Printer Friendly Version - Hand Baseball Takes Defeat in Class L Semis; Girls’ Golf Competes at Division II Championship

Senior Evan Mastrobattisto and the Hand baseball team saw their season come to an end with an 8-0 defeat against Windsor in the semifinals of the Class L State Tournament at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. File photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Source

The Hand baseball team was eliminated from the Class L State Tournament by taking a loss versus Windsor in a semifinal game last week. Hand finished the 2022 campaign with an overall record of 15-10.

No. 12 seed Hand faced top-seeded Windsor in the Class L semis at Dunkin’ Donuts Park on June 7. The defending champion Tigers lost to Windsor by the score of 8-0 in the contest.

Hand had earned wins against Ellis Tech (3-0), Pomperaug (7-5), and Middletown (7-1) in the first three rounds of the state bracket to make it to the semifinal round. The Tigers also qualified for the SCC Tournament this season. Hand was led by Travis LaPointe as the program’s head coach.

The Hand girls’ golf team competed in the Division II State Championship that was hosted at Timberlin Golf Course on June 8. The Tigers finished in 14th place by tallying a team total of 446 at the state meet.

Sophomore Charlie Lee posted Hand’s best score of the day with an 18-hole score of 101 for the round, putting her in 24th place for the individual standings. Senior Lila Sullivan finished in a tie for 29th place with a score of 104.

Sophomore Bianca Sander finished in a tie for 55th place by carding a score of 115 at states. Senior Megan Kuck and senior Megan Fay both scored a 126 to finish in a tie for 64th place for the Tigers.

The Hand boys’ tennis team had two singles players and two doubles teams hit the court to participate in the Individual Invitational Tournament that was held at Wesleyan University from June 6 to June 10. The Tigers’ doubles team of senior Will de Chabert and senior Will Fumex advanced to the quarterfinal round of the doubles draw at the invitational. Senior Sebastien Lowy made it to the round-of-16 in the singles tournament.

As the No. 15 seed, de Chabert and Fumex had by through the first round of the doubles bracket at the Individual Invitational Tournament. In their opening match, de Chabert and Fumex defeated the team of Jonathan Yerrall and Nikolai Naydenov of Wilton by a 6-3, 6-2 score in the round-of-16. They went on to take a 6-4, 6-2 loss against the 4th-seeded team of Arjun Batra and Justin Bilenker of Westhill in a quarterfinal contest.

Hand’s tandem of senior Robbie Washburne and Patrick Hennessey earned a 6-2, 6-4 win over Jack Green and Duncan Witek of East Catholic in their first-round matchup. They then lost a 6-2, 6-4 decision versus the 3rd-seeded team of Sam Gioffre and Alex Reyes of Wilton.

Lowy won two matches to reach the round-of-16 of the singles bracket at the Individual Invitational Tournament. Lowy notched a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Joseph Morse of Morgan and then won a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 decision over 15th-seeded Trevor Girandola of Ridgefield in opening rounds. Lowy then took a 6-1, 6-2 loss against No. 2 seed Petro Kuzmenok of Fairfield Warde in the round-of-16.

Sophomore Elliott Booth also competed in the singles tournament on behalf of the Tigers. Booth earned a 6-2, 6-2 win versus Daniel Sapozhnnikove of East Lyme in his first match and then lost to No. 12 seed Dylan Koziol by a 6-0, 6-1 score in his next contest.

The Hand girls’ tennis team was represented by one of its doubles duos when the Individual Invitational Tournament took place last week. The Tigers’ tandem of senior Brenna Colonese-DiBello and senior Zhu Zhu Berger competed in the doubles bracket at the invitational, which was hosted at Wesleyan University from June 6 to 10.

Colonese-DiBello and Berger played the team of Anne Caldwell and Olivia Newfield in the opening round of doubles draw of the Individual Invitational Tournament. Colonese-DiBello and Berger lost a three-set decision by taking a 6-7, 6-4, 10-4 defeat in the matchup.

Colonese-DiBello and Berger played No. 1 singles for Hand during the 2022 season. The pairing helped the Tigers finish their year with an overall record of 15-8 while advancing to the final of the Class M State Tournament.

The Hand boys’ outdoor track team was represented by several athletes at the State Open Championship meet at Willow Brook Park on June 6. The Tigers had six people compete in individual events and also saw a pair of relays participate in the State Open.

Sophomore Kyle Hoffman finished 10th in the 400 by crossing the finish line with a time of 50.69 seconds for Hand at the Open. Hoffman had previously finished first in the 400 at the SCC West Sectional Championship (51.10), after which he placed third at the SCC Championship (51.01) and second at the Class MM State Championship (50.63).

Morgan Veth finished 11th in the high jump at the State Open Championship by clearing the bar at 6 feet. Veth had won the high jump at sectionals (5-10) and then finished second in SCCs (6-2) and third at states (6-2). He also won the long jump at the sectional meet (21-3).

Sophomore Matt Kasper placed 12th in the triple jump (41-7.5) at the State Open. Kasper took first place in the triple jump at sectionals (42-0.5), finished third at SCCs (43-1), and then placed third in states (41-9.5).

Senior Jack O’Keefe finished 13th (9:55.62) in the 3,200, while junior Harrison Grenier placed 18th (10:04.68) for the 3,200 at the Open. Keefe had recently taken third place in the 3,200 at the Class MM meet (9:41.45). Grenier finished in second place for the 3,200 in states (9:41.37).

Senior Danny Hilmer finished 16th in the 1,600 at the Open by hitting the finish line with a time of 4:38.01. Hilmer was coming off a second-place performance in the 800 at the Class MM State Championship (4:25.79).

Hand’s 4x100 relay of Veth, senior Brian Kranzler, senior Mario Mazzarella, and senior Ethan O’Brien finished in 15th place (44.57) at the State Open Championship. The relay had recently finished fourth at the state meet (44.65).

The Tigers’ 4x800 relay of Grenier, sophomore Chris Bonavita, O’Keefe, and junior Nick Montana took 16th place by recording a mark of 8:21.97 at the Open. The quartet had finished second at sectionals (8:20.65), third in SCCs (8:16.49), and third at states (8:15.06).

The Hand girls’ outdoor track team saw its 4x400 relay participate in the State Open Championship meet that took place last week. The State Open was held at Willow Brook Park on June 6.

The Tigers’ 4x400 relay of junior Michelle Jiang, junior Vivian Glaser, senior Meryl Sullivan, and junior Julia Coric finished in 16th place at the State Open by recording a time of 4:10.66. The relay had recently finished in fifth place at the Class MM State Championship with a time of 4:15.77.