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Ray Curren - Elm City Newspapers
June 25, 2008 - Alright, we have officially gone far enough into the 2008 Zone II campaign to warrant making a preview (I know, the season is nearly half over, but sometimes that‘s what it takes). There are some things we thought to be true that weren’t, there are some things we thought that are, and other things that we never really thought about at all.
So, you can consider it belated, but I consider it deferred. Either way, here’s how things look through a couple of weeks into the season.
We thought that Shelton - already the two-time defending Zone II champs - might be the team to beat again in 2008, and despite a couple of minor hiccups, Post 16 hasn’t disappointed. Shelton returns most of the nucleus it had last season. We always knew that Shelton had the potential - it has a large high school with a solid baseball tradition plus some kids that end up attending other high schools like St. Joseph and Notre Dame of Fairfield - but it wasn’t until Sean Kiernan started to put everything together a couple of years back that Shelton became what Orange and Milford were a few years back, a year in and year out Zone II power.
Leading the way on the mound are Ryan Headley, Jason Foster, Tom Lindberg, and Mark McCormack, a veteran group that appears to be unmatched in Zone II this season. Shelton has lost twice this season, and entered the week with a mark of 8-2, having completed a three-game sweep of North Haven last weekend. Traditionally a slow starting squad (they were 5-5 last year at this time before going 14-1 the rest of the way), Shelton appears to be a prohibitive favorite, and if they needed more motivation, they still have an axe to grind - Branford beat them 8-7 in 10 innings in last year’s state championship game.
What you see in high school is not always what you get in Legion play, but with the pedigree of Branford - two state titles in the last three years - you obviously can’t count them out of the Zone II race.
Branford has been boosted by the help of Xavier’s Tom Coughlin on the mound and returns some pitching depth, but the majority of last season’s state title winning squad is gone, and some other defections from the high school make their roster somewhat paper-thin, but Branford has a lineup capable of doing some damage, a fact they certainly showed last Sunday against Milford. Branford trailed 7-0 after three innings, but ended up winning 16-7. A winning mentality can go a long way, and we’ll see how far it can carry Branford this season. They have a few make-up games already, but once they get rolling, look out.
Tom Lawrence has done his part on the mound for West Haven thus far this season, but - unlike in high school - you need four or five pitchers to be a contender, and West Haven has not found too many complements to Lawrence yet.
With a record of 5-4 at week’s end, West Haven is certainly in much better shape than last year to make a run, especially with a stacked lineup, but - as it does in many Zone II seasons - it will probably come down to the pitching, and its consistency. Last Saturday, Lawrence threw a four-hitter and the first game of a doubleheader, but they could not back it up, losing 6-2 in the nightcap. If they start to sweep those doubleheaders, they should be right back in the mix.
There won’t be many teams that will outrun or outhit East Haven this season, as they should be able to backup last season’s first state tournament appearance with another. The top two hitters in the lineup - Chris Day and Fran Belevich - may be the fastest runners in the league, and they are backed up by sluggers Matt Caputo and Frank Amento, as well as a few other veterans. As with West Haven, the questions come on the mound, so far this season East Haven has been able to outscore teams, but will they be able to when the schedule gets tougher? Still, at 6-2, they appear to be a force to be reckoned with.
Milford came into the Legion season with a lot of momentum after Jonathan Law captured the Class L title and Foran made it to the Class M semifinals, but it’s been a sputtering start. Like West Haven, there have been signs that they can contend. But they have missed the Law duo of James Ineson and Brett Michael Doran, who are not currently with the team this summer. Still, they do have Zone II’s best hitter from a year ago, Gabe Guerino as well as veteran Mike Dooling and newcomer Bryan Ward, so they could surprise in the next couple of weeks.
Without a doubt, the biggest surprise of the new season has been Hamden, who was coming off a disappointing 6-14 high school season and didn’t look like they had much to add roster-wise to that squad. But, after an improbable three-game sweep of Orange last weekend, Hamden - who has been near the bottom for the last thee or four seasons - finds itself at 6-3 and with a load of confidence.
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been the offense, which put up 12 more runs in their victory on Sunday. Hamden not only defeated Orange closer Mark Esposito (who did not allow an earned run in the regular season during high school) once, but twice on Saturday, both times in extra innings.
They now have Orange off the schedule, and with the teams after Shelton all looking somewhat vulnerable, Hamden can dare to dream that this might be their year. It’s probably a little early, actually it’s more than a little early, to write off Orange yet. Just like the Yankees, they seem to dig themselves a big hole every year and find a way to climb out of it deftly.
And, like the Yankees, this year’s problem for Orange appears to be pitching depth. In getting swept last weekend, Orange did not allow less than five runs in any game, and with plenty of contests left to go, the chances that they can go on a huge run and catch Shelton appear slim.
Despite a mediocre start, Stratford does have some things going for it in the early stages of the season, the foremost of which is that the toughest of their scheduling might be behind them. Stratford has pitched very well, and will be feisty, but it’s hard to see them being a consistent force throughout the season.
Speaking of feisty, that word could probably describe New Haven in the earlygoing. Expected to be an also ran, New Haven has battled in almost every game, but unfortunately for them, they haven’t been able to pull out too many of the close games thus far, and therefore stood at only 3-6 at the end of last week.
Finally, it’s been a tough start for North Haven, who has qualified for the state tournament six years in a row. But that streak appears to be in serious jeopardy after a 1-7 start. On the bright side for North Haven, like Stratford, they have gotten a lot of their more difficult teams out of the way, and they do have some pitching depth if they can pull it together in the next week or two.
GAME OF THE WEEK Hamden vs. West Haven, Saturday-Monday - If Hamden can come out and take two of three from West Haven this weekend, it should signal that they are here to stay, and should be able to hang on and qualify for the state tournament. If West Haven can come out and roll, they could move right to the top of the list of contenders to battle Shelton until the end of the season.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Frank Mentone, Branford - Mentone battered Milford pitching all weekend, no more so than Sunday, when he collected four doubles and seven RBIs as Branford erased an early 7-0 deficit to beat Milford 16-7 and move to 3-3 on the season. INSIDE THE NUMBERS 2
Number of scheduled doubleheaders the rest of the season in Zone II, as teams have gotten away from playing two games in one day this year because of the strain on pitching. However, methinks we‘ll see some more before the season is out.
WHO’S HOT Hamden - Many people had Post 88 pegged for last in the zone this season after a tough high school campaign, but they stand at 6-3 and on fire.
WHO’S NOT Orange - It‘s becoming a yearly tradition for Orange to be in this category early in the season. But the margin for error in preventing Shelton from winning a third straight title appears to be very thin.
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