Printer Friendly Version - EH Baseball Persevered to 13 Wins, State Tourney Victory

Senior captain PJ Carangelo was a First Team All-SCC honoree after leading the East Haven baseball team in batting average at a .440 clip. The Yellowjackets returned to the Class L State Tournament and won 13 total games. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

For the East Haven baseball team, the 2024 season was a roller coaster run of many ups and downs. Yet through the peaks and the valleys, the boys emerged not only with a state tournament berth and a postseason road victory, but they also came together to strengthen the character of the club and each other via that adversity.

The Yellowjackets first fought through the regular season to the tune of a dozen wins and a 12-8 record. This earned them a spot in the Class L State Tournament as the No. 21 seed. East Haven scored a first-round upset over 12th-ranked Prince Tech-Hartford Public with a 12-2 triumph. The Yellowjackets then took a loss in the second round against No. 5 Bethel by an 8-3 final to finish 13-9 overall.

Head Coach Butch Johnson detailed that the boys hit their preseason target in terms of win quota. From there, one hand essentially washed the other in terms of hitting the latter of their two objectives.

“Our first goal was to win 12 to 14 games. We won 13, and we started the season strong, struggled in the middle, and finished strong,” said Johnson. “Our second goal was to make the state tournament, and we did that and even won a game.”

The Yellowjackets stormed out of the gate with five consecutive victories to start their 2024 campaign, including a trio of triumphs over a pair of established SCC programs. East Haven hit a bit of a late-season skid by dropping four of its final six games, but the state victory just spoke more to the toughness of the group.

“Our major accomplishments were beating rival teams like Notre-Dame-West Haven, North Haven, and Xavier,” Johnson said. “The team played hard and showed great resilience. They bonded well and were in full support of each other on and off the field.”

In terms of team statistical leaders, senior PJ Carangelo (First Team All-SCC selection) led the team with a .440 batting average, as well as recording two triples and 14 stolen bases. Senior Peyton Torre, junior Janvier Diaz, and junior Billy Barthell (who made All-SCC Second Team honors) each had 19 RBI. Barthell led the team with seven doubles, Diaz notched five wins on the mound, and senior Mason McCarroll led the team with a 2.80 earned-run average.

Additionally, Carangelo also was an SCC All-Academic award winner, and senior Dom Perillo received the “No I in Team” award. Carangelo was named the Team MVP, Diaz was honored as the Most Improved Player, and Torre was bestowed with the Coaches Award.

The Yellowjackets were in the Hammonasset Division of the SCC, where they finished fourth. They competed against the likes of SCC champion and Class L semifinalist Hand, Notre Dame-West Haven, Shelton, and Xavier.

For next year, it will be much of the same for the Yellowjackets–graduating several key seniors while looking for those in the underclassmen ranks to rise to the occasion to fill those voids. Yet it should not be unfamiliar territory or an insurmountable task for East Haven, as it followed the exact same script this year to full execution.

But still, in his final remarks on the campaign, Johnson was sure to commend his captains for their efforts. They made tremendous individual strides in the field and at the dish while providing terrific templates of how student-athletes should conduct themselves in all avenues.

“Our senior captains did a great job. [Senior] Jose Hernandez played a great right field with no errors committed in the last two years. PJ, Mason, and Peyton all had excellent years as mentioned before,” said Johnson. “We should be competitive next year and need some underclassmen to step up, as they did this year.”

The 2024 East Haven baseball team roster is comprised of seniors Torre, Carrangelo, McCarroll, Logan Kline, Perillo, Joel Alvarado, Hernandez, Jason Kapinos, Sergio Ramirez, Tin Trinh, John Vega; juniors of Diaz, Brendan Sturgess, Nick Johnson, Jadier Dominicci-Mercado, Barthel, Israel Ramos, Cameron Lacroix; sophomores Randall Sotaski, Blake Charboneau, Griffin McCarroll, Adam McIntyre, Anthony Lacen, Julian Rodriguez; plus freshmen Chase Bussert, Jayden Clark, Nikolas Franco, Emiliel Garcia, Tyler Ho, and Alexis Rivero Sucre.

Johnson has now been the skipper for the Yellowjackets for 25 years. His assistant coaching staff consists of 20-year veterans in JV Coach Dan Gleason and Freshman Coach Gary Brasile, along with Tom Charboneau (in his third campaign).