Even though the American Legion baseball season was canceled season nationwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, up-and-coming ballplayers from Branford and North Branford were able to come together and compete at the U-14 level in the Connecticut Baseball League (CBL) this summer.

The team, which still played under the name Branford Legion, featured nine athletes from North Branford and four from Branford while competing in the CBL. This was a different league than the Connecticut Elite Baseball Association (CEBA), where Branford fielded teams at the U-19 and U-17 levels.

In the CBL, Head Coach Billy Mitchell’s club finished the season with a record of 11-8 and then played in the semifinals of the league’s tournament.

“I thought the season went really well. Considering our circumstances with the pandemic and everything, I think it was a breath of fresh air for everyone—the kids and coaches,” said Mitchell, who is also head coach of the North Branford High School baseball team. “With the cancellation of the high school season, I haven’t coached a team in a year. It was beneficial to everybody. For most of the kids, it was only their second time on the big diamond, and they performed very well.”

The roster for the Branford Legion U-14 team included pitchers Kyle Stegina, Tim Rice, Jason O’Connor, and David Carroll; along with catcher Adam Virginelli; infielders Jaeden Konesky, Jason Cosgrove, Cameron Garrett, Jayden Giardina, and Brandon Collins; outfielders Anthony Sullivan and Kyle Anderson; and utility player Matthew Scalia, who played just about everywhere on the diamond.

The North Branford residents on the team are Stegina, O’Connor, Virginelli, Cosgrove, Garrett, Giardina, Sullivan, Anderson, and Scalia. Rice, Carroll, Konesky, and Collins are all from Branford. Konesky led the team in batting average by hitting at a .520 clip on the campaign.

Coach Mitchell was assisted by Stephen Prota and Stan Konesky, Jr., throughout the CBL season. Mitchell called both coaches “longtime Branford baseball guys” and said that it was a pleasure to work alongside them, as well as each and every player on the squad.

“We just had a good group. All the players were relatively close in ability. They jelled together great for not having played,” Mitchell said. “These kids haven’t played since last November. For being not on the field for 10 months, they did very well.”

Branford began its season in the CBL on July 5. After adjusting to COVID-19 protocols, Coach Mitchell and company were excited to be back out on the diamond.

“It was very exciting. It took about a week or two to get used to certain things like social distancing and keeping our masks on. Once we got used to that, it was great to be on the field again,” Mitchell said. “We played a lot of games in a short period of time, and we practiced all the time. We were pretty much together a lot for seven weeks. It was very enjoyable, and I think the kids really got a lot out of it.”

On Aug. 19, Branford took on the DBI Schooners in the semifinals of the CBL Tournament at the Connecticut Sportsplex. Although his team took a 4-0 defeat, Coach Mitchell said that the boys played hard and battled right down to the final out of the contest.

“We played a really good team in DBI from Groton. They had a good pitcher, but we played a really good game. The kids worked hard, and it showed at the end,” said Mitchell. “We were playing teams that might have been a little older than us during the year, and I think it helped our guys tremendously. Going into the playoffs, we were confident, and we just got beat by a better team.”

Mitchell will get to coach several of the players on the team when they reach the high school level at North Branford. He also thinks that the athletes from Branford are going to be solid additions for the Hornets. In the end, Mitchell feels that playing together throughout the summer will prove beneficial for the future of both high school programs.

“The Branford guys got some pretty good players coming to the high school level. I was excited to be able to coach kids that will eventually play with me. It was beneficial for everybody. They got to know me. I got to know them,” Mitchell said. “I really enjoyed it. They’re great kids, and they gave 100 percent. They learned from this whole experience.”

Going forward, Coach Mitchell said it’s likely that Branford’s U-14 team from the CBL will remain intact heading into the fall ball season. As the team’s athletes improved their skills by facing older competition, they also learned some valuable lessons about how to overcome adversity while competing in the league. Although the athletes on the team go to different schools, Mitchell said they’ve created a bond that transcends any crosstown rivalries.

“It taught them that you can overcome anything. They definitely persevered. As we got comfortable with everything, they went along like business as usual. I was really proud of them at the end of the year,” said Mitchell. “It was really nice seeing the Branford kids and the North Branford kids playing together. They’ll probably be friends for life.”