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04/11/2016 12:00 AMBoys’ Lacrosse
After dropping its first game of the season, North Haven bounced back with authority by sweeping all three of its games last week. The Indians notched a 9-3 win at Pomperaug and then routed Farmington (13-3) and Hamden (10-2) at home to improve to 3-1 this year.
Head Coach Eric Bailey and company started the week by prevailing at Pomperaug in Southbury by a 9-3 final on April 5. The Indians led 3-2 at halftime before going off for a six spot in the latter stanza. Christian DeReubis led North Haven’s offense by netting five goals. Zach Orth, Korbin Pecora, Bowen Brennan, and Nick Campanelli each added a score for the Indians. Josh Back made 10 saves, while the defensive effort of Kyle Melillo, Max Sullivan, Jeremy Imperati, and Billy VanNiewenhyuyze stifled Pomperaug’s attack.
The very next day, North Haven battled another non-conference team in Farmington and cruised to the 13-2 victory at home. DeReubis and Brennan each scored three goals with DeReubis adding an assist. PJ Saracino scored twice and had an assist, Campanelli had two goals, Pecora tallied one goal and had two assists, and Orth and Sullivan both scored goals for the Indians, who stormed out to an 11-1 halftime advantage. Coach Bailey credited his team for playing hard and smart and noted his offensive players for making every effort to make the extra pass in the second half. Bailey also complimented his defense for another stellar showing. Back, a senior, had five saves in net.
The Indians were back home on April 8 to face an SCC adversary in Hamden and won 3-2 to make it three straight. Campanelli scored three goals had two assists, Saracino and Brennan both scored twice, DeRuebis had a goal and three assists, and Pecora and Connor Suraci both added a goal for North Haven, which outshot Hamden 40-20 and saw Back made five saves.
Girls’ Lacrosse
North Haven began its campaign with games against a pair of non-conference squads and beat both of them to sport an early record of 2-0. The Indians first hit the road to battle North Branford on April 8 and came away with a 9-7 victory. The following day, North Haven was home for Berlin and won another two-goal game by an 11-9 margin.
Baseball
The Indians started their 2016 campaign by dropping a pair of one-run decisions last week. North Haven first took a 1-0 loss at Lyman Hall on April 6, followed by a 3-2 defeat in eight innings to Ridgefield at home on three days later.
Mark Tantorski took a hard-luck loss in the Lyman Hall game by allowing just one unearned run on four hits and a walk in 4.1 innings. The Trojans plated the game’s lone run on a base hit in the bottom of the fourth. Brendan Clark pitched hitless ball through the final 1.2 innings. Joe Ireland had the lone hit for the Indians, who squandered a few scoring opportunities, including when they had the bases loaded in the sixth.
Preston Young then took the hill when the Indians hosted non-conference opponent Ridgefield at DeMayo Ballfield on a cold morning on April 9. Young pitched six solid innings and was relieved in the seventh by Clark, who finished the game. Ridgefield plated a run in the second and another in the third for a 2-0 lead before the Indians rallied to tie it. In the fifth, Peyton Farina doubled and scored on Kyle Scafariello’s two-bagger to make it 2-1. Then in the sixth inning, Clark walked and pinch runner Christian Somma raced home on Mike DeRosa’s double for a 2-all ballgame. In the top of eight, Ridgefield got a few hits and then went up 3-2 on a wild pitch with the base runner sliding home just ahead of a tag at the plate. The Indians had runners at first and second in the bottom half, but couldn’t get them home.
It was a tough week for North Haven with the team losing both of its games, although Coach DeMayo was encouraged by the pitching performances of Tantorski, Clark, and Young, as well as the fact that the Indians shook off some offensive struggles by coming back to tie Ridgefield. His boys will regroup and try to get a few wins in a busy week that features four games.
“I still think we have a competitive team. We’re 0-2 and winning games that we usually win. We get close games like these ones and we usually score some runs and it’s just hot happening. A lot of these kids have never faced this pressure and it’s something they will have to work through. I just hope we can work through it with a few wins, rather than just say we played a close game,” Coach DeMayo said. “I am pleased with the pitching because it’s definitely better than the coaches and I expected. Our defense had a lot of pressure on them and, for the most part, they performed. So hopefully, we will keep trying to improve all the time to get to where we should be.”
Softball
The Indians played their first game of the season at their home field on April 9. North Haven won a narrow decision over Sheehan by the final of 1-0 to get the campaign going on a good note.
Boys’ Outdoor Track
North Haven’s first meet of the season came against Oronoque foe Cross on April 8. The Indians posted a 101-49 victory against the Governors to start things on the right note this spring.
First-place finishers for North Haven were Omar Gebril in the 200 (23.7), 400 (53.5), and triple jump (36-7.25); Shane O’Connor in the discus (120-2.75), high jump (5-6), and shot put (47-0.75); Nick McCreven in the 110 high hurdles (18.9) and the pole vault (9-0), Emadi Okwuosa in the 100 (11.6), Ryan Brennan in the 800 (2:11.6), Brad Schweickert for the 1,600 (5:06.1), Gabe Durante in the 3,200 (11:03.9), Anthony Valentino in the javelin (142-5), plus the 4x800 relay of Brennan, Jonathan Goodrich, Forest King, and Schweickert (8:57).
Posting second-place showings were Todd Richards in the 110 hurdles (19.5), Okwousa for the 200 (24.2), Michael Greene in the 300 intermediate hurdles (47.4), Brennan in the 400 (54.2), Durante for the 1,600 (5:11.6), Aaron Wilson in the discus (113-6), Nate Keegan for the javelin (132-8), and Modikah Johnson in the pole vault (8-0).
Taking third were Richards in the 300 hurdles (47.8), Goodrich in the 800 (2:22.6), Michael Tran in the discus (102-1.75), Ryan Maresca in the high jump (4-10), Carson Tebbetts in the javelin (129-8.25), Matt Coyle for the pole vault (7-0), and Eric Milliard in the shot put (45-5.75).
Girls’ Outdoor Track
The Indians hosted divisional opponent Career at Vanacore Field to open its campaign on April 6. The Panthers proved no match for North Haven, which ran away with a 123-23 win for a quick record of 1-0 this spring.
Girls’ Tennis
North Haven started its season by facing two top SCC squads on the road and came up on the short end of 5-2 decisions in both contests. On April 5, the Indians took a 5-2 defeat at Amity in their first match of the year. Three days later, North Haven went to Madison to face Hand again lost by a 5-2 final for a record of 0-2 in the early going.
In the Amity match, Hillary Hoyt claimed a 6-4, 6-2 victory at the No. 3 singles spot with Rachel Petry prevailing 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in No. 4 singles. Julia Migliorini took on one of the SCC’s best players in Daphne Kreiger for the No. 1 singles match and gave an incredible effort in taking a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 defeat.
Facing Hand, Migliorini sailed to a 6-1, 6-0 triumph in her No. 1 singles about and Petry won 6-7, 6-3, 10-7 at the No. 4 spot.
Boys’ Tennis
It was a successful start to the season for the Indians, who had just one match in the opening week of play. In that matchup, North Haven gained a 5-2 triumph over East Haven at home on April 6.