Needing just one win to advance to the American Legion Super Regionals, the West Haven Post 71 baseball team found it was not going to be easy. Trumbull pounded 12 hits in the game, led 6-0 after three innings and never looked back in a 7-3 win over the Westies.
Chase Supan took the loss for West Haven, allowing six runs in 2.1 innings of work. Evan Jones and Tyler Jones combined on 3-hit ball the rest of the way, but it was not enough in the loss.
Tyler Jones, K.J. Harp, and Ray Gilbert led the offense with two hits apiece.
Trumbull took advantage of a walk and an error to go along with a pair of hits for a 2-0 lead in the second. On the brink of its season possibly ending, Trumbull put the game away with four runs in the third on five singles and a double.
Despite being down by seven runs, West Haven had its opportunities.
Trailing 7-0, Post 71 got on the board with a run in the fourth as Tyler Jones led off with a double and scored on a one-out double. The Westies had runners on the corners, but failed to push across another run.
West Haven added a run in the fifth as Cam Cruz singled, moved to second on an error on the play, and scored on a single by Haygen Axelrod. The Westies again stranded a pair in the inning.
Gilbert doubled and scored on a single by Evan Jones in the sixth, but Post 71 left two more on base. In the seventh, Dan Izzo reached on an error to open the inning, Tyler Jones singled to put a pair of runners on, but neither advanced, setting up the one-game playoff to advance.
The title game started in a positive way as the Westies were the visiting team and took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Izzo reached on a bunt single to start the game, moved to second on an error, and scored on Gianni Gambardella’s single to left.
Trumbull responded immediately in the bottom of the inning as a leadoff triple against Tyler Jones was followed by a ground out to even the game at one.
Izzo doubled with two outs in the third, but was left stranded, before Trumbull stranded a pair in the bottom of the inning.
Post 71 took a 2-1 lead in the fourth as Gilbert hit a one-out double to right and scored on a two-out single to left by Supan.
With the momentum on West Haven’s side, the lights went out at Piurek Field, forcing the conclusion of the title game to wait another day.
Anthony Constantinople was on the mound as the game resumed 24 hours later and pitched a scoreless fourth for Post 71.
Constantinople led off the fifth with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch, and third on a sacrifice. Izzo then singled to right to score Constantinople for a 3-1 lead. Gambardella followed with a two-out single and Gilbert singled to center to increase the margin to 4-1.
Trumbull wasted no time getting back in the game with three runs in the fifth to even the game at four, but, with the bases loaded, a double play ball by Trumbull helped West Haven get out of the inning without further damage.
Post 71 capitalized on the momentum, scoring twice in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead. Supan and Evan Jones reached on errors to open the inning, and Izzo drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Tyler Jones followed with a single to center, scoring a pair for the two-run margin.
After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, West Haven held on as Trumbull stranded a pair in the bottom of the seventh, allowing West Haven to advance to the Super Regionals in Middletown.
Third-seeded West Haven opened the Super Regional bracket in Middletown with a dramatic 6-5 victory over Ellington in the opening round. Trailing by a pair of runs entering the last inning, West Haven rallied to score three runs with two outs to pull out the victory.
Tyler Jones started the winning rally with a one-out double and Gambardella walked. Supan walked with two outs to load the bases before Evan Jones hit a two-strike single to right, scoring Tyler Jones and Gambardella. When an errant throw was made on the cut-off on the play, Supan scored the winning run.
Trailing 2-0 in the first, West Haven got on the board when Izzo led off with a single, Tyler Jones walked, Anthony Rubin singled to load the bases, and Supan reached on an error to score Izzo.
West Haven evened the game at two in the third inning when Tyler Jones hit a one-out single and scored on Rubin’s double to center. The Westies then took a 3-2 lead in the fifth when Tyler Jones reached on an error, Gambardella singled, and Rubin grounded out to score Jones.
Tyler Jones, Rubin, and Constantinople led the offense with two hits apiece. Tyler Jones scored three times in the win.
Post 71 suffered its first defeat of the Super Regionals, falling to Danbury 5-0. West Haven could not get going offensively, managing only singles off the bats of Tyler Jones and Mike Madera in the game.
Danbury scored twice in the fourth and added three in the sixth to pull away. Gambardella went six innings, allowing seven hits and four earned runs, while striking out nine.
Madera picked up West Haven’s first hit of the game in the third, but was erased on a double play ball. Madera’s hit was the only runner of the game for Post 71 until Tyler Jones led off the seventh with a single. Jones was also erased on a double play ball to put a damper on any hopes of another West Haven comeback.
West Haven advanced to the finals of the Middletown bracket Super Regionals by defeating Middletown 2-1. In what turned into a pitcher’s duel, Supan tossed a complete-game four-hitter, walking three and striking out five.
Post 71 scored all the runs it needed in the top of the first inning as Evan Jones led off with a single and scored on a one-out triple by Rubin. Supan followed with a single to right, scoring Rubin for a 2-0 advantage.
Middletown loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but could not put a run on the board. Middletown had a leadoff double in the fifth, but never advanced, before a 30-minute lightning delay came after the sixth.
After Post 71 went down in order in the top of the seventh, Middletown had one final opportunity in the bottom of the seventh.
A hit batter and a walk had two on with two outs, before a single scored the first run. With Middletown looking to tie the game on the play, a perfect relay from Gambardella to Jones to Connor Hume at the plate prevented the tying run from scoring and propelled the Westies to the finals.
The run came to an end for the Westies in the finals of the Super Regionals. Having to defeat Danbury twice, the Westies ran out of gas and fell 13-1.
Post 71 could not put a rally together after falling behind early when Danbury scored four times in the bottom of the first.
West Haven managed just five hits in the contest, with two of those safeties coming in the opening inning. Gambardella, who had two of the five West Haven hits, and Rubin hit one-out singles, before a ground out by Evan Jones put the Westies on the board, scoring Gambardella.
That was all the run production for West Haven as Gambardella doubled in the third, but was left stranded. Post 71 had one final scoring opportunity in the fourth when Evan Jones and Madera singled, but neither came around to score.
West Haven finished its impressive summer season with a final record of 20-6.