As The Morgan boys baseball team slides into their first four scrimmages of the season, they have all felt fierce surrounding the bases. For preseason, the boys faced scrimmages within 7 innings against West Haven (3/26), Hillhouse/Career (3/28), Mount Saint Charles Academy (3/31) and Branford (4/2).
Pre-season Goals
As the boys faced their preseason scrimmages for their first hit into the season, they had goals set. Preparing for preseason, they dedicated their focus to themselves to batting, infield work and conditioning. One of the team’s main focuses was batting due to losing some key graduating players like Ryan Donadio, Sean Green, Ross Treubig and Luke Powell last spring. There are three types of people “at bats” such as: Mover, Oner and Producer; these are split categories amongst the batters on the team. These types of “at bats” are situational. Such as “Mover” is if you want to move a player to the following base to put the next batter in a position to drive them in. The “Oner” situation is a runner that gets on base using high speed off their hit. The “Producer” situation is meant to drive a player already on a base to home plate. A main focus walking into the season for Coach Trevor Brown was getting his athletes in shape. The athletes ended each practice with sprinting intervals to increase their speed and agility.
Pre-season Scrimmages
Huskies Home Plate Against West Haven:
Sophomore Jack Henry Palazzo started the game on the mound, and Sophomore Trevor Powell then followed during the top of the fourth inning. Senior Crighton Johnson then finished the game as relief for both Huskies. Palazzo had three shutout innings while he was at the mound. West Haven scored on the board first off of Powell’s pitch. All of West Haven’s runs were throughout the fifth inning. That made the score 6-0 with the Huskies losing. The Huskies then battled back and scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. The final score 2-6 with the Huskies falling short against West Haven.
Huskies Home Plate Against Hillhouse/Career:
Junior Nathan Levy started the game for the Huskies, only allowing four hits and three runs over three innings, striking out five and walking two. #4 pitcher opened the game for Hillhouse/Career giving up six hits and 13 runs (six earned) over two-thirds of an inning, striking out none and walking three for the Huskies. Sophomore Jacoby Brown appeared in relief for the Huskies finishing the game powerfully. Huskies amassed 10 hits in the game. Sophomore Trevor Powell went 3-for-3 at the plate to lead his team in hits. Sophomore Benji Brown and Senior Dominick Larabee each drove in three runs finishing an inning while Senior Wyatt Luke collected two hits. Junior Travis Aiken then paced the Huskies with three Hillhouse/Career athletes. Overall, the Huskies had patience at the plate, piling up 11 walks in the whole heavy inning scrimmage. Huskies were sure-handed and didn’t commit a single error while Luke made the most plays with five. The Huskies finished the scrimmage with a domination over Hillhouse/Career of 21-4.
Huskies Home Plate Against Mount Saint Charles Academy:
Mount Saint Charles got on the board in the first inning after Brady Lecuyer tripled, scoring two runs. Huskies then tied the game in the bottom of the first thanks to a hit by a pitch from a fielder’s choice by Sophomore Benji Brown. Huskies then took the lead in the bottom of the third by Junior Nathan Levy taking a double, scoring one run, to give Huskies the lead, 3-2. Mount Saint Charles then followed, taking the lead to 5-4 on the top of the fifth inning. Vincent DaSalivia singled, scoring one run. As Nathan Levy stepped up to bat, he had five RBI (runs batted in) on three hits. One of them was a home run, which gave Morgan a bump. Mount Saint Charles flipped the game around and set the tone for themselves and led the rest of the game starting from the top of the sixth. At the top of the sixth scoring five runs on two hits that made the score 9-5 by the biggest hits being from Jacob Veloz that drove in two. Sophomore Jack Henry Palazzo started on the bump for the Huskies. The hurler surrendered four hits and two runs over three innings, striking out five and walking three. On the other side, William Roberson stepped up on the bump first for Mount Saint Charles, giving up seven hits and five runs over four and two runs in the third innings, striking out five and walking two. The Huskies amassed 10 hits in the game. Seniors Creighton Johnson and Wyatt Luke each collected multiple hits on the board, being key players to the scrimmage. Mount Saint Charles took away the win with 9-7 against the Huskies.
Branford’s Home Plate:
Huskies ousted Branford 6-5 on Wednesday at Branford High School. Branford was the first to get on the board in the second inning when #10 singles at bat, scoring one run. Branford then added to their early lead of the game in the bottom of the third inning after #12 singled to center field, and #99 grounded out, each scoring one run. The Huskies then took the game into their own hands and changed the tone of the game during the beginning of the sixth inning. Scoring six runs from five hits to take the lead, 6-3. The biggest blow in the whole inning was the single by Senior Dom Larabee on a full count that drove in two. Junior Nathan Levy began the game for the Huskies and gave up four hits to the Branford Hornets and three runs (one earned) over the course of three innings, striking out three and walking none. #99 started the game pitching for the Hornets. The hurler gave up one hit and zero runs for the Huskies over two innings, striking out three and walking three Huskies players. Sophomore Jacoby Brown tossed three innings of scoreless ball for the Huskies in relief of Levy. Brown allowed one hit, striking out three and walking none. The Huskies piled up 10 hits overall in the scrimmage. Larabee drove the middle of the lineup, leading the Huskies with two runs batted in. The right-handed hitter went 1-for-4. Sophomores Benji Brown, Trevor Powell and Senior Wyatt Luke each collected two hits for the Huskies. Our boys had a strong eye at the plate, accumulating seven walks for the game. Levy, Sophomore Jack Henry Palazzo and Junior Zach Viens led the team with two free passes each as Viens stole three bases. In the entire scrimmage, the Huskies stole a total of six bases and turned one double play to make the game. #2 and #3 were a force together from the Hornets team in the lineup, as they each collected two hits while hitting back-to-back. #2, #3, #10, #12 and #99 each drove in one run and #10 stole two bases from the Huskies. Morgan Huskies walked off the field with a tight 6-5 win against the Branford Hornets.
The boys look forward to their first official game of the season, Saturday April, 5th away against Cromwell at 10:00AM. To follow our very own Morgan Boys Baseball team this season: 2025 Schedule
