The season has come to a close for the West Haven 19U baseball team in Connecticut Elite Baseball Association action. The Westies were eliminated with a 2-1 loss to Hamden at Piurek Field in West Haven Saturday morning in the opening round of the postseason.
Bryan Barrington was stellar on the hill, tossing a complete game 2-hitter, allowing just one earned run in the loss. Hamden got on the board early, forcing West Haven to play catch up the rest of the way.
West Haven’s best rally came in the seventh when Tyler Jones doubled, and Gianni Gambardella and Lorenzo Espinal singled to score Jones. With the tying and winning runs on base, West Haven could not push across another run.
West Haven improved to 8-3 in the regular season with a 7-1 road victory over Branford. Hunter Axelrod went the distance for the Westies, scattering five hits over six innings and allowing just a single run. Jake Romano closed out the victory with a scoreless seventh, aided by Anthony Rubin’s throw to pick off a runner.
Branford took a 1-0 lead in the first and the lead held up until the sixth inning. Struggling to get anything going offensively aside from an Isaiah Wyatt double, the West Haven offense woke up in the final two innings.
West Haven evened the game in the sixth as Jones walked, stole second, and scored the equalizer on a double by Gambardella. Espinal singled and the next two batters reached on errors, before a walk and a single by Axelrod increased the margin to 4-1. A sacrifice fly by Wyatt increased the West Haven margin to 5-1.
The Westies moved into a first-place tie with Madison after posting a 4-0 victory over North Haven at Piurek Field in West Haven. With the win, the Westies improved to 9-3.
Jones and Daniel Izzo combined on a 3-hit shutout with Jones allowing just one hit in three innings of work and Izzo allowing two hits in the final four innings to pick up the win.
West Haven took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on a pair of walks, a sacrifice and a throwing error. Axelrod then delivered a clutch two-run single in the bottom of the sixth to break the game open and give the Westies a 4-0 lead.
West Haven then traveled to play North Haven and posted a 2-1 victory. Dylan Supan and Gambardella combined on the hill to limit the Indians to just one run. Gambardella went the first two innings, before Supan pitched the final five to pick up the win.
With the game scoreless in the sixth, West Haven took a 2-0 lead on a passed ball to score one run, and a Jones single to score another. North Haven scored once in the bottom of the seventh, but Supan recorded the final out for the win.
Axelrod had the other West Haven hit in the game. Michael Anquillare led North Haven with two hits.
The Westies moved to 11-4 with a split of a doubleheader at Milford last Sunday morning. West Haven needed nine innings to win the opener 2-1 as Izzo forced the extra innings with a two-out hit in the seventh. The hit by Izzo was West Haven’s first in the game.
Izzo, who finished with two hits at the plate, also pitched the final two innings for the win. Axelrod beat out an infield hit in the ninth to bring in the go-ahead run.
Bryan Barrington was stellar on the hill for West Haven, allowing just one run in seven innings of work. West Haven lost the nightcap 10-0.
West Haven fell to 11-5 with a 6-3 loss to Madison. Jones and Michael Boni each had three hits in the loss. Supan finished with a pair of hits.
The Westies then finished a suspended game with Hamden and posted a 2-1 victory in 15 innings. Hunter Axelrod walked and eventually scored the winner on a wild pitch.
Axelrod picked up the win as he pitched all four innings in relief to complete the contest, including working out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the 15th.
The Westies closed the regular season with a 12-6 record in a 6-2 loss at Madison. Espinal, Wyatt, Rubin, and John Barrington had hits for the Westies.