Printer Friendly Version - Nighthawks’ Baseball Makes States After 0-4 Start

Steven Vincent posted a 2.80 earned-run average in 39.1 innings of work this spring for the North Haven baseball team, which rebounded from an 0-4 start to make the Class L State Tournament with a 12-8 record. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

Senior Tyler Harger hit for a .317 average and served as a strong role model for the underclassmen on a Nighthawks baseball team that showed resilience after overcoming an 0-4 season start to earn a state tournament bid. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier

In its first campaign without the patriarchal figure of the program in the dugout in quite some time, the North Haven baseball team did not attain state championship success, yet the Nighthawks more than exhibited that the squad is heading in the right direction by quickly righting the ship with a high-character clubhouse.

With first-year Head Coach Joseph Romanelli, who was filling the shoes left behind by longtime skipper Bob DeMayo after guiding the program for over six decades, North Haven stumbled out of the gate a bit to the tune of an 0-4 start. Yet the Nighthawks swiftly responded to the adversity by finishing the regular season on a 12-4 stretch from that juncture to qualify for the Class L State Tournament at 12-8.

Earning the 15th seed in the draw, the Nighthawks first defeated No. 18 RHAM 5-2 in the opening round at home on May 30 before a hard-fought loss to No. 2 East Lyme, 9-8, a day later on the road to conclude the campaign 13-9 overall.

Romanelli remarked that though North Haven fell short of its preseason targets in taking home state title hardware, the boys made up for it with their objectives away from the game in priming a pedigree for future prominence.

“The goal for the season was to make the state tournament and win a state championship,” said Romanelli. “And even though we fell short of winning a state championship, we did accomplish making the state tournament. Off the field, our goal was to come together as a team and continue to build on the good culture of the program, and I feel we did accomplish that goal. Our players never gave up and stuck together the entire season to battle to the very end.”

Romanelli spoke further on that resurgence following the four-game slope to start the spring. He declared that while it appeared to all come easy by looking at the number of Ws that piled up on the schedule, the Nighthawks showed themselves as too legit to quit by coming back in the clutch to secure victory.

“A major accomplishment of this team was to never give up on the season,” Romanelli said. “We started off 0-4 and, after that rough start, the team was able to finish the season 12-4 while winning eight out of the last nine in the regular season. Major moments of the year included a nine-inning, back-and-forth win against Notre Dame-West Haven, and then coming back to win on a walk-off hit against North Branford on Senior Night when the team was down 7-3 in the sixth.”

Steven Vincent and Antonio Fusco were a tandem of players who doubled as outfielders and pitchers on the mound as senior captains, alongside fellow senior captain and outfielder/infielder Tyler Kornacki. Their leadership within the senior class was bolstered by Luke Blasi, Jack Martineau, Will Sullivan, Noah Greco, Will Whitcomb, and Tyler Harger.

“The captains were great leaders and kept this team going through an emotional up-and-down season,” said Romanelli. “The other seniors were all great role models to the entire program and worked hard day in and day out. They made my first year as head coach an easy endeavor and helped pave the way for the program to continue the success that was sustained when Coach DeMayo led the team for over 60 years.”

The team was led by the pitching staff that had a team earned-run average (ERA) of 2.70. The pitching staff consisted of its closer Martineau, a Second Team All-SCC selection, who compiled a 1.80 ERA and notched seven saves on the season. Sophomore John Slais pitched 17 innings during the regular season with a 0.41 ERA, plus Vincent pitched 39.1 innings with a 2.80 ERA.

The position players were led by Kornacki, who batted .403 on the season with two home runs. In 11 games, Fusco laid the lumber at a .345 clip, and junior Dom DeSimone batted .316. Lastly, in starting almost every game behind the plate, Harger hit for a .317 average when he was at the dish.

Additionally earning postseason award honors were Kornacki, who played his way to the All-State Team and First Team All-SCC in addition to being named the Team MVP. Rounding out team recognition and accolades, Fusco was named Most Improved Player and Vincent notched the Sportsmanship Award.

While North Haven will part ways with many members of that well-touted talent in the pitching arms, the Nighthawks remain optimistic for the future, backed behind a solid returning core of sophomores and juniors who saw varsity time.

“We had a lot of juniors and sophomores contribute to the success of the team this year, which will lead into having a good core of players next year,” said Romanelli. “Our JV team had a lot of success this year also and will push the returning varsity guys to be better as well. Losing our graduating seniors will be tough, since we will be losing an All-State player, a shutdown closer, and reliable starters, but I feel we have enough coming back to be competitive next year and make another good run at a state championship.”

In closing comments on the 2023 campaign, Romanelli reflected that the unit became more close-knit through what amounted to a 22-game journey with ebbs and flows, and they consistently brought it with maximum heart and effort no matter what each day and result wrought.

“The team grew closer as the season went on, and the closer the team got, the more success they saw on the field,” said Romanelli. “The team worked hard every day in practice to continuously get better and the hard work they put in showed toward the end of the season.”

The 2023 North Haven baseball team roster is comprised of seniors Vincent, Greco, Kornacki, Blasi, Fusco, Whitcomb, Sullivan, Martineau, Harger; juniors Aaron Barbour, Jordan Higgins, DeSimone, John O’Neill, Marco Giaimo, James Tobin, Ryan Bauman, Gouin, Maxwell Cargan, Avery Karasinski; sophomores of Brandon Stevens, Christopher Kottage, Ryan Semple, Parker Mazzaro, Dereck Foster, Jimmy Marshall, Nathaniel Acevedo, Joey Mastroianni, Nicholas Romano, Andrew Manzo, Slais, Jaden Wells, David Suvoski III; and freshmen with Oskar Drake, Luca Faulkner, Maxwell Rothwell, Tanner Gouin, Quinn Bergin, Philip Huntington, Nate Eggerling, Anthony Parillo, Nathan Ori, Jacob Biros, Domenico Carbone, Ralph Consiglio, Jason Huang, Bryce Mastriano, Anthony Papa, and Chase McDade.