Baseball Recap: Cromwell Has No Trouble Against North Branford

Cromwell lost a heartbreaker the last time they played North Branford, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Monday's contest. The Panthers were the clear victors by a 10-3 margin over the Thunderbirds on Monday. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Panthers considering their one-run performance the match before.

Jess Elfreich

Stolen Base

05/19/25 @ North Branford	2
04/30/25 vs Portland	2
04/25/25 vs Old Saybrook	2
05/16/25 vs Somers	1
04/28/25 @ Old Lyme	1
+ 3 more games

Jess Elfreich and Tyler Bonelli made a splash while hitting and pitching. Throwing, Elfreich tossed two innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits. Meanwhile, Bonelli struck out six batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off one hit. Elfreich has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in four consecutive appearances. At the plate, Elfreich went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI, while Bonelli went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Elfreich is becoming a predictor of Cromwell's success: when he posts at least two stolen bases the team is 2-1 (and 6-7-1 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Sam Cleveland, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one run and one RBI. Ben Burdick also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.

Cromwell kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That's the most hits they've managed all season.

The win got Cromwell back to even at 8-8-1. As for North Branford, their loss ended an eight-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 16-3.

Looking ahead, Cromwell will head out to square off against Haddam-Killingworth at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (the Panthers 3.6, the Cougars 2.7) so any runs scored will be well earned. As for North Branford, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Old Lyme at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The Thunderbirds are facing the Wildcats at the right time seeing as the Wildcats are stuck on a four-game losing streak.