Hand High Baseball Reaches No. 1 In Recent Poll

MADISON, CT —The Hand High School baseball team was scheduled to host Shelton on Monday afternoon. Regardless of the outcome, it's been a memorable start to the season for the Tigers, who entered the game with a 7-0 record and jumped to No. 1, from No. 4, in Monday's GameTimeCT Top Ten poll.

"We have just played sensational team baseball so far," Hand head coach Travis LaPointe told Zip06.com. "We have played well in every facet of the game -pitching, defense, offense and baserunning. I also love that we have already won games in several different ways. That is the sign of a special team.

The Tigers entered Monday's game off a 12-3 win at Cheshire on Saturday, a contest in which the visitors led 9-0 in the fourth inning before the hometown Rams pulled a run back on a dropped third-strike.

Hand eventually pushed its lead to 12-1, although Cheshire (which dropped to 1-6) scored late on a wild pitch and a Max Gustafson RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

The victory came a day after Hand held on to a 3-2 win over Xavier in Madison despite getting outhit 12-4 by the Falcons. The Tigers got solo homers from senior catcher Chris Engelhart and senior third baseman Anthony DePino. Senior first baseman Danny Weinstein had an RBI single.

Senior righty Mike Engelhart started on the mound for Hand, and pitched four scoreless innings to earn the win. Senior Matt Carone pitched the final two innings for the save.

On April 19, at Amity, the Tigers led 3-0 early, fell behind 5-3, then scored nine unanswered runs in the final three innings.

Weinstein went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, senior shortstop Jack Pireaux was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, junior outfielder Jeff Pinover had a clutch two-RBI single in the fifth, DePino and senior Eli Davies also knocked in two runs apiece.

Carone pitched the final four innings of the contest and earned the win.

The Tigers have managed to have their success in 2021 despite playing without talented senior righty Danny Carbone, who is out for the season with an injury. Carbone has committed to play at Central Connecticut State.

After facing Shelton, Hand is scheduled to visit Guilford at 4 p.m. Wednesday before hosting West Haven at 3:45 p.m. Friday.