High school baseball season kicked off in Higganum today with Haddam Killingworth High School’s first win of the season over Old Saybrook. The team finished last year with an 18-4 record. The team will be under the coaching staff of Mark Brookes and Ryan Fuller, with co-captains Jon Civiello and Mike O’Toole helping to lead the team. “We have a very young team,” said Mike. “Many of our starters will be comprised of sophomores, all of which are filling the empty slots from the graduating seniors last year. I think they are doing a great job, especially this early in the season.”
The team has three returning pitchers from 2018, and according to Jon Civiello, co-captain, “a couple new developed arms.” He went on to say “We know that having pitching depth is necessary for a successful season. A point of focus for the pre-season was throwing strikes to limit walks and big innings.” Jon has a batting average of .478 and was All State 2018.
During the pre-season, Coach Brookes was moving players around during scrimmages. “Our coaches have been moving many of us around the infield and outfield in order to find the best fit for each player, and ultimately the team,” said Mike O’Toole. Those scrimmages seem to have paid off, at least in the first game of the season.
The Haddam Killingworth High School baseball team defeated Old Saybrook at home on Monday, April 1, 2019 with a final score of HK 10, Old Saybrook 0. Christo Garrelts drove in the three runs and struck out nine in five innings. Luke Dimauro, Mike O’Toole and Griffin Izzo each had two hits for HK.
OS 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
HK 1 0 5 3 1 10 9 1
Batteries: HK- Christo Garrelts, and Sam Erskine. OS – Dan Cote, Tobey Marineau and Patrick Kelly. 2b OS- Rolon. HK – 2b Dimauro, Garrelts, Hiller, S.Erskine, O’Toole. WP Garrelts LP Cote
Records: HK 1-0, Old Saybrook 0-1
