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.