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Crisafi Gets 300th Win as Easties Reach State Semis

After missing out on a berth in the SCC Tournament, the East Haven softball team got everyone’s attention when the Yellowjackets opened up the Class L State Tournament by winning their first three games in the bracket last week. East Haven notched victories versus Hand (4-3), St. Joseph (2-0), and Barlow (12-2) to advance to a semifinal showdown against Brookfield, while improving to 14-9 on the season. Along the way, Head Coach Ed Crisafi earned his 300th career victory as Yellowjackets’ head coach when East Haven defeated St. Joseph in a second-round game on May 30.

The Yellowjackets are playing No. 4 seed Brookfield in the Class L semifinals at DeLuca Field in Stratford Tuesday, June 4 at 7 p.m. If the Yellowjackets win, they will face the winner of No. 2 seed Masuk and No. 3 North Haven for the state title on either Friday, June 7 or Saturday, June 8.

East Haven started off the state draw as the No. 16 seed and hosted No. 17 Hand in a first-round matchup on May 29. The Easties stunned the Tigers by claiming a 4-3, walk-off victory when junior Becky Flynn hit two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning. With East Haven trailing 3-2 and a runner on base, Flynn belted a 2-0 pitch deep over the fence in left-center field to win it for the Yellowjackets.

Flynn had two doubles to go with her game-winning home run, while sophomore Tori Heaphy also collected three hits for East Haven. Heaphy notched the win on the mound by allowing just five hits and striking out 13 batters in seven innings pitched. Sophomore Brooke Clancy had a hit with an RBI, fellow sophomore Kayla Rosario hit an RBI double, and freshmen Magdalena Barthel and Jilien Ayala added one hit apiece in the dramatic victory.

The following afternoon, East Haven hit the road to take on No. 1 seed St. Joseph in the second round and posted a 2-0 shutout behind a flawless outing from Heaphy. After allowing a hit to the leadoff batter, Heaphy didn’t give up another hit for the rest of the game. The sophomore ultimately tossed a one-hit shutout with seven K’s to help Coach Crisafi get win No. 300 as the Easties’ skipper.

Barthel, who had three hits on the day, came up clutch for East Haven by hitting a two-run, two-out single in the fifth inning for the only runs of the game. Ayala had two hits with a run scored, and senior Jenna Esposito scored East Haven’s other run. Heaphy, Clancy, and sophomore Sammie Franceschi added one hit apiece.

On June 1, East Haven was back on the road to face No. 9 seed Barlow in the Class L quarterfinals. Barlow took an early lead, but the Yellowjackets came back with two runs in the fifth inning, five in sixth inning, and five more in the seventh to run away with the win. Heaphy allowed six hits and struck out nine to pick up another victory on the hill. She also helped herself by getting three hits and two RBI at the dish.

Barthel had two hits with three RBI, while freshman Emilee Bishop and Ayala each had two hits and scored two runs. Senior Selena DeFelice scored three runs, Rosario doubled and scored a pair of runs; Franceschi had a hit, walked three times, and scored two runs; and junior Jillian Hay had a hit to go with two RBI to help East Haven advance to the Class L semifinals.