Starting the season with a pair of losses, the West Haven baseball team knew the importance of getting on the winning side. The start of its game against Hall was not the way the Westies drew things up.
Trailing 6-0 after a half inning and 9-3, West Haven rallied for an 11-9 victory Saturday afternoon at Piurek Field.
Cam Cruz led the offense with three hits, two runs batted in, and a run scored, Jose Padilla, Ray Gilbert and Chase Supan each had a pair of hits, while Padilla, Evan Jones, Gilbert, and Mike Madera each scored twice.
Hudson Axelrod picked up the win in relief, tossing four innings of three-hit, shutout baseball, walking four and striking out two. Supan picked up the save with a scoreless seventh.
Trailing 6-0 before they batted, the Westies chipped away with three runs in the bottom of the first. Gilbert doubled to score Jones, Supan followed with a single, Brady Price walked to load the bases, and Cruz doubled to score Gilbert and Supan.
Hall got those three runs back in the top of the second, before West Haven cut the deficit to 9-4 in the bottom of the inning. Madera led off with a double to left, Padilla singled, and an error plated West Haven’s lone run of the inning.
West Haven scored four times in the third with two outs to cut the deficit to 9-8. With the bases loaded, Gilbert singled to score Madera, Supan singled to right to score Padilla and Jones, and a double steal scored Gilbert to get the Westies within a run.
As Axelrod pitched his second shutout inning, West Haven took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth.
Cruz singled to left, Haygen Axelrod and Madera walked with one out to load the bases, and Padilla doubled to left, scoring Cruz and Haygen Axelrod for a 10-9 lead. Jones then lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Madera for the 11-9 advantage.
After a comeback victory over Hall, West Haven was looking to extend its winning streak to two games. Despite jumping on the board first, West Haven could not build and fell 9-2 at Cheshire.
West Haven (1-3) had eight hits in the game, but the Westies could not come up with the clutch hit.
With the game scoreless after three innings, West Haven took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Jones started the rally with a bunt single and moved to second on the play, before scoring on a one-out double by Supan.
West Haven could not deliver Supan with another run in the inning, and Cheshire rallied with three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 lead.
The Westies rallied with two outs in the fifth, but they could not get any runs on the board. Madera hit a two-out single to right and Padilla followed with a double, but both runners were left stranded in scoring position.
The Rams put the game away with five runs in the bottom of the inning and added another in the sixth. West Haven added a run in the sixth as Price and Cruz singled with two outs, and Jey Scanlon doubled to score Price.
Haygen Axelrod started for West Haven and took the loss. Lucas Forgette pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits and no earned runs.
One day later, Supan helped get the Westies back on track.
Behind a complete game two-hitter, Supan led the Westies to a 4-1 road victory over Branford. Supan walked two and struck out four as West Haven improved to 2-3.
Jones led the offense with two hits and one run scored as the Westies were held to just five hits in the game.
After Branford took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a leadoff double, sacrifice and ground out, West Haven tied the game in the third inning. Hudson Axelrod led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored on a two-out single by Padilla.
Jones singled to put a pair of runners on, but Branford got out of the inning. The Westies, who went down in order in the first, second, fourth and seventh innings, threatened in the fifth as Madera reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second, but he was left stranded.
Supan retired the last 13 batters he faced and allowed West Haven to pull away with three runs in the sixth.
Jones started the rally with a leadoff single, stole second and third, and scored on Gilbert’s sacrifice fly to center. Supan followed with a single to left, Price walked, and Cruz reached on an error to load the bases.
Scanlon followed with a pinch-hit single to score Supan and Price for a 4-1 advantage. Scanlon went to second on the play, but he was left stranded to end the inning.
Supan did the rest, not allowing a ball to leave the infield during the final six outs.
Despite a solid pitching outing from Connor Hume, the West Haven bats were held silent against Shelton and the Gaels defeated the Westies 2-0 at a soggy Piurek Field.
Hume went the first five innings on the mound, allowing four hits and two runs, striking out four and walking three.
West Haven was held to just three hits in the game, two by Supan and one by Gilbert, in the loss. West Haven had just four base runners in the game as Shelton pitcher Will Hugya retired 16 batters in a row until Supan led off the seventh with a single.
Cruz followed with a two-out walk in the seventh, but any late inning dramatics ended there as West Haven fell to 2-4 on the year.
West Haven’s best threat came in the first inning as Supan and Gilbert had two-out singles, but West Haven could not push the first run across.
The Gaels needed just one inning to score, putting two runs on the board in the third inning. Two singles, a West Haven error, and a sacrifice fly gave Shelton a 1-0 lead, before another West Haven error gave the Gaels a 2-0 advantage.
Looking to rebound from its first loss of the season, the West Haven softball team knew it was in for a battle when it traveled to play Trumbull. The Westies never got on track and fell 11-3 to drop to 1-2 on the season.
With the game scoreless, Trumbull broke the game open with three runs in the third and four more in the fourth for a 7-0 lead.
Holly Waibel and Sarah Davey led West Haven with two hits and one run scored apiece.
Trailing 8-0, West Haven scored twice in the sixth when Waibel led off with a double, Taylor Alfano walked, and Olivia McDonnell hit into a fielder’s choice to put runners on the corners. Natalie Gallo singled to score Arianna Herazo, and Davey singled to score McDonnell.
After Trumbull responded with three in the bottom of the inning, West Haven scored its final run in the seventh when Mia Rubirosa hit a one-out triple and scored on a single by Waibel.
West Haven improved to 2-2 with a 15-0 five-inning mercy rule victory over Hillhouse at Biondi Field in West Haven.
Alfano pitched a complete-game no-hitter, falling one walk away from a perfect game. Alfano struck out eight in the win.
Alfano also led the offense with two hits, two walks, two runs scored and one run batted in. Waibel, McDonnell, and Gallo each drove in a pair, while Waibel, McDonnell, Shannon Hoey, and Aniah Glover each scored twice.
West Haven took control of the game with 12 runs in the first inning and three more in the second.
The Westies jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first when Rubirosa, Waibel, and Alfano scored on wild pitches, McDonnell scored on a passed ball, and Abigail Wynus walked to force in a run. Glover singled to score Sarah Davey, Rubirosa delivered Wynus with a ground out, and Glover and Hoey scored on an error.
McDonnell doubled to score Alfano and Waibel, and Davey singled to score McDonnell for a 12-0 lead.
In the second, Alfano singled to score Hoey, and Gallo singled to score Herazo and Glover for the 15-0 advantage.
West Haven was looking to extend its winning streak to two games Wednesday afternoon. Guilford was not going to let that happen.
Scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh innings, the Grizzlies rallied to defeat West Haven, 3-2, in Guilford. With the loss, West Haven fell to 2-3 on the year.
Rubirosa took the loss, allowing three earned runs on two hits. Rubirosa struck out 10 and walked nine, including the first two batters in the seventh, before being replaced by Alfano.
After Guilford evened the game in the sixth on four walks and a stolen base, the Grizzlies turned three more walks and a wild pitch in the seventh into the winning run.
Trailing 1-0, West Haven evened the game in the third when Hoey led off with a single, moved to second on a bunt by Glover, and scored on Waibel’s two-out double to left. Waibel was stranded at second in the inning.
The Westies took a 2-1 lead in the fifth as Hoey led off with a walk, went to third when Glover reached on an error when sacrificing, and stole home.
West Haven’s last threat came in the sixth as Gallo singled with two outs, but she was left stranded.
West Haven lost a wild 17-16 game to Shelton. The Westies led 6-0 and 9-3, but could not hang on, falling to 2-4 on the season.
Rubirosa set the school record for career home runs when she led off the first inning with a homer to center, and she added her eleventh career homer later in the game.
West Haven walked 17 batters in the game, and three pitchers combined to throw over 200 pitches. West Haven also received 17 walks on the day in a contest which took close to four hours to complete.
The Westies had just eight hits in the game, with McDonnell leading the way with three hits, three runs batted in, and one run scored. Rubirosa had two hits, drove in two runs, and scored three times, while Glover and Herazo each scored four times.
Leading 1-0 in the first, Natalie Gallo singled to score Herazo for a 2-0 advantage. McDonnell reached on an error to score two runs for an 8-3 lead in the second, before Alfano scored on a wild pitch for a 9-3 lead.
Rubirosa gave West Haven a 10-7 lead with a two-out homer to center in the fourth, before Shelton scored seven times in the fifth. Trailing 16-10 in the sixth, McDonnell walked to force in a run, but West Haven left the bases loaded.
West Haven had one more rally in the seventh, scoring five times to get within 17-16. Maddy Kaczmarek started the rally with a one-out single, and scored when Herazo drew a bases loaded walk. Shelton errors allowed four more runs to score, before Gallo walked with two outs.
Shelton escaped without further damage, ending West Haven’s comeback attempt.
West Haven lost its third straight contest and fell to 2-5 on the year with a 7-4 home loss against Sheehan.
Wynus and Davey homered in the contest, but it was not enough as the Titans scored three runs in each of the third and fourth innings to take a 6-1 lead.
Rubirosa took the loss for West Haven, tossing a complete game, allowing six earned runs, while striking out nine and walking three.
West Haven took a 1-0 first inning lead when Waibel reached on an error and courtesy runner Herazo scored on a single by Alfano.
Trailing 6-1, West Haven had a golden opportunity to get back in the game in the fourth inning when Alfano doubled, McDonnell, singled and Gallo walked to load the bases with no outs. The Westies could not push a run across and had to wait until the sixth inning to rally again.
Alfano reached on an error to open the sixth and scored when Wynus homered to center with two outs. Davey then followed with another homer to center to get the Westies within 6-4.
Sheehan took a 7-4 lead in the seventh, and West Haven rallied again in the seventh, but left a pair of runners on.
After two losses to start the season, the West Haven boys lacrosse team got in the win column with a 10-3 victory over Rockville Saturday evening at Ken Strong Stadium in West Haven.
Yousaf Ullah and Marcus Burrows led the way with four goals and one assist apiece, Justin Bruno had a goal and an assist, and Thomas Porto had three assists in the win.
Holding a 34-8 shot advantage in the game, West Haven led 2-0 after the first quarter and 7-1 at halftime.
Burrows got things going for the Westies when he scored off an assist from Jason Alling with 8:18 remaining in the first quarter, before Ullah scored off an assist from Porto 1:08 later for the 2-0 lead.
The Westies pulled away in the third quarter as Burrows scored off an assist from Porto with 6:14 left in the half, Ullah scored off an assist from Porto 1:05 later, and Burrows scored again off an assist from Bruno with 3:26 left in the half.
Ullah scored an unassisted goal with 2:41 left in the half and Burrows gave the Westies a 7-1 lead at the break off an assist from Ullah.
West Haven used goals by Bruno off an assist from Burrows and an unassisted goal by Ullah in the third quarter, before Iannotti scored an unassisted goal in the fourth quarter.
The West Haven boys tennis team picked up its first victory of the season with a 6-1 road victory over Shelton. The Westies improved to 1-1 with the victory.
In singles action, West Haven’s Miguel Torres defeated Chase Graber, 7-5, 4-6. 7-6, second-seeded Brandon Sihaphong topped Jack Parkes, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Johnny Chen won over JP Kocot, 6-2, 6-4. Shelton’s Nikhil Dagar won in the third slot over Eshwar Balakumar 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
In doubles play, top-seeded Javon Huang and Caden Mateo defeated Gino Sorrentino and Dominik Golebiowski, 6-2, 6-2, second-seeded David Guadarrama and Ali Hamza won over Anthony Rivera and Prem Shah, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, and third-seeded Woobin Kim and Jordan Smith defeated Kevin Foley and Misha Kit 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
West Haven improved to 2-1 with a 7-0 victory over Platt Tech at West Haven High.
In singles action, top-seeded Balakumar defeated Paul Corsini, 8-2, second-seeded Chen topped Josiah Tilghman, third-seeded Guadarrama won over DJ Hugget,t 8-0, and fourth-seeded Hamza topped Chris Hernandez, 8-1.
In doubles play, top-seeded Huang and Mateo won, 8-6, over Josiah Tilghman and DJ Huggett, second-seeded Kim and Smith topped Chris Hernandez and Evan Santor, 8-1, and Russel Basaen and Matthew Loo (WH) won in the third slot.
West Haven won its third match in a row with a 7-0 victory over East Haven. With the home victory, the Westies improved to 3-1 on the year.
In singles action, top-seeded Torres defeated Matteo Martinez 6-0, 6-1, second-seeded Sihaphong posted a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Mateo Romero, third-seeded Balakumar topped Gustavo Floses Sao, 6-2, 6-0, and fourth-seeded Kim won over Aedan Conness, 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles play, top-seeded Huang and Mateo defeated Angel Orezco and Steve Condo, 6-1, 6-4, second-seeded Guadarrama and Hamza topped Trevor Vacaro and Garth Collin,s 6-3, 6-1, and third-seeded Daniel Davis and Smith defeated Justin Trudeau and Luis Valenzuela, 6-3, 6-2.
The winning streak reached four matches for West Haven. Winning three of four singles matches, West Haven defeated Jonathan Law, 4-3 at West Haven High.
In singles action, top-seeded Torres topped Jon Uruchidw, 6-2, 6-1, second-seeded Sihaphong defeated Dean O’Donnell, 6-3, 6-3, and third-seeded Balakumar defeated Ryan Berendt, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2. Fourth-seeded Parth Goknale from Law topped West Haven’s Kim, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In doubles play, Law’s top seed of Sahawsh Bhatia and Sean Lexedor won over Huang and Mateo, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and Law’s second seed of Sri Gudiavalletti and Alastarr Balin defeated Guadarrama and Hamza, 6-4, 7-5. West Haven’s third seed of Davis and Smith won over Pierce Marino and Dylan Maselli, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.