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07/19/2015 12:00 AMThe Shoreline Senior Legion baseball team began last week with an outside shot at making the State Tournament, although that didn’t happen as the squad lost its first four games in a three-day span. However, the Bulldogs did end their season with a bang when their offense exploded in an 11-1 win over Guilford during the back end of a second-straight doubleheader on July 17.
Playing at Post 48, Michael Grant’s team sent 12 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in the first inning en route to the rout. It all started with spark plug center fielder, Jake Mastroianni, who led off the game with a double and also had an RBI single in the inning. Sean Antonson doubled to score Mastroianni and later collected his second hit of the frame with an RBI single to left. Mike Gargano of Old Saybrook and Arno Utegg also joined the hit parade with RBI singles in Shoreline’s seven-run spurt, which marked the most runs the Bulldogs scored in any inning this season.
Then in the fourth, Ethan Petroka and Trevor Mann each had run-scoring hits for Shoreline and the offensive onslaught led to the mercy rule being invoked after pitcher Evan Makowicki closed out the fifth inning for the 10-run victory. The Bulldogs’ total of 11 runs was also a season high for a game.
“The guys stuck together and had a great attitude,” said Coach Grant, whose team finished 6-18. “They showed their heart playing back-to-back doubleheaders on the road in the heat, giving the effort they did, I was very pleased with how we ended the season on a high note.”
In the first game of the Guilford doubleheader, Shoreline lost a 3-2 heartbreaker in extra innings. Guilford (2-22) hit a bases loaded blooper just beyond the outstretched glove of second basemen Adam Seegert to plate the game-winning run with two outs in the eighth. Pitcher Alex Hartzell gave a valiant effort by going all eight innings for the hard-luck loss. Fellow Westbrook resident Utegg and Gargano both had RBI singles for the Bulldogs.
Earlier in the week, Shoreline took a 6-0 home loss against East Haddam on July 15. Nash Eppard of Valley Regional pitched the first five innings and Makowicki closed the game out by throwing the final two.
The next day, the Bulldogs had a chance to get some payback on East Haddam (9-15) with a doubleheader on the road, although their offense struggled again. In the opener, Adam Seegert went all six innings for a complete game, but Shoreline could only muster one hit, which came off the bat of Mann. The Haddam-Killingworth student then scored when Makowicki reached on an error by East Haddam’s shortstop.
For the second contest, the Bulldogs had just three hits. They plated their lone run when catcher Utegg singled, advanced to third on Petroka’s sharp line drive to right-center field, and scored when Valley graduate Makowicki got aboard via an error. Unfortunately for Shoreline, the East Haddam series knocked Shoreline out of playoff contention.
On a whole, the season wasn’t a success in the standings for Shoreline Senior Legion as the team fell short of its goal to make the State Tournament. Still, the Bulldogs’ growth showed throughout the summer showed after their rough start. They began the campaign with six-straight losses, but then came together against Zone 3 champion Cheshire (19-5). In a late-June series, Shoreline took two of three from the vaunted Cheshire squad behind stellar pitching from Old Saybrook graduate Jake Faulkingham and some timely hitting by Mastroianni, first baseman Jacob Meketa of Valley Regional, plus left fielder Sam Henry. Coach Grant’s club then won two of three versus Madison two weeks ago and earned another victory versus Guilford to keep itself in the postseason hunt through the duration of the campaign.
“We had a difficult time in the field a little bit and didn’t hit enough, but everyone showed up and played hard, which is all you can ask for,” Coach Grant said. “We pitched pretty well, Jake [Faulkingham] had a great season, and everyone contributed. Everyone fought really hard.”