Westie Blue

The Ridgefield softball team may be thinking about a new nickname. Cinderella may be the best of the list.

After needing two days to post a mild upset over Greenwich in the opening round of the Class LL state tournament, the 19th-seeded Tigers used a conventional method in the second round.

Behind the solid pitching of sophomore Alyssa DeStefano, clutch hitting, and sure fielding, Ridgefield upset third-seeded West Haven 5-0 at Biondi Field in West Haven Friday afternoon.

“These girls love the game,” Ridgefield coach Lauren Greywacz said. “They believe in each other. We came out here to get it done and we did. We pulled together and made the plays we had to make. We stepped up.”

For West Haven (18-4), one of the best seasons in recent memory will also go down as one of the most disappointing as the Westies opened the season with 15 consecutive victories, before losing four of their last seven, including losses in the opening rounds of both the Southern Connecticut Conference and state tournaments.

“They did everything they could to win,” West Haven coach Joe Morrell said of Ridgefield. “Their pitcher (DeStefano) was unbelievable today. She kept the ball out of the zone. They made the plays and got the hits.”

For Ridgefield, the win continued a season turnaround as the Tigers opened the year with just one win in their first seven contests.

“The season did not start so great,” Ridgefield’s Sabrina Grizzaffi said. “But, we came together. We knew they are a great team. We came into this as just another normal game.”

Grizzaffi opened the game for Ridgefield with a single, before West Haven pitcher Ivy Santos hit the next two batters to load the bases.

Skylar Arent singled to left to score Grizzaffi, and DeStefano followed with a sacrifice fly to right for a 2-0 lead.

That was all DeStefano would need as she went the distance, allowing just two hits and two walks, while striking out seven.

“I just took it one pitch at a time,” DeStefano said. “We did not want to get ahead of ourselves. I knew I had my defense behind me.”

West Haven had two solid scoring opportunities in the game, but could not capitalize.

In the first, Ashlynn O’Keefe and Veronica Lynn drew one-out walks, but DeStefano got Kailey Carrano on a fielder’s choice, and struck out Santos to end the threat.

Trailing 5-0 in the sixth, the Westies had their final threat as Morgan Peryer singled to lead off the inning and Lynn reached on an error to put runners on the corners. The threat came to a sudden end as a hard-hit ball by Carrano was turned into an inning-ending double play.

“These girls have made us proud all year,” Morrell said. “They put West Haven softball back on the map. We wish we could have finished on a better note. We scored a lot of runs this year. Unfortunately, we did not score enough runs at the end.”

Ridgefield took a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning when Lauren Bayer scored on a wild pitch and Alexandra Kinkead scored on a single to center by Claire Filaski.

Kinkead scored the final run in the sixth when she reached on an error, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on an error while attempting to steal third.

Grizzaffi and Kinkead led Ridgefield with two hits apiece.

Santos went the distance for West Haven, allowing two earned runs on eight hits. Santos walked two and struck out six.

The biggest test of the year for the West Haven softball team did not have to wait for the postseason. One game after losing their first contest of the year, the Westies rebounded with a 6-3 victory over East Haven Friday evening at Biondi Field in West Haven.

With the victory, West Haven improved to 16-1 on the year.

Dianesse Rodriguez led West Haven with two hits and two runs scored, Morgan Peryer had one hit and drove in three runs,  while Ivy Santos had one hit, scored one run and drove in a run as well. 
Santos went the distance, allowing four hits and two earned runs, while walking five and striking out nine.

The Westies took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, then increased the margin to 6-2 in the fourth.
Santos gave West Haven a 1-0 lead with a long homer to left to start the second, before Kasey Marron walked, Rodriguez singled, and both advanced on a sacrifice by Paige Beurer. Peryer then came up with the big hit as her two-out single scored a pair for a 3-0 advantage. 

After East Haven scored twice in the third, the Westies added three more runs in the fourth.
Rodriguez led off with a single to left, Beurer singled to center, and Neve Krajcir grounded out to score Rodriguez. Peryer then delivered Beurer with a fly ball to left, and Ashlynn O’Keefe later scored on an error.

The win came after West Haven’s 15-game winning streak to start the season came to an end. After the long run of victories, the Westies were finally sent to defeat. 

Just four days after rallying to defeat Hand in Madison, the Westies could not muster the same comeback as they fell to the Tigers 4-1 at Biondi Field in West Haven Wednesday evening. 

West Haven had eight hits in the game, but could not come up with the clutch hit. West Haven also made two errors, leading to a pair of unearned runs. 

Santos went the distance, allowing eight hits and two earned runs, while striking out nine and walking three. Veronica Lynn and Kailey Carrano led the offense with two hits apiece, with Lynn driving in West Haven’s lone run. 

Hand never trailed in the contest, taking a 1-0 lead in the first, and increasing the lead to a pair of runs in the third. After Lynn drove in Peryer with West Haven’s only run in the third, Hand scored single runs in the fourth and seventh innings to put the game away. 

West Haven had a big inning brewing in the first as O’Keefe, Lynn and Carrano hit one-out singles to load the bases, but Hand got a double play ball to end the frame. 

Trailing 2-0, West Haven cut the deficit in half in the third as Peryer led off with a single and moved to third on a grounder to first. Lynn grounded to second to score Peryer and get West Haven within 2-1. 

Carrano followed with a double, but Hand again escaped without further damage. The Tigers did the same in the fourth, stranding Kasey Marron at third. 

West Haven remained undefeated on the season in what seemed to be a fitting way. Not only did the Westies improve to 15-0 with an identical 15-0 blanking of Hillhouse, the Westies did it in perfect style as Santos and Krajcir needed just 49 pitches to toss a perfect game in a contest stopped due to the mercy rule.

Santos went the first four innings, needing just 35 pitches to strike out eight of the 12 batters she faced. Santos threw 30 of her 35 pitches for strikes. 

Krajcir followed with an inning of perfect relief, striking out all three batters on 14 pitches, 12 of which were strikes. 

Offensively, Peryer led a 12-hit attack with three hits and four runs scored, while Lynn had a pair of hits and four runs batted in, and Marron had two hits and scored a run. 

The Westies led 1-0 after one, 4-0 after two, and blew the game open with nine runs in the fifth inning. 

Peryer led off the game with a single, moved to second on a fielder’s choice by Lynn and scored when Santos walked with the bases loaded. 

The Westies increased the lead to 4-0 in the second as Rodriguez led off with a walk, and Gigi Perkins and Peryer followed suit. O’Keefe singled to center to score a pair, and Carrano walked with the bases loaded for a 4-0 advantage. 

Perkins singled to score Marron in the third, before West Haven erupted in the fifth. Lynn hit a two-run single for an 8-0 lead, Santos tripled in two more for a 10-0 advantage, and Krajcir increased the lead to 11-0 with a single to left to score Santos. Lynn added another 2-run single for a 14-0 lead. 

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West Haven coach Joe Morrell could not have envisioned the type of start his West Haven softball team would have. Like any team, there were questions to be answered as the season began.

Morrell sure likes the answers nine games in. After sweeping Lyman Hall home and away this past week, West Haven improved to 9-0 and qualified for the postseason. With 11 regular season games to go, the message is clear.

West Haven wants to win as many games as possible to secure home field and high seeds in both the Southern Connecticut Conference and state tournaments. The Westies would also like to remain undefeated.

The road to the ninth consecutive victory sure did not start the way West Haven would have liked, but Thursday morning’s contest against Lyman Hall ended just the same as West Haven’s initial eight games and that was with a victory. 

Rallying from a four-run deficit with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, three more in the third, and five in the sixth, West Haven defeated Lyman Hall for the second straight day by a score of 12-5 at Biondi Field in West Haven. 

The win, which saw West Haven pound out 12 hits, including two by Veronica Lynn for 100 in her career, raised West Haven’s record to 9-0 on the season. 

Lynn also scored four runs, Kailey Carrano had four hits, drove in four and scored twice, Ivy Santos added two hits, drove in a pair and scored twice, and Paige Buerer had two hits and drove in a pair. 

Santos was also solid in the pitching circle. The West Haven pitcher allowed eight hits, while striking out seven. Santos did not allow an earned run as the Westies committed four errors. 

Trailing 4-0 before they even came to bat, the Westies cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the inning. 

Ashlynn O’Keefe reached on a one-out error, Lynn singled, O’Keefe scored on a passed ball, and Lynn scored on a double by Carrano. When Santos reached on an error, Carrano scored, and West Haven was within a run. 

The Westies took the lead for good with three runs in the third inning. O’Keefe again started the rally with a single, Lynn reached on an error, and Carrano again doubled to score O’Keefe and Lynn for a 5-4 lead. Santos followed with a single to put runners on the corners, Kasey Marron walked to load the bases, and Buerer singled to score the third run of the inning. 

West Haven increased its lead to 7-4 in the fourth as Lynn singled with two outs, Carrano followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and Lynn scored as part of a double steal for a 7-4 advantage. 

The Westies put the game away with five more runs in the sixth. O’Keefe reached on a one-out error, Lynn hit into a fielder’s choice to move O’Keefe to second, and Carrano singled to score O’Keefe. 

Santos doubled to score Carrano, Dianesse Rodriguez singled to score Santos for an 11-4 lead, and Buerer singled to score Rodriguez for the final run of the inning. 

West Haven needed just eight games to reach one of its goals. By defeating Lyman Hall 11-3 in Wallingford Wednesday afternoon, West Haven qualified for the postseason with its eighth straight victory to open the year. 

Santos not only had a big day pitching, allowing just one earned run on six hits, while striking out eight and walking two, she came up just as big at the plate. Santos had three hits, drove in five runs and scored one as West Haven led from the start.

The Westies led 2-0 after one, 4-2 after two, 9-2 after four and 11-3 after six. 

Lynn had three hits and scored four runs, Morgan Peryer had two hits, drove in two and scored one, while Gigi Perkins added a pair of hits and scored once.

Peryer opened the game with a single to left, moved to second on a sacrifice by O’Keefe, and scored on a single by Lynn. Lynn scored as part of a double steal for a 2-0 advantage.

West Haven took a 4-0 lead in the second. Rodriguez singled with one out, Buerer followed suit, and Peryer followed with a two-run single. 

Up by two runs, West Haven increased the margin to three runs in the third. Lynn reached on an error, Santos singled, and Kasey Marron singled to score Lynn. 

West Haven added four runs in the fourth to blow the game open as Perkins singled, O’Keefe walked with one out, Lynn singled to load the bases, and Santos hit a grand slam to center. 

The Westies capped their scoring in the sixth when Carrano doubled to score Lynn, and Santos singled to score Carrano.  

For all of your West Haven sporting news, including game stories, photos, videos, game statistics, and more, visit www.westieblue.com.

The West Haven baseball team opened the 2019 season by winning two of its first three games.

The Westies began the campaign with a 6-5 road victory over Wilbur Cross. Led by two hits from freshman Gianni Gambardella and a solid pitching outing from Juan Contreras, the Westies improved to 1-0 on the year. 

Contreras went the distance, allowing seven hits and three earned runs, while striking out six and walking three.

“Both teams played extremely hard and tough today,” West Haven coach Ron Luneau said. “We got one more break than Cross did. Our seniors stepped up in their leadership. It was a very good baseball game.” 

Trailing 1-0, West Haven took a 2-1 lead in the second. Mike Tonucci led off with a walk, Mike Boni reached on an error, and Tonucci scored on an error. With two outs, Kaden Morgillo singled to score Boni. 

West Haven increased the lead to 4-1 in the third. With one out, Chris Cavallaro was hit by a pitch and scored on a triple by Contreras. Tonucci drove in Contreras for a three-run advantage. 

“Our seniors are showing our younger guys how to compete,” Luneau said. 

The Westies took a 5-1 lead in the fifth when Dom Cambino singled, moved to third on a ground out by Cavallaro, and scored on an error. 

Cross scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to get within 5-3, but West Haven got that run back in the sixth. Gambardella singled with one out, went to third on an error and scored on a ground out by Hunter Axelrod. 

West Haven won its second straight contest to start the year with a 13-7 decision over Platt Tech Thursday afternoon in Milford. 

The Westies used a balanced attack as eight different players were in the hit column, eight different players drove in runs, and nine different players scored at least one run. West Haven also turned to its youth to help in the win. 

Tonucci led the way with three hits, three runs batted in, and two runs scored, while sophomore Tyler Jones had three hits, drove in one run, and scored a run. Seniors Cambino and Cavallaro each had two hits and drove in a run, while Cambino scored twice and Cavallaro scored once. 

Tyler Green pitched four innings, allowing six hits and four runs, two of which were earned, walking two and striking out two. Gambardella pitched the final three innings, allowing three runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out three.

The Westies scored three times in the first inning as Cambino led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a triple by Contreras. Tonucci singled to score Contreras, before Tonucci stole second and scored on a single by Axelrod. 

“We had a problem throughout the game picking up the ball, but we overcame that with some timely hits,” Luneau said. “Our pitching was solid, but we need to make more plays behind our pitchers. Platt Tech turned out to be very stubborn. Their coach deserves a lot of credit for that.”

After Platt Tech got two runs back in the bottom of the inning, West Haven took a 5-2 lead in the second. Morgillo walked, stole second. and scored on a single to left by Jones. Cavallaro doubled to score Jones for a three run lead. 

Leading 5-4 in the fifth, West Haven added another run when Cambino scored on a sacrifice fly by Contreras. West Haven increased the lead to 7-4 in the sixth as Gambardella doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Boni. 

The Panthers evened the game in the bottom of the sixth, before West Haven rallied with six in the seventh. 

Cavallaro singled, Contreras walked, and both scored on a double by Tonucci. Axelrod followed with a walk, Gambardella reached on an error to score Tonucci, Boni singled to score Axelrod and Gambardella, and Cambino grounded out to score Boni. 

West Haven was looking to continue its offensive surge which started the season when the Westies took on cross-town rival Notre Dame Monday afternoon. Instead, it was the Green Knights who had the hot bats. 

Using 13 hits off three West Haven pitchers and taking advantage of a pair of West Haven errors, Notre Dame cruised to a 10-3 victory over the Westies at Piurek Field. 

The Green Knights handed West Haven (2-1) its first loss of the season by breaking open a tight game with six runs in the fourth inning, and holding a hot West Haven offense to just two hits in the game. 

Notre Dame took a 2-0 lead in the second as Max Mariano singled with two outs to score a pair, before blowing the game open with six runs in the fourth. 

Notre Dame sophomore Zachary Peters retired the first ten batters of the game before Cavallaro and Contreras walked with one out in the fourth. Peters escaped without any damage as he got a pair of ground outs to end the frame. 

Trailing 10-0, West Haven finally got on the board in the fifth. Axelrod and Branden Coggins walked with one out, and Cambino reached on an error to score Axelrod. 

The Westies added another run in the sixth as Contreras singled, stole third and scored on a ground out by Tonucci. West Haven scored its final run in the seventh as Steven Byrd doubled and scored on a ground out to short by Jake Lentine.  

The best of friends always find a way to stay together. Just ask a pair of former West Haven High hockey stars.

High school hockey may have ended for Brendan Serenson and Pete Richetelli, but that has not stopped the lifelong friends from playing together. With the hopes of playing in college still fresh in their minds, the pair has connected again in Junior hockey.

Playing this past season for the Connecticut Rangers, Serenson and Richetelli recently concluded their Junior hockey days, losing in the second round of the postseason.

While the loss may be bittersweet, it is also a new beginning for the pair as collegiate academics and hockey now await.

For Serenson, the goalie will take his talents to Roger Williams College where he will study Business Management and stop pucks in goal. 

“I have already taken some classes online,” Serenson said two years removed from high school. “I was not really sure what I wanted to do (after high school). I thought I knew. I knew I wanted to keep playing hockey. I wanted to play at a higher level. I wanted to play Juniors to see where that would take me. I’m happy with where I’m going.”

Richetelli, who finished with 95 career points in high school and had 72 points this year for the Junior Rangers, will face a big decision in where his college days will take him. He is still in the process of determining where that path will be.

“Long term, I would like to play four years of college,” Richetelli said. “It is definitely a little different. I want to play as long as I can and enjoy it.”

While each were All-State selections in 2017 at West Haven, both Richetelli and Serenson found out the difference in speed of the game from high school to Juniors relatively quickly. Serenson had to get used to the play in front of him, while Richetelli had to pick up his pace to keep up with his opponents.

Not only were game speeds different, but so to were practices. Both believe that transition helped their overall games.

“The speed is the biggest difference,” Richetelli said. “It took a couple of games to adjust. Everyone works hard and fast. It pushed you to the limit.”

Serenson had two solid seasons in Juniors as he played for the Junior Wolfpack out of high school, posting an .890 save percentage and a 4.00 goals against average. Moving over to the Rangers his second year, Serenson posted similar numbers for a team which advanced to the second round of the postseason.

Richetelli was the opposite side of the ledger as his responsibility was to put the puck in the net. The former Westie obliged as he had 14 goals and 25 goals for 39 points his first year, and 28 goals and 44 assists for 72 points this past year. 

“I think I was more adjusted this year,” Richetelli said. 

Richetelli, who started looking into Junior teams his senior year of high school, quickly decided on Junior hockey after being approached by Jim Hankel. While undecided on a college, Richetelli knows the next level is more of a job than recreation. 

“It is definitely more of a job,” Richetelli said. “In Juniors, everyone has a role. If you mess up, they will sit you. You have to work hard or you will not play.”

Said Serenson, “I feel Juniors helped me. It made me develop as a hockey player and as a person. I made great friends, and I learned what it takes to be successful as a student and an athlete.”

While Juniors helped both raise their game and their success level, it also reunited the All-State players from West Haven High. 

“It was good to get to play with Pete again,” Serenson said. “It was nice. We have been playing together so long. It was great to have a friend there. I knew he had my back everywhere and on the ice.”

What was also nice for the lifelong friends was their ability to share their experiences with both families as each have been by the other’s side since they started skating.

Said Richetelli, “It meant a lot to play with Brendan. We have played together since youth hockey and all through high school. We were able to go on road trips and spend a lot of time together. We got to do that with our fathers too, so that was special to do one last time.”

For the lifelong friends, they are finding out the next level is a business. They are also proof you can have fun and still work hard.

The first time Hamden and West Haven met this season, Hamden put on an offensive display and cruised past the Westies. Knowing West Haven was not going to let that happen again, the Green Dragons used an offense which saw 12 different players gather points in a 6-4 Division I victory over the Westies at Lou Astorino Rink Monday evening.

Sophomore Conor Gethings was the only Hamden player with multiple points as he had a goal and an assist, while 11 other players recorded one point. Hamden goaltender Donald Moorcroft made 19 saves, including several key stops in the third period with the Westies looking to rally.

“It is important for us to get the secondary scoring,” Hamden’s Eddy Fracasso said after finishing with an assist. “We had several guys come up big tonight. That is good for the team. It gets the whole team rolling.”

The Green Dragons, ranked fifth in the GameTimeCT/Register Top 10 poll, were rolling from the start, outshooting West Haven 15-5 in the opening period, and using a pair of 5-on-3 advantages to build momentum, before scoring twice in 50 seconds for a 2-0 advantage.

Up two men, and after West Haven (10-10) had already killed a two-man down situation, A.J. Luedee found himself alone in front and beat West Haven goaltender Jared Pliszka where he made no mistake off assists from Fracasso and Gethings.

Just 50 seconds later, the lead was a pair of goals as Jack Shane scored off assists from Tyler Routh and Alex Hernandez.

“We got off to the quick start with the two goals,” Fracasso said. “We knew West Haven was not going to let us run away with it. We knew they were going to come back. We knew we had to pick it up.”

The Westies cut the deficit in half with 4.8 seconds left in the opening period. Richie Greene’s point shot was deflected in front by Kevin Moriarty, before Moriarty put in the loose puck to get the Westies within 2-1.

“We fell behind early,” West Haven coach Joe Morrell said. “We have shown we can come back and we will need that in the playoffs. We had some opportunities, but we didn’t cash in.”

Hamden (11-8) scored the only goal of the second period when Alan Cozzolino scored off a scramble in front with an assist going to Alex Ponzio, before the Green Dragons opened up the contest in the third period.

Craig Cesare gave Hamden a 4-1 lead 3:46 in and Michael Gethings added to the mix 38 seconds later for a 5-1 advantage, before West Haven stormed back.

“Playing teams like West Haven helps us for the postseason,” Fracasso said. “It gives us an extra boost. When we play the big teams like West Haven, we know we have to play together and be ready.”

Led by Kaden Morgillo, the Westies rallied back. Morgillo got West Haven within 5-2 off assists from Nico Bruneau and Colin Hines 1:04 later, before Niko Kyle scored off assists from Nick Boanno and Moriarty with 2:52 remaining.

Trailing by two, Morgillo again tallied off an assist from Sean Dupre with 35.5 seconds to go to get West Haven within 5-4, but the Westies could not get the equalizer.

“At 5-1, we got some life,” Morrell said. “We are going to need that. We know we can come back. It has happened a few times this year where we came back. Now, we have to rest up and get ready for the postseason.”

Conor Gethings sealed the win for Hamden as he scored into an empty net as time expired.