols the pasture of center field with Farina calling him “one of the best outfielders I’ve ever seen who has lightning speed and tracks down everything.” Left field is split between Chris Ciarleglio and Paul Barbiero and Matt Desrosiers plays right. Farina said all three have done a fine job defensively and he additionally noted Desrosiers’s knack for getting clutch hits.
In North Haven’s two most recent games, it dropped a home doubleheader to one of the top teams in its league in Guilford on July 19, losing 6-0 and 4-3.
In the opener, Lawerence pitched five strong innings in which he allowed just one earned run with Ziaks pitching the final two frames. Coach Farina said a key questionable call in the fourth inning helped Guilford score four runs. Peyton Farina had multiple hits for Post 76.
Coach Farina said his team then played one of its best games of the year in taking a one-run defeat in the nightcap. DeBridgita turned in a great showing on the mound with Mezzano and Salzano both collecting multiple hits for North Haven.
“We played some solid baseball against the top team in our league. We had an opportunity to beat them and we let it slip away,” Coach Farina said. “We showed we are capable of playing with any team in our league. We still need to put a full game together.”
North Haven’s victories this season have come against the Bridgeport Cardinals in a doubleheader sweep that started the campaign by scores of 16-1 and 7-1, followed by an 8-3 win against the Connecticut Outlaws, a 10-6 triumph versus the Northern Connecticut Mustangs, a 12-7 win against the Connecticut Owls White, a 13-8 win over the Stratford Spartans, a 9-8 victory versus West Haven, and then a doubleheader sweep of West Haven by counts of 7-4 and 13-4.