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Young Shoreline Prep Squad Grows as a Group

The Shoreline Prep Legion baseball team is a young team that endured some growing pains this summer, but also showed several glimpses of promise and came away with a few key victories late in the campaign.

Head Coach Rick Ross's boys began the final stage of the regular season by splitting a pair of doubleheaders. The Bulldogs lost to Zone 3 rival RCP 9-3 before beating that squad 4-1 in the nightcap, after which they split another double dip with Meriden six days later by winning 9-8 and losing 14-4. Then on June 19, Shoreline blanked RCP 3-0, followed by defeats versus Meriden (11-3) and non-zone opponent North Haven (5-3) to close the regulation slate. The Bulldogs wound up finishing fourth in Zone 3 at 7-11 and gained the No. 9 seed in the Northern Division of the State Tournament, where they dropped an 11-1 contest to No. 8 Ellington on July 25 to conclude the summer with an overall mark of 11-14-1.

In the first game of the home doubleheader against RCP, Jacob Robertson, who attends John Winthrop Middle School in Deep River, pitched five innings and Shoreline led 2-0 before defensive errors played a part in RCP plating six runners in the bottom of the fifth en route to the 9-3 win. Fellow Winthrop student Josh Ross was 2-for-3 with an RBI on sacrifice bunt.

For the Bulldogs' 4-1 victory, Old Saybrook's Danny Almada threw a complete game, five-strikeout, one-walk gem on just 87 pitches and helped his own cause with a double. Valley Regional student Mike Cullina collected three hits and drove in two runners.

"The wheels kind of came off in that first game, which is sort of what happens with us this year. When the wheels come off, they come off big and we give a lot of extra outs and one error becomes five. Yet when they stay away from the mistakes, they do well for the whole game," Coach Ross said. "In the second game, though, Danny pitched a great game and had an all-around great day with the double. He also picked off two guys at first base."

The following weekend, Shoreline hit the road to face Meriden and rallied from an 8-6 deficit to take the opener 9-8. Cullina got the game's crucial hit by driving home two in the sixth inning. Old Saybrook's Toby Marineau then shut the door by pitching the last two innings.

After taking a 14-4 loss to Meriden in the nightcap, the Bulldogs hosted RCP the next day and came out on top by the score of 3-0. Josh Ross shined on the mound by going the distance for the shutout with Robertson collecting two hits with a pair of RBI.

Shoreline's offense has been hampered by adjusting to the lumber that comes with the summer, although Coach Ross complimented his club for doing a better job of laying off bad pitches and working deep counts in order to get an offering they can handle at the dish.

From the bump, the Bulldogs' pitching staff of Almada, Ross, Robertson, Marineau, and Winthrop student Nick Salemi have done a fine job of finding their locations and using their abilities to come up clutch in several scenarios.

"Our pitchers have gotten good at how to throw strikes. Jacob had a shutout versus Branford, Danny pitched well versus RCP, and Ridgefield, plus Josh did well against Wallingford," said Ross, whose team also features Killingworth residents Matthew Kelly and Justin Popp. "Nick has additionally given us a couple good performances and Toby has come in for a few tight spots and done well. Overall, as a whole, they have pitched well in spots and have been hitting their spots out there."

As his players hail from various towns across the shoreline area, Coach Ross is pleased that there have been few issues in terms of chemistry in the dugout. Still, one of his goals this summer was to make his players realize that baseball is a roller coaster sport that can define one's character.

"Working with the kids from different towns is great. They get to know each other and have all gotten along and have come together as a team. I just need to get them to realize that you need to bring the attitude and effort all the time because, even when you make those mistakes, with both of those, you will still succeed," he said. "Baseball is a failure sport in that if you are 1-for-3, then you are outstanding. With that, the kids need to be mentally tough to get through the mistakes. I try to tell them that baseball is a constant battle that is always about challenging in situations, like with trying to distract a pitcher by leading off a base in trying to steal or screaming for a runner to get back on first base."