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04/16/2014 12:00 AMThe North Branford softball team looked to have its first game of the year in the bag, but Morgan had other ideas as it scored five runs in the top of the seventh and then held off a T-Birds' rally in the bottom half to win 9-8.
"They had the top of the order up, but I was thinking we'd be able to take care of this," said Head Coach TJ Schatz, whose team swept Guilford later in the week. "Then they led off with a triple and then the wheels start wobbling. One thing led to another, we dropped a couple of balls, and then they're up by one."
Morgan's Jamie Fitzgerald started the inning with a triple off North Branford starter Lindsay Golia and the big hit came from Emily Popp, who hit a three-run home run to tie the game. The Huskies then scored the winning run on a fly ball to the outfield.
The game began with promise for the T-Birds, who were all over Morgan starter Popp early on. Sabrina LeMere led off the first with a double and scored on a single by Golia. Sarah Hemstock and Emily Muzyka also drove home runs for an early 3-0 lead.
Golia gave up the lead, however, when she lost command of the strike zone in the second. Morgan had only two hits in the frame, but worked three walks, including one with the bases loaded.
Each team added another run-North Branford in the second and Morgan in the fifth-and then the T-Birds made a lot of noise in the fifth. Six batters in a row reached base as Meghan Augur, Meghan Golia, Haley Basil, and Stephanie Hogan each knocked in a run and North Branford took an 8-4 lead.
Following Morgan's mammoth seventh, North Branford looked to respond, but fell just short. Basil and Hogan reached base and the T-Birds had their top hitter Kayla Nowak up with two outs. Popp threw a changeup and Nowak grounded out to end the game.
Despite the loss, Coach Schatz was happy with his team's offense as it produced 14 hits against All-State pitcher Popp.
"We've been working hard on hitting, but to get that many hits off this pitcher, who's supposed to be one of the top pitchers in the conference, I was really pleased," he said.
The T-Birds rebounded by sweeping their doubleheader against Guilford, 5-2 and 6-3. In the first game, Nowak went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer for the go-ahead RBI. In the second game, Basil and Meghan Golia homered while LeMere hit two triples.