Looking for a strong start to the 2019 season, the West Haven softball team received just what the doctor ordered with a pair of convincing wins.
Pounding out 14 hits to go along with 10 walks, West Haven opened the 2019 campaign with a convincing 21-6 victory over Hamden at Hamden High Saturday morning.
Four players had multiple hits, seven players scored multiple runs, and four different players drove in multiple runs to support the complete game of effort of junior Ivy Santos in the pitching circle. Santos allowed three earned runs, while striking out nine and walking four.
The top five batters in the order for West Haven combined for 13 hits, 14 runs batted in, and 15 runs scored. Clean up hitter Kailey Carrano led the way with four hits, four runs scored and five runs batted in, while leadoff batter Morgan Peryer had three hits, scored four runs and drove in three.
Ashlynn O’Keefe had two hits and two runs scored, Veronica Lynn scored three times, and Santos had three hits, drove in four, and scored a pair. Santos and Carrano each homered in the contest, while Carrano doubled twice and Santos once. Freshman Paige Beurer walked three times and scored three times as well in the win.
West Haven took control of the game from the start, scoring twice in the first inning and adding six more in the second for an 8-0 lead.
Peryer opened the game with a single, advanced on a sacrifice by O’Keefe, and scored on a single by Lynn. Carrano then doubled to score Lynn for a 2-0 lead.
After Hamden went down without scoring in the first, West Haven blew the game open in the second with six more runs.
Beurer, Gigi Perkins and Neve Krajcir walked to open the frame, Peryer hit into a fielder’s choice to score Beurer, O’Keefe singled to score Perkins, and Peryer scored on a wild pitch. Carrano doubled to score O’Keefe, and Santos hit a two-run homer to center for an 8-0 advantage.
Leading 8-1, West Haven put the game away with three runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, Lynn and Carrano were hit by pitches to open the frame, Lynn scored on a wild pitch, Carrano scored on a ground out by Beurer, and Dianesse Rodriguez scored on a passed ball.
West Haven increased the lead to 14-1 in the fifth. Peryer and O’Keefe hit one-out singles, Carrano singled to score Peryer, and Santos doubled to score Lynn and Carrano.
Carrano started a six-run seventh with a leadoff homer to left.
The Westies improved to 2-0 with a 16-0 victory over O’Brien Tech Monday afternoon at Biondi Field in West Haven. With the win, West Haven has scored 37 runs in its first two games of the season.
While the Westies used a 12-hit attack, coupled with seven walks for their offense, it was the pitching of West Haven which stood out as three pitchers combined on a 5-inning perfect game as the game was stopped due to the mercy rule.
Santos picked up the win as she tossed the first three innings, striking out eight, while Krajcir and Miranda Burrows each tossed one inning with three strikeouts apiece.
Santos also led the offense with three hits, three runs batted in, and three runs scored. Peryer, O’Keefe, and Lynn each had two hits with O’Keefe and Lynn each scoring three times, and Peryer scoring twice.
West Haven took a 4-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. The Westies then scored six more in the second and three in each of the third and fourth innings.
Peryer led off the game with a single, O’Keefe walked and Carrano reached on an error to score Peryer. Santos followed with a double to score O’Keefe and Carrano, before a single by Rodriguez scored Santos.
In the second, Peryer, O’Keefe and Lynn singled to load the bases to start the inning, before Carrano singled to score Peryer. A single by Santos scored O’Keefe, and Lynn scored on a fielder’s choice by Rodriguez. Buerer singled to score Santos, an error scored Rodriguez, and a single by O’Keefe scored Perkins for a 10-0 lead.