Orange Post 127 begins its 24 game, 2011 American Legion Zone 2 baseball season on Thursday, visiting Post 16 of Shelton in a 7 p.m. contest at Shelton High School. Last summer, Post 127 finished with a 15-9 record, which put it in third place in Zone 2, but Coach Bob Mirto is quick to note that there are many changes from the 2010 roster to his current roster. Key losses include Lou Concato, Conor Keniry, Marc DeMattei, Will Meade, Jesse Ulrich, Ryan Adams, Tim Ryan, and Ned Wood.
According to Mirto, “This looks to be an exciting team with some veterans back but also a lot of new faces. We have a lot of talented young kids who are coming on. This is the type of team I like to coach.”
Key returnees include: Nick Baviello, Brian Speer, Sean Butler, Dan Donnelly, Adam Kyasky, Grayson Amoroso, Mark Boland (Notre Dame), Niall Dammundo and Brian Kernan (Northeastern University). Joining Post 127 for the first time are: Ted Ballou (Amity), Jim Martino (Hopkins), Jack Lubin (Hopkins), Sam Taub (Christian Heritage Academy), Steve Brandi (Amity), Dan Simone (Amity), Brian Diaz (Amity), Steve Falcigno (Hopkins), Keenan Roche (Choate), and Max Ritche (Amity).
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“This is a loose team with excellent chemistry and very good speed. While we don’t have the power we have had in past years, we do have a few guys with long ball power. I think we will still score our share of runs,” Mirto said. “As always pitching is the key. We have several young but very promising pitchers, who have never been in the front line. This would be their first chance to stand in the spot light.”
Scanning the Zone 2 scene, Mirto pointed to Branford Post 83, the defending Zone 2, Connecticut, and North-East Regional champs, as the obvious team to beat. Branford has gone to the American Legion World Series twice in the last five years. He also rated Milford Post 196 “strong as always.” While Mirto felt that West Haven Post 71 would be a major force this summer, Coach Mike Siwek recently told him that his three top pitchers have decided not to play Legion baseball this summer. Mirto rated Shelton as a question mark and added his own team should also be in the mix for the Zone 2 championship.
