NORTH BRANFORD >> Trailing Ridgefield Little League 7-0 after the first inning, it didn’t look good for North Branford in Section I pool play at Wall Field on Thursday.
Sparked by a three-run home run by Tommy Manganiello in a four-run second inning, North Branford put together one of its best comebacks of the season to pull out a 12-11 win. The win clinched a spot for North Branford in the Section I championship game against Fairfield American in Orange on Saturday at 8 p.m.
“These guys are the craziest group of kids I have ever coached,” North Branford manager Joe Moscari said. “Our players are always loose, they never get down on themselves and they’re always positive. We went into pool play struggling on offense without hitting well. But now we’re hitting and a different guy steps up in every game.
In the second inning, Manganiello belted a fastball over the centerfield fence for his three-run homer and James Moscari, the manager’s son, added an RBI single to cut the lead to 7-4 and start the comeback.
Trailing 8-6 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, North Branford scored five runs to take an 11-8 lead. Ryan Michonski had one of the big hits in the inning with his two-run double giving North Branford its first lead in the game at 9-8.
In the top of the sixth inning, Ridgefield mounted a comeback of its own when Matthew Bucciero hit a three homer to tie the game at 11. Bucciero, the leadoff hitter, went 5-for-5 in the game and added a solo homer in the first inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with runners on first and second base and no outs, Moscari hit a grounder to second. The out was made at second base to start a double play but the throw to first went in the dirt and bounced away, allowing pinch runner Ben Stegina to score the winning run from second base.