This spring, the Morgan baseball team has been dominant; they currently have 11 wins and 5 losses and are ranked 33rd in the state. The team, which just came off a win against Portland where they won 5-2, is led by captains Dominic Larabee, Wyatt Luke, Mikey Ferraiolo, and Creighton Johnson.
The Morgan Huskies are rolling past teams in the Shoreline Conference, beating Old Lyme 18-2, Old Saybrook 12-2, Portland 5-2, and Coginchaug 4-0. However, Morgan can beat teams in their conference, but they struggle with out-of-conference teams, losing to Montville 11-7, Guilford 6-3, and West Haven 6-2.
Last season, the team finished 17-9 with a 0.654 win percentage, notching a 9-4 record in the Shoreline conference, which had them third in the Shoreline and 68th in the state. Last season’s team is overlooked because of this year’s team. Last season, beating Lakeview, Portland, Cromwell, and East Hampton, and losing to Staples 4-2 during the regular season. Staples is a Class LL school that was 15-8 and ranked 15 in CT at the time.
Chad Neri, an assistant coach for the Morgan boys baseball team, said, “Some leaders last year that helped the team improve and make a run for the playoffs were Ross Treubig, Lucas Hoadley, Sean Green, and Ryan Donadio. Some of our seniors this year also stepped up last year, like Wyatt Luke, Dominic Larabee, and Creighton Johnson.
Pitching has been a problem this season for the Huskies, and losing pitchers Green and Hoadley to college. “We did lose a lot of pitchers, but it was good that we had a young core like Jack Henry Palazzo and Trevor Powell, who start for us now,” said Neri, “Jacoby was a huge surprise this year. He has improved so much and has become a starting pitcher.” Jacoby has recorded a 1.69 ERA, 19 Ks,115 BF in his 24-25 Career.
Even with losing the seniors from last season, the team has been doing a sufficient job reorganizing and getting its defense back in shape. Coach Trever Brown, now in his 2nd year as head coach, has made some switches in the field. One important switch was Junior Zach Veins taking the place of former senior, Donadio, in Center field. Coach Brown says, “ Zach split time with Dinadio last season, trying to slowly transition him into the spot. Zach also had an effective bat than Dinadio, which earned him more playing time”, [Its] a very tough position to play, that takes speed, awareness, and baseball IQ to play that position. Zach had a .283 batting average, .337 OBP, 15 Hits, and 11 RBIs. These stats showed how he earned playing time during his sophomore season
The team has had some shining moments on offense as well. People on the team like Benji Brown, who has two recorded home runs, one of which was a 2 run shot to left field to walk off a game against the North Branford Thunderbirds, have made a sizable impact.
Sophomore shortstop Benji Brown has stepped up this season at the plate and has recorded a .312 batting average and a .407 on-base percentage, with 15 hits and 22 runs batted in, and 13 runs scored. Brown is putting together a strong season so far, making an impact at the plate and making plays when it counts.
The team is looking to have a strong second half and make a deep state playoff push. With all the weapons provided, the Huskies just have to deliver and make a statement to the league.
