Printer Friendly Version - T-Birds’ Softball Soaring After 8-0 Start, States Bid

Lone senior and team co-captain Tessa Juniver and the Thunderbirds’ softball team have stormed out to an 8-0 start this spring. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Sound

Lindsey Onofrio, a junior shortstop and team co-captain for the North Branford softball squad, has been a key leader and contributor towards another stellar season start for the T-Birds. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Sound

The North Branford softball team is yet again on the fast track towards crossing the finish line in first of the Shoreline Conference title race once more as the first month of the season nears a close. Still, the T-birds know that great, championship-caliber clubs never ever take its collective foot off the gas.

North Branford posted a regular-season record of 13-7 and finished with an overall mark of 20-8 for the 2022 campaign–having captured its seventh-consecutive Shoreline Conference crown and making the Class S State Tournament final.

After defeating Coginchaug, Haddam-Killingworth, and Old Lyme to win the Shoreline title as the No. 5 seed, the Thunderbirds entered the Class S State Tournament as the 15th-ranked squad, racing past No. 18 Wolcott Tech (12-0) and No. 2 Civic Leadership (22-0) in the first two rounds. The T-Birds went on to claim a 9-2 victory against No. 7 Shepaug Valley in the quarterfinals and then went on to post a 4-2 victory versus

No. 3 seed Coginchaug in the Class S semifinals. The T-birds then took a 3-0 defeat to top-seeded Cromwell in the championship game.

North Branford has picked up right where it left off last year, churning out a perfect record of 6-0 entering last week’s slate of games, and furthermore impressive, the T-Birds only allowed 11 runs in their first half dozen contests while scoring 55 themselves. This past week, North Branford continued that trend with an 18-0 pouncing over Portland on April 17 for win No. 7 in as many games. The next day versus Coginchaug, the T-birds earned a states berth in Class S and stretched their unblemished mark to 8-0 with a 4-0 win.

“It’s been huge to start the season 8-0,” said Head Coach Nick DeLizio. “You get tested early to see how you are, and we played some tough teams so far. We played Haddam-Killingworth our second game, and they are a good, young, and talented team. We’ve had good battles with East Haven over the years, and we had a good game with them. Cromwell beat us in the state finals last year, but we found ways to manufacture runs. We had a huge win versus a Class LL team in Glastonbury. Our lineup is our strength; top to bottom, we have multiple leadoff and No.3 hitters. We divvy it up, because we know what everyone can do. The girls have had good at-bats, timely hitting, and good execution.”

The T-birds deploy two captains in lone senior Tessa Juniver (.273 batting average this spring) and Lindsey Onofrio (.286 average, 12 RBI in 2023). Juniver, a right fielder, returns after a solid year by being a critical hitter that comes through in crunch time. Meanwhile, Onofrio at shortstop has already been a captain of a state-championship club this school year with field hockey last fall. Both young women embrace all the responsibilities as leaders while being consummate teammates.

“Tessa is a rock-solid player and very coachable. She leads by example who had a great junior year and had clutch hits in the playoffs last year. She is liked by everyone on the team and goes out of her way for everyone. She portrays a student-athlete in a positive way; her teachers and teammates love her,” said DeLizio. “Lindsey is a very vocal leader. She has been a starter here since her freshman year and is a huge component of our offense and defense. She has great composure, the ‘it’ factor, and the great intangibles.”

Going around the horn for North Branford, junior Natalia Lucibello (.417 batting average with 10 hits in 2023) is over at third base, fellow junior Gabrielle Senerchia (batting at a .364 clip thus far) is opposite her at first, sophomore Alexa Falcioni (.591 average, 12 runs, 13 hits for 2023) is in the middle infield with Onofrio at second, another sophomore in Adriana Hills (1.000 fielding percentage this far this spring) blocks home as catcher, and junior and 2022 Team MVP Kiley Mullins is back in the circle as pitcher and has produced an earned-run average of 1.62 this campaign.

“Natalia is a great defender with a powerful bat. Kiley is one of the top pitchers in the state; she is workable, a joy to coach, and she has matured a lot,” said DeLizio. “Gabrielle is new to first base, but she has a team-first mentality, and she’s stepped it up with her bat and defense this year. Alexa is a fantastic lead-off hitter. Adriana is rock solid behind the plate. She has a good arm and good bat and is fast.”

Accompanying Juniver in the outfield is sophomore Lily Ardito (.364 batting average) in center, who has produced as a pinch runner, freshman Lauren Vitarisi (.462 average) in left while being the No. 2 arm of the pitching staff, and sophomore Gabriella Bigio (.667 batting average in four games) rounding out an outstanding outfield corps.

“Lily has had time off the bench as a pinch runner and has done a great job in her at bats,” said DeLizio. “Lauren has had some big hits for us already. Gabriella is a hard worker and great teammate. We have really good student-athletes here that excel at school while taking several honor-level and advanced placement classes, too.”

When you kick off the season with another hot start as the seven-time defending league champions, it can be easy for a squad to coast and rest on its past laurels. Yet DeLizio and the T-Birds know all too well that the mentality can serve as a late-season trap, and so they look to approach each day as the first day of the campaign and seek to earn the triumph of every single one of them.

“I tell the girls it is about creating positive relationships and being a family. Team chemistry can lead to other successes,” said DeLizio. “We do not want to become complacent. We cannot get too high with what we or other teams are doing. Our motto for every practice is ‘competition replaces complacency.’ We go into every game like our record is 0-0. We tell the girls that no matter what, there is always a challenge every day.”

The T-Birds’ roster this spring is comprised of senior Juniver; juniors Onofrio, Mullins, Lucibello, Gianna Fico, Senerchia; sophomores Hills, Mary Brown, Christina Aneiro, Bigio, Emilyn Nay, Falcioni, Ardito; and finally freshmen of Vitarisi, Madison DiStefano, Ava Ryszczyk, Alexa Snedeker, Sofia Ludington, Skylar Gage, and Ashley Berardesca.

DeLizio, who has been at the helm since the 2015 season, is assisted in the dugout this spring by coaches Sabrina LeMere, Chris Drexler, and Morgan Onofrio.