Last year, the North Haven baseball team went on a magical run that culminated with a state championship. This year, Head Coach Bob DeMayo is back for season No. 58 in the dugout, although many of players who guided the Indians to the Class L crown—most notably, the members of their pitching staff—won’t be in that dugout. So how does a perennial contender approach a campaign in which everyone knows it’s trying to defend a state title, but is doing so without a handful of the horses who brought the team to the mountaintop? According to Coach DeMayo, you approach it like every other season by starting from square one.

“The emphasis first is that our division games are the most important. The hope is that if we win the division and get in the SCC Tournament, that means we’ve probably qualified for the State Tournament and won eight games. So the goals like that come first. Then of course, if we qualify for the tournament and continue to improve like last year, then we start talking about going deep into the tournament and get to the final and win a state championship. But it’s one step at a time,” said DeMayo, who’s won 856 games and five state titles as North Haven’s skipper. “To think about that now is putting the cart before the horse. If we get the pitching, which we hope we do, I think that will be a motivating force for the kids that went through it last year. But for the kids, it’s certainly in the back of their mind. They’re probably saying it would it would be nice to get into that situation again.”

In 2015, the Indians’ pitching staff was led by four hurlers who each had a hand in their run through the Class L tourney. However, Mike Kurk, Richie DePalma, Dominic Fusco, and Erik Esposito have all graduated and so this year North Haven features a stable of arms with minimal varsity experience. Right now, Indians’ starting rotation consists of right-handers Brendan Clark and Preston Young, plus fellow junior Mark Tantorski, who’s a lefty. Southpaw Joe Balzano, fellow senior Joe Ireland, and juniors Tom Myjak, Griffin Bottomley, and Alec Butler are slated to pitch out of the bullpen.

“Well, it’s a situation where this is the first time most of them are going to be pitching at this level of competition in high school. A number of them were on the JV team and Ireland pitched a little as a freshman, but this year, we decided to give everybody a shot,” Coach DeMayo said. “They are going to have to step up to the next level of competition and it’s going to be a test for them.”

North Haven’s pitchers didn’t strike out a ton of batters last year, but they were consistently around the zone and induced a lot of ground balls that were scooped up by the Indians’ infielders. DeMayo is hoping to see that scenario play out again as the infield is where his club has the most experience. Two of those infielders are North Haven’s captains in Giovanni Torres, the shortstop, and Mike DeRosa, who’s moving from left field to catcher with the graduation of All-State backstop Nick Proto. Torres hit .291 and drew 19 walks en route to a spot in the Junior Select All-Star Game, while DeRosa hit .337 and had a dominating postseason before winning North Haven’s Rocky Ruggerio Award. Going around the horn, senior Chris Tullo returns to first base, junior Dominic Onofrio is moving from the hot corner to second, and Clark will play third when he’s not on the hill. Senior Kyle Scafariello is the designated hitter and can also play second and catch. Juniors Vincent Anastasio (first base) and Alphonse Fusco (second base) are also infielders on the squad, along with sophomore catcher Kevin Lucey.

“We don’t have the fire-ballers that can throw the ball by people, so if we get strikeouts, it’s because we’re staying ahead of hitters with good location or a curve in the dirt. So we’re looking for contact pitchers who pitch to spots where batters put the bat on the ball, but our defense is good enough to make the routine plays and, if we do that, we’ll be very competitive,” said DeMayo, who’s coaching staff consists of varsity assistants Ray Degnan and Muchie Dagliere, JV coach Justin Falcon, and longtime freshman coach Mike Proto. “When we make errors or pitchers walk people, that’s when we get into difficulty. If we keep a game close, we have a shot to win any of them and we can keep games close when our pitchers allow the other eight players to make the plays they can make.”

Moving to the outfield, Ireland will be back in right, sophomore Peyton Farina patrols center, and junior Chris Stephens is penciled in to play left. Myjak, Lucey, and junior Craig Somma can also play the outfield.

There’s no question that the 2016 edition of the North Haven baseball team is going to be a work in progress, but Coach DeMayo is eager to see his players improve and credited them for being “great kids who work hard and listen and learn.” DeMayo is hoping progress breeds confidence that can potentially propel the Indians on another nice postseason journey.

“If something bad happens, look positive and shake it off. If something bad happened in the past, don’t carry with you on the field or you’ll be missing that next ball, as well. That is the kind of philosophy we have,” he said. “We’re trying to motivate them to say, ‘This is North Haven baseball. People come to our place and we show them who plays better,’ If they get that confidence and attitude and play the way they can, then we can think about winning another state championship.”

2016 North Haven Indians Baseball Schedule

Monday, April 4: at Torrington at Fuessenich Park at 4 p.m.

Tuesday, April 5: at Lyman Hall at 3:45 p.m.

Thursday, April 7: vs. Shelton at 3:45 p.m.

Saturday, April 9: vs. Ridgefield at 11 a.m.

Monday, April 11: at Career at West Rock Park, New Haven at 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, April 13: vs. Branford at 3:45 p.m.

Friday, April 15: vs. Lyman Hall at 3:45 p.m.

Tuesday, April 19: at North Branford at 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, April 20: at Cross at Rice Field I, New Haven at 11 a.m.

Friday, April 22: at East Haven at 3:45 p.m.

Monday, April 25: at Guilford at 3;45 p.m.

Wednesday, April 27: vs. Career at 3:45 p.m.

Monday, May 2: at Branford at 3:45 p.m.

Wednesday, May 4: vs. Cross at 7 p.m.

Friday, May 6: at Hamden at Rochford Field at 3:45 p.m.

Monday, May 9: vs. East Haven at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, May 11: vs. Guilford at 7 p.m.

Monday, May 16: at Shelton at 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 19: vs. North Branford at 7 p.m.

Friday, May 20: vs. Hamden at 7 p.m.