This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
05/17/2015 12:00 AMThe East Haven softball team finished the regular season undefeated in SCC Oronoque play and clinched another division title with a home 1-0 win over rival North Haven on May 13. The Yellowjackets went 8-0 in the Oronoque this spring to wear the crown for the third straight season.
“It was the first time that we’ve won it going undefeated. Every other time, we had one loss. This is the first time we went 8-0 in the division,” Head Coach Ed Crisafi said. “It’s because of two things. One, it’s been the kids who we’ve had who had been through it for two years. [Allison] Luzzi started as freshman, [Laura] Anderson and [Kara] Hanson played a little bit as freshman and then full time last year as sophomores. Giovanna [Russo] and Jena [Villecco] have been starting and they had no doubt that we’d be having a good year. But the No. 1 key has been the pitching. After losing Tal [Loda], we didn’t know what we’d have. Hanson and Anderson have stepped up and the pleasant surprise of freshman [Selena] Mauro made it like a three-headed monster.”
Anderson pitched a gem in the North Haven victory. She struck out five hitters in her first shutout of the season and allowed just four hits. Anderson was only in trouble in one inning. In the second, with runners on first and second and two outs, North Haven’s batter hit a screamer to third, but Villecco made a diving stop and recorded the force out at the hot corner.
East Haven then scored the game’s lone run in the bottom of the second on yet another timely hit by Russo. Julia SanGiovanni led off the inning with a triple and Russo singled her home. That was all the offense either team could muster, but it was enough for the Yellowjackets to top the Indians and win the Oronoque Division championship outright.
“Laura was outstanding. She mixed up her pitches great,” Crisafi said. “We only left four people on base and they left five people on base. It was a quick game with great pitching and great defense. Neither team made an error and that was it.”
Winning that game in narrow fashion was huge for East Haven, which had been scoring runs in bunches entering the week. The 1-0 triumph against North Haven showed Crisafi’s club that they can win the close games, too.
“It gave us confidence. The girls know we can win a low-scoring game and when our bats are on fire,” Crisafi said. “We knew the last few games were against some of the better teams in the league. We’re not going to continue to score 10 or 11 runs per game. We need to continue to play good defense. It’s going to have to carry us down the stretch.”
Prior to the North Haven contest, East Haven had seen its seven-game winning streak come to an end with a 5-4 loss to Hand on May 11. East Haven had the advantage in hits, 10-6, but committed five costly errors. Mauro took the loss on the hill as she allowed the five runs, three of which were earned.
“We brought the girls into left field after the game and told them the streak is over. It’s not like we got blown out. We didn’t let the loss effect us. It affected us that night, but we came back, had a great practice on Tuesday, and got back to business,” Crisafi said. “With the Oronoque on the line, it pumped us up. That made it easier to forget about the Hand loss.”
Ali Esposito and Anderson both finished with three hits in the loss and Luzzi had two base knocks.
Then after wrapping up the division title against North Haven, East Haven topped Sheehan 7-2 on May 14 to move to 12-5 overall. Offensively, East Haven had three big hits that delivered all of its runs. SanGiovanni laced a two-out, two-run single through the hole in the third inning, Villecco hit a bases loaded triple in the fifth, and Luzzi crushed a two-run home run in the sixth. Luzzi, who is East Haven’s leadoff hitter, has added the element of power to her game and Crisafi considers her a five-tool player.
“Physically, she’s getting stronger. She’s added power, which is nice,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anybody better than her at shortstop. Every time a ball is hit to her, we know that 99.9 percent of the time it’s going to be an out. That’s a good feeling.”
Nine-hole hitter Esposito had another three hits in the win to continue to raise her average. She’s increased it to from .282 to .432 through the past week-and-a-half. Hanson allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out four to pick up the win.
“It was Kara’s turn to pitch and she was outstanding,” Crisafi said. “The fact that the pitchers have had more command of their pitches has been their main reasons why they’re helping us so much.”
From the Sidelines
After starting 1-3 this spring, East Haven has gone 11-2 with both losses coming to Hand.
East Haven has nine home runs as a team on the campaign.
Hanson leads Yellowjackets’ pitchers with five victories this season.
This season marks the third-straight year the Yellowjackets have won the SCC Oronoque Division.