American Legion Post 127 Tramples Shelton in First Game of Season

Orange Post 127 got its American Legion Zone 2 baseball season off on a sweet note Thursday evening in Shelton. Scoring four runs in their first at-bat of the summer, Coach Bob Mirto’s boys went on to trample host Post 16,  12-2. Grayson Amoroso, who was unable to pitch for Amity this spring due to tendonitis, made a sparking mound debut as he limited Shelton to only one run on three while striking out six, walking two, and hitting two batters  during his six inning stint on the mound. Orange batted around three times during its lop-sided slugfest, mauling Post 16 pitchers for 12 runs on 12 hits.

“This was a nice way to start the season. Grayson pitched a great game. We hit the ball hard and we played good defense too,” Mirto said. “We were fortunate to get a few breaks and jump off to the good start with a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  We have a good team with excellent chemistry. We are going to have some fun and we are going to surprise a lot of people this summer.”

Brian Kernan got the ball rolling by leading off the game with a walk. Successive singles from Nick Baviello and Brian Speer along with a balk by Shelton starting pitcher Scott Catadella and a throwing error by shortstop Dustin Chemielewski gave Post 127 an early 2-0 lead. After retiring two batters on strikes, Catadella handed out bases-loaded walks to Amoroso and Mark Boland to force in two more runs.

The visitors extended their lead to 8-0 with another 4-spot in the top of the fourth inning. Singles by Boland and Kernan along with a free pass to Baviello loaded the bases with no one out.  Speer made it 6-0 when he blasted a two-run single into center field. Later in the same inning, Orange again loaded the bases with two out. Catadella hit Jim Martino with a pitch to force in anther run and served up a run-scoring single to Sean Butler.

Leading 8-1 after five innings Post 127 rang the bell four more times in the top of the sixth inning. The key blows in that rally were Baviello’s two-run single and RBI base hits by Amoroso and Boland.

Amoroso didn’t allow a base hit during the first three innings but Scott Heinz led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-bagger down the right field foul line, a wild pitch and one of Amoroso’s three balks spoiled his bid for a shut out. Shelton’s other run came off relief pitcher Dane Simone in the bottom of the seventh inning. He walked Frank Talcik and two outs later, he scored on Mike Dew’s single up the middle.

According to Amoroso, “I have been pitching all my life, but after throwing a few innings in our first few scrimmages in the spring, I couldn’t throw any more due to the tendonitis in my arm. This was the first time in a long time I pitched in a game. My curve ball wasn’t working tonight so I ended up throwing a lot of fast balls. In the first couple of innings my arm felt a little tight but after that I felt great. That big lead so early in the game allowed me to relax and I felt very comfortable.”

Offensively the winners were led by Baviello (two singles, two runs, three RBI), Speer (two singles, two runs, two RBI), Ted Ballou (two singles, two runs), Amoroso (one single, two runs, two RBI) and Boland (two singles, one run, two RBI).

On Saturday, the 1-0 Orangemen visit West Haven Post 71 for a 10:30 a.m. double header at Piurek Field on the West Haven High School campus and then host Shelton in their home opener on Sunday night in a 7 p.m. contest at Brinley Field.