|
|
|
NEWSFLASH - SNCT to broadcast American Legion New England Regionals!
|
|
Curren's Baseball Report Week 2 |
|
|
|
April 15, 2008 - Ray writes for the Elm City Newspaper - So exactly what does it take to build a program? We all know that Amity has built a baseball empire in the SCC that is second to none, but like all empires (even ones that last several hundred years), there will be an end.
Of course, the next question is: who is next? The most obvious answer right now is Guilford, but the big test for the Indians will come next season when they lose double digits to graduation. It’s been a struggle for North Haven the last couple of seasons, and the private schools have been too inconsistent in recent years (although Xavier appears to have a very good team this season).
Our search - at least for now - has centered on Branford, where the supposedly rebuilding Hornets have jumped out to a 4-1 record early in 2008, and don’t look to be hurting any time soon. Although under coach George Dummar their regular seasons haven’t been the most impressive - Branford has not had less than six regular season losses since 2000 - the Hornets have been to at least the state quarterfinals in each of the last five seasons, including the 2006 Class L title. “At the end of the day, it’s a testament to the kids and the effort they put in starting at the younger ages,” Dummar said. “You can put things in place, but it’s up to them to do the work and to have the passion to play.”
Dummar, who has worked in Branford youth baseball for 15 years, has worked closely with this group of kids from when they were very young. His son, George III, is a junior pitcher. “It’s nice to see those kids who have been friends for a while stick to baseball,” Dummar said. After shortstop Mike Olt (who is tearing up the Big East at UConn) graduated, there was a huge void in the Hornet lineup coming into this season.
While they haven’t found anyone as prolific as Olt, Branford’s strength is their depth, with anyone from No. 1 to No. 9 being able to beat you on a given day. Senior captains Andrew Johnson and Andrew Petrucci anchor the middle of the lineup, but leadoff man Casey Dadio and numbers 7 through 9 - Pat Simone, Justin Giddings, and Kyle Geltman - have all had big hits already this season.
Obviously, as at Amity, any sustained success in baseball revolves around pitching, and the 1-2-3 punch of Dummar, Rob Neagle, and Petrucci has allowed only seven runs in their first five games. “I’d say at this level, almost 75-80 percent of the game is pitching,” Dummar said. “But defense is also very important, and that goes along with the pitching. We work very hard on our defense, and we never want to give another team any more outs than we have to.”
Unfortunately (or fortunately) for Branford, they have not really hit the meat of their schedule yet. Although a 6-1 win over East Haven last Friday gave them the early inside track in the Oronoque Division, the Hornets still have Guilford and Xavier twice each as well some other potential stumbling blocks leading into the Class L Tournament.
“We have some very big games ahead of us, and we’ll learn a lot about ourselves in those games,” Dumamr said. And, by Memorial Day, it should be another season where Branford factors into the state tournament talk.
BACK IN THE WIN (LOSS) COLUMN: Two very long streaks in the SCC came to an end last Tuesday, the most celebrated of which was Amity’s win streak. The Spartans did not lose a regular season game last season and had not lost a game since being beaten by Shelton in May of 2006. But Xavier took care of the Spartans, 5-2, behind Shawn Coughlin and three hits from Ken Pia.
But the most impressive result of the day went less celebrated as Hillhouse - on the wrong end of so many lopsided scores in the past couple of years - broke through in the SCC for the first time in four years, beating cross-town rival Wilbur Cross, 9-4. The
score was impressive, but the method was also extraordinary. Trailing 4-1 going into the seventh inning, the Academics managed to score eight times - including home runs from Brandyn Wright and Danny Burke - for the emotional win. Both teams went back to the way things were before their little change of fortune, with Hillhouse losing by a combined 31-0 in division losses to Hand and Guilford, while Amity came back to beat Lyman Hall and post an impressive 8-0 shutout over previously unbeaten Shelton. In that game, Joe Ciancola threw six no-hit innings before being pulled with the score out of hand.
The Spartans should be fine, their pitching has been a little erratic in the early going, but they are more than capable of competing for both the SCC and Class LL titles this season, although it may not look as easy as it has in years past.
However, let’s not forget about the accomplishments of a team like Hillhouse, who works hard like everyone else from Day 1, for a moment like they had last Tuesday. To the Acs, that win must have felt like 20.
AROUND THE HORN: Usually you don‘t see suspended games until American Legion season, when darkness creeps into games that start at 5:45 p.m. But last week in the SCC, we had not one, but two suspended games. The first came in Madison last Tuesday when Hand and Jonathan Law were tied 4-4 after 11 innings when darkness forced the two teams to call the game. They‘ll try to sneak in the ending before the two teams meet again on May 2 in Milford.
Meanwhile, North Haven and Derby were even at 2-2 after seven innings when rain forced them to call the game last Friday. The Indians and Red Raiders chose to finish that game on Tuesday rather than wait for the second meeting later in the season …
It really wasn‘t a good week for Derby, Law, or Hand even beyond the cancellations. Derby led division rival East Haven in the seventh innings before losing 3-2 on Wednesday before needing just three outs to beat North Haven before letting the Indians tie it …
Hand was blown out by East Haven last Tuesday, had the suspended game on Wednesday, and led Shelton 4-1 in the seventh inning on Thursday, only to have the Gaels storm back to win 5-4 …
Meanwhile, Jonathan Law did have an upset win over Branford, but was shut out by cross-town rival Foran, and Saturday afternoon blew a three-run lead in the seventh inning to Notre Dame, falling 7-5 … Hamden also lost two games last week in which it led in the seventh inning. I guess it‘s not just major league teams that could use a good closer …
Speaking of Notre Dame, with the enigma that is Quigley Stadium temporarily out of commission, the Green Knights played Monday’s game with West Haven at the University of New Haven, Wednesday’s game at WHHS’s Piurek Field, and then Friday back at UNH. Quigley is supposed to be back in operation by the end of the month …
Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about Xavier. The Falcons have raced to a 5-0 record, the only unbeaten squad in the SCC. But it looks early on like the Quinnipiac Division might not be its usual strong self. Look at the Falcons’ next few games: Guilford, Notre Dame, Shelton, Branford, Jonathan Law, North Haven, Amity. If they get through that unscathed, look out …
Cause for minor alarm? Guilford’s Will Jolin was pulled Friday against Foran with his team trailing 3-0. The Indians came back to win, 11-3, but a little red flag may have gone up around the league …
Vacation week this week, which is the reason for all the early starts on the schedule. Great for people like me, bad for people with real jobs.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Branford at Guilford, Friday, 3:45 p.m. - Branford has done the job against some of the middle-of-the-road squads early in the season, but this will be a stiff test for them. It‘s not a division game, but it could tell how close the Hornets are to the big boys. For the Indians, they took advantage of a mediocre non-division schedule last year, but will be afforded no such luxuries this time around.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Danny Burke, Hillhouse - Burke not only picked up a complete game victory in Hillhouse’s 8-4 win over Wilbur Cross, the Academics’ first SCC win in three years, but Burke also hit a three-run homer as Hillhouse scored seven times in the seventh inning to post the comeback win, one I’m sure Burke will remember more than any of the losses.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS 8
More SCC trivia this week: Can you name the eight SCC teams to win a state title as a member of the conference? Keep in mind the conference started officially playing in 1994. The answer: Guilford (2007), Amity (2007, 2006), Branford (2006, 1998), Sheehan (2004, 2001), North Haven (2003), Lyman Hall (2002), Notre Dame (2000, 1996), and Derby (1996).
POWER RANKINGS
1) Xavier (5-0; Last Week 2) – Not as much press as Amity or Guilford, but here are the Falcons.
2) Amity (5-1; LW 1) – Able to get in four games last week. Shouldn‘t be daunted by loss.
3) Branford (4-1; LW 3) – We should know what the Hornets are made from by the end of week.
4) Guilford (4-1; LW 4) – Have run off four straight wins, but they‘ll be tested soon as well.
5) Shelton (4-1; LW 5) – Thought they might do better against Amity, but still a good start for Gaels.
6) Notre Dame (4-1; LW 8) – Another team with four straight wins, but Xavier and Amity looming.
7) Jonathan Law (2-2; LW 7) – Those suspended games can wreak havoc with the scheduling.
8) North Haven (2-2; LW 12) – Appear to be a lot of holes with Indians, but record could be worse.
9) East Haven (3-2; LW 15) – Rise is precipitous, but there is a paucity of good teams at this point.
10) West Haven (4-2; LW 10) – Pitching has been very good, but the opponents have not.
11) Hand (1-3; LW 9) – Off to another mediocre start, but the Tigers do have some talent there.
12) Career (2-3; LW 6) – Panthers have been all over the place, mainly because of pitching woes.
13) Sheehan (2-3; LW 13) – Big win over Hamden for Titans, maybe now they can get on a roll.
14) Lyman Hall (2-2; LW 17) – Will know a lot more about Trojans after some division games. 15) Foran (2-3; LW 14) – Having trouble scoring runs, but just trying to get themselves to eight wins.
16) Fairfield Prep (1-5; LW 11) – Finding different ways to lose, need to get out of the tailspin.
17) Cheshire (1-4; LW 16) – Only one win, but it was an 18-3 rout over Hamden for Rams.
18) Hamden (1-5; LW 18) – Effort over West Haven was impressive, can they build on it?
19) Derby (2-2; LW 19) – May be kicking themselves for the wins last week at season‘s end.
20) Hillhouse (2-4; LW 21) – Can they pull out a win or two more before the close of 2008.
21) Wilbur Cross (0-5; LW 20) – Governors are the last of the teams that need a win in the SCC.
|
|
Upcoming Live Events
There are no upcoming live broadcasts currently scheduled.
|
