The North Haven American Legion baseball program held its annual season-ending dinner at the American Legion hall on Aug. 14. Post 76 celebrated the solid seasons put together by its Senior and Junior Legion teams, while handing out awards to some of the players who guided North Haven to success this summer.

In its first campaign with Head Coach Tim Binkoski, North Haven’s Senior Legion team went 14-9 in Zone 2 play to finish third and earn a berth in the State Tournament, where Post 76 defeated Bethel and then lost to Trumbull. After that, North Haven hosted the first annual Dan Riccio Memorial Tournament that was named in honor of late Post 76 commander Dan Riccio, who passed away in January at age 68. North Haven won the tournament by defeating Diamond Zone 4-3 in the championship game to finish with an overall record of 22-13-1 for the season.

Brendan Clark was named North Haven’s Most Valuable Player and also shared the Pitching Award with Chris Ciarleglio and Mark Tantorski. Steven Erbe earned the Batting Average Award, while Kevin Lucey and Peyton Farina shared the Defensive Award for Post 76. Zack Pincince was presented with the Most Improved Award, and the Sportsmanship Award went to both Luca Lawrence and Nate Zalegowski. Griffin Bottomley received the Dan Riccio Americanism Award and was also a co-recipient of the Dan Riccio Memorial Scholarship with Tom Myjak. Chris Stevens took home the Wise Guy Award for North Haven.

The North Haven Junior Legion baseball team had a fine summer in its own right by placing second in Zone 2 behind a record of 11-7. Then in the State Tournament, Head Coach Pete Katynski and company recorded a 5-4, walk-off win over Wilton before getting eliminated by Oakville. All totaled, Post 76 recorded an overall mark of 12-16-1 this year.

Justin Shea brought home a pair of awards for North Haven as he was named the team’s MVP and also won the Batting Average Award. Leo Konpoka was the Pitching Award recipient, while John Gontarek won the Defensive Award for Post 76. Dylan Brockamer was presented with the Sportsmanship Award, and the Wise Guy Award was won by Owen Silk.

-Chris Piccirillo