Red Hot Hornets Nine on Eight Game Winning Streak

When the Branford baseball team started out this season 4 – 5, there might have been some naysayers who said, ​“Here we go again.” The Hornets had losing records the past three years finishing with 7 – 13, 8 – 13, and 8 – 13 records. Now they are hot. Really hot. Yesterday was sweet revenge as they defeated rival East Haven 5 – 3.

Some on the other hand may have said, ​“Hey, we lost four of those games by a total of only five runs. A hit here or there and we could have been 7 – 2.” Not only that, the offense sputtered during that stretch and the Hornets only scored a total of five runs in the five losses.

“We knew we had the potential with our lineup to win more often but we weren’t doing anything to help ourselves,” said coach Steve Malafronte.

Well, things changed since then and to say the Hornets are ​“Hot” is an understatement. For example, Branford was ahead 5 – 3 in the last inning yesterday and East Haven loaded the bases with no outs. What happened next? The Branford pitcher struck out the next three batters to preserve the victory.

Since the end of April the Hornets have won eight straight and have averaged just under ten runs a game on route to a 12 – 5 record. Now they are vying for a spot in the SCC playoffs as well as the state tournament.

Last week the Hornets defeated Xavier 10 – 3, Career 10 – 1, and North Haven 8 – 2.

Here is Coach Malafronte with co-captains Jordan Botte (L) and Nikko Ligouri. 

“I’m proud of you,” said Malafronte to the team after the Xavier game. ​“We’re on a streak now and have a chance to achieve one of our goals,” he said in reference to the SCC playoffs. ​“Let’s keep it going,” and they sure have. At one point Coach Malafronte told the team they were close to getting into the SCC playoffs.

In the Xavier game, covered by the Eagle, the Hornets outhit Xavier 11 – 3.

Starting pitcher Junior Alphonse Suppa handcuffed the Falcons allowing them to score in only one inning. He struck out five and improved his record to 4 – 1. Zane Kmietek finished up for Suppa by pitching the seventh inning. Suppa also had two hits and two RBIs in the game. He also had a fan club.

Teammates Trevor Brown had two hits and a RBI and Nikko Ligouri and Jordan Botte had two hits each. Zack Withington led the Hornets with three RBIs. Here second baseman Damien Maniscalco fires to first to get a double play.

Here the team’s no. 1 Fan. Henry is always at the games singing, ​“Let’s go Branford Hornets.”
 

This week the Hornets play at Guilford on Wednesday, and host Wilbur Cross on Thursday. All games start at 3:45 p.m.
 
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