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05/26/2022 12:00 AMSoftball
The North Branford softball team won its first two games in the Shoreline Conference Tournament to move on to a matchup versus Old Lyme in the final. North Branford posted wins over Coginchaug and Haddam-Killingworth last week to advance to the Shoreline title game. The Thunderbirds, who improved their overall record to 15-7 with the two triumphs, will participate in the Class S State Tournament after the Shoreline tourney is finished.
The No. 5 seed T-Birds started off Shorelines by earning an 8-4 victory at No. 4 Coginchaug in a Shoreline quarterfinal game on May 23. The day after that, North Branford faced top-seeded H-K on the road in the semifinals and defeated the Cougars by a 5-0 score to reach the championship game. Sophomore Kiley Mullins pitched a complete-game shutout to lead the Thunderbirds to the victory.
North Branford played No. 3 seed Old Lyme in the Shoreline Conference final at The Morgan School May 26 (after press time). North Branford entered this year’s Shoreline Conference Tournament as the six-time defending champions.
Baseball
The North Branford baseball team defeated Haddam-Killingworth in its first game of the Shoreline Conference Tournament before taking a loss to Valley Regional in the semifinals last week. The Thunderbirds are sporting an overall record of 14-8 as they get ready to play in the Class S State Tournament this week.
No. 5 seed North Branford hit the road to face No. 4 H-K in the Shoreline quarterfinals and edged out the Cougars by a 6-5 score on May 23. The next day, the Thunderbirds faced top-seeded Valley Regional on the road in the conference semis and took an 8-3 defeat against the Warriors.
Girls’ Lacrosse
The North Branford girls’ lacrosse team advanced to the championship game of the Shoreline Conference Tournament after claiming a win against Valley Regional in the semifinals last week. The T-Birds defeated Valley by the final score of 16-13 in the Shoreline semis to move on to a showdown with Old Saybrook in the final. North Branford, which has an overall record of 13-4, will compete in the Class S State Tournament following Shorelines.
On May 24, 3rd-seeded North Branford was on the road to face No. 2 seed Valley Regional in conference semifinals and notched a 16-13 victory over the Warriors. With the win, the Thunderbirds advanced to face Old Saybrook in the Shoreline title game at the Indian River Complex on May 26 (after press time). The game marks a rematch of last year’s Shoreline Conference final that North Branford won by a 9-3 score to claim its third-straight conference title.
Boys’ Golf
The North Branford boys’ golf team took on Maloney for a regular-season match and then competed in the Shoreline Conference Championship last week. The T-Birds defeated Maloney to improve to 11-1-2 with one meet left in the regular season, after which they posted a fifth-place finish at the Shoreline meet.
On May 23, North Branford hosted Maloney and won the contest by the score of 164-188 at Indian Springs Golf Club. Senior Dakota Cooper came in as the match medalist with a score for the Thunderbirds. Sophomore Jack O’Brien and freshman Robert Cappella both shot a 40 in the victory. Senior Blake Pearson carded a 45, while junior Drew Girardi recorded a score of 47 for North Branford.
The following day, the Thunderbirds hit the course for the Shoreline Conference Championship meet and finished in fifth place with a team score of 353 at Stanley Golf Course. O’Brien took ninth place overall by shooting a score of 84 for his 18-hole round. Cappella finished in a tie for 14th place with a score of 87.
Cooper turned in a score of 90 to finish in 24th place for the T-Birds at Shorelines. Senior Jalen Rossicone finished in a tie for 26th place by carding a 92 on the day. Pearson finished in 42nd place with a score of 102.
Girls’ Tennis
The North Branford girls’ tennis team was represented by a few athletes when the Shoreline Conference tournaments took place in Old Saybrook and Westbrook on May 23 and 24.
Senior Dhruvi Patel won her first match in the Shoreline Conference 1-2 Singles Tournament to advance into the quarterfinal round. Junior Payton Kamienski also competed for the T-Birds in the tournament. The team of senior Diya Patel and freshman Daytona Kamienski participated in the Shoreline Conference Doubles Tournament for North Branford.
Then on May 24, North Branford hosted East Haven for its last contest of the regular season. The T-Birds edged out the Yellowjackets by a 4-3 score to finish the year with a record of 5-13.