North Stafford baseball full of aces

STAFFORD — In the arms race, the North Stafford baseball team and head coach James Labrusciano have a hand that has been hard to beat.

“I feel like I’ve got five aces on my staff,” he said. “If you have good pitching, you’re going to be able to win a lot of games.

At the halfway point of the regular season, the Wolverines have tallied a mark of 8-5 overall and 6-1 in Commonwealth District play. So far, things are looking good and their opponents in the standings are looking up.

“We expected to be where we are right now,” pitcher Nate Connaughton said. “We expected to be the top team in the district.”

One reason for their winning ways is their ability to connect as a group.

“Everyone cheers for each other,” senior Kenny O’Brien said. “You never know when you might be out there needing someone to be a cheerleader for you. So, we all are supportive of each other.”

In terms of on-the-field ability, nearly the entire pitching staff returned from last year. All have been effective so far with their varying styles.

Senior Robert Gallet is headed to Bridgewater College and has a record 3-1 after making four starts. Gallet’s record is nearly unblemished, but there are pitches that make hitters buckle.

“I think my curveball’s pretty dirty,” he said.

While Gallet starts the game, fellow senior Connaughton specializes in finishing them. The team’s unofficial closer is signed on to play next year at Tusculem College, nationally-ranked Division II program. His submarine motion has kept his team afloat.

“They know that when it’s my time to come in to the game, that I’ll be able to get ground balls and do what’s needed in order to get out of the inning,” he said. “I know that my teammates have my back and they’re going to do what they can to make the play.”

That effectiveness on the mound is in great relating to his effectiveness at communicating with his teammates.

“He has the guys in the right places at the right times,” Labrusciano said of Connaughton, one of the team’s captains. “If we’re having a bad practice, he’s one of the first to speak up to the other players, even before the coaching staff gets on them.”

King College will welcome Ryan Dolinger come next year. Gallet, Connaughton and Dolinger are three righties that are complimented nicely by a pair of sophomore left-handers: Sean Kennedy and Geoffery Cieslwitz.

With the second half of the season about to get the green flag, Labrusciano doesn’t want his well-oiled machine to have any breakdown.

“I want the guys to put the pedal to the medal,” he said. “Go full speed ahead and don’t let up. A lot of times we get up on a team and then we start to relax. Instead, we need to come with that killer instinct.”

But if their most recent game was any indication, they’re set for the long haul. With a 10-0 blanking of Massaponax, Labrusciano likes where his team is headed.

“After seeing how our guys came up big in that game, they showed me that they can definitely go a long way this year,” he said.
North Stafford has the arms to go that long way.

Brian Wright is a contributing writer for the Stafford County Sun. Reach him at info@staffordcountysun.com.