The dream postseason run has come to an end for the West Haven baseball team. Unable to muster much offense, No. 31 West Haven fell to No. 23 Westhill 3-1 in the Class LL quarterfinals at Cubeta Stadium in Stamford, Saturday.
West Haven (10-13) had just two hits in the game and trailed early, never catching up. Haygen Axelrod and Supan combined to allow just three hits, but Westhill took advantage of its opportunities.
A walk, a wild pitch, and a passed ball helped Westhill to a 1-0 lead in the first, before the lead increased to 3-0 in the fifth when a single and a hit batter started the inning, before another hit batter loaded the bases with one out. A sacrifice fly gave Westhill a 2-0 lead, before a passed ball increased the margin to 3-0.
Westhill pitcher Kyle Kipp retired the first 14 batters before Supan was hit by a pitch with one out in the fifth. Any rally was quickly erased with a double play.
West Haven finally got on the board in the sixth when Mike Madera led off with a walk and stole second. A wild pitch moved Madera to third, before Padilla walked and Harp singled to score Madera. With the tying runs on base, West Haven could not get the big hit as a ground out ended the frame. Supan singled with one out in the seventh, but West Haven could not rally.
Haygen Axelrod pitched five innings of 3-hit ball, allowing one earned run, while walking one and striking out four.
West Haven traveled to Naugatuck in the opening round of the Class LL state tournament and pulled a upset with a 6-5 victory over second-seeded Naugatuck.
Trailing 4-2, West Haven scored twice in the fifth, two more times in the seventh, and held on as Naugatuck rallied in the seventh.
Down by two runs in the fifth, Cam Cruz and Ray Gilbert singled with one out, and both scored on a single and error on the play to left by Chase Supan.
The trio was at it again in the seventh as Cruz led off with a double, Gilbert singled to left to put runners on the corners, and Supan singled to right to score Cruz for a 5-4 lead. A sacrifice fly to right by Evan Jones scored Gilbert for a 6-4 advantage.
Naugatuck got within 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh on a leadoff single and a one-out run-scoring double by Alex Teixeira, but Supan picked the potential tying run off second for the second out, and promptly recorded a strikeout for the final out.
West Haven took a 1-0 lead in the first as K.J. Harp reached on a one-out bunt single, moved to second when Gilbert reached on an error, and later scored on a wild pitch.
Naugatuck evened the game at one with a run in the third off starting pitcher Haygen Axelrod, but the Westies got that run back in the fourth on Hudson Axelrod’s run-scoring single.
Supan relieved Haygen Axelrod in the fourth and Naugatuck took a 4-2 lead when Matt Stefan singled to score Thomas Barry, and Kevin Cestari scored when a dropped third strike needed a throw down to first and Cestari scored on a wild throw home by West Haven. Blake Stone then tripled in a run for a 4-2 Naugatuck lead.
The season continued in dramatic fashion for the team. Refusing to go down without a fight, the Westies kept fighting and rallied to defeat No. 15 Enfield in the second round of the Class LL state tournament, 10-7.
Trailing 4-0 after four, West Haven got within a run in the fifth, and trailing by two runs, the Westies scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. With the game even at 7, West Haven used a 3-run tenth to prevail.
Gilbert led the way with five hits and four runs batted in, while Jose Padilla added four hits, drove in two runs, and scored three times.
Trailing 4-0 to start the fifth, Padilla hit a run-scoring single, Harp reached on an error to score another, and Gilbert singled to center to score Padilla, but Harp was out at the plate to end the inning.
Trailing by a run, the Westies evened the game in the seventh when Gilbert doubled to center to score Harp, who led off with a walk.
The game then became a heavyweight bout as Enfield stranded two on with no outs in the seventh, before the Westies took a 7-5 lead in the ninth. With runners on the corners, Gilbert doubled to score Padilla for an 8-7 advantage. Evan Jones then hit a two-out single to score Cruz for a 9-7 lead.
The Westies came within a strike of advancing, but a wild pitch allowed Enfield to score the tying run in the bottom of the inning.
West Haven then took the lead for good with three runs in the tenth on a run-scoring double by Padilla, a sacrifice fly by Cruz, and another run-scoring single by Gilbert.
The West Haven softball team qualified for the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament as the eighth seed. The reward was facing top-seeded and undefeated North Haven.
After jumping out to an early lead, the Westies fell in the SCC quarterfinals, 15-3, at North Haven Monday afternoon.
North Haven scored three times in the bottom of the first, seven more in the second, and twice in the third to put the game away.
West Haven took a quick 1-0 lead when Mia Rubirosa homered on the first pitch of the game, but North Haven hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning and added two more to lead 3-1 after one inning.
The Westies got within a run in the second when Taylor Alfano led off with a walk and scored on a two-out double to center by Hannah Burrows. That was as close as the Westies got as the Nighthawks scored seven runs with two outs in the bottom of the inning for a 10-2 lead.
Trailing 12-2, West Haven got a run in the fourth as Juliana Petruzziello led off the fourth with a homer to center, but West Haven could not rally.
West Haven made quick work of No. 21 Conard in the opening round of the CIAC Class LL state tournament with a 12-0 opening round victory at Biondi Field in West Haven Tuesday afternoon in a game stopped after six innings due to the mercy rule.
The 12th-seeded Westies scored three times in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings to advance to the second round.
Rubirosa, Shyanne Raccio, Alfano, and Olivia McDonnell each had two hits in the win, with Rubirosa and Raccio each driving in three runs. Every member of the lineup got at least one hit and scored at least one run.
Raccio picked up the victory in the pitching circle, allowing one, hit, while walking two and striking out 11 in the shutout.
Leading 1-0, the Westies took a 4-0 lead in the second as Melanie Jimenez and Brianna Miller reached on errors with two outs, and Raccio singled to score both for a 3-0 advantage. Alfano then tripled for a 4-0 advantage.
The Westies increased the lead to 7-0 in the fourth when Burrows doubled and McDonnell singled, before Rubirosa homered to center.
Petruzziello singled to score Alfano for an 8-0 lead in the fifth, before Petruzziello scored on an error and McDonnell singled to score Gianna Carrano.
West Haven ended the game in the sixth when Miller and Raccio homered in consecutive at bats for the 12-0 final.
The season came to a sudden close for the West Haven softball team. Jumping out to a 5-run lead, the 12th-seeded Westies could not hold on in an 8-7 Class LL second round loss at No. 5 Norwich Free Academy Wednesday afternoon.
With the loss, West Haven finished the season with a 14-9 record.
Raccio took the loss, allowing just four earned runs on eight hits, while walking five and striking out four.
Miller led the offense with three hits, three runs batted in, and two runs scored, while Juliana Petruzziello had two hits and drove in two runs, and Rubirosa added two hits, drove in a run, and scored a run.
Despite having 11 hits in the game, and scoring seven times in the first three innings, West Haven could not push across another run in the final four innings. The Westies led 6-1 in the second inning, before NFA scored five times in the second and twice in the fourth to pull out the victory.
West Haven took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Rubirosa led off with a walk and Miller homered to left with one out.
Leading 2-1, West Haven scored four times in the second for a 6-1 advantage. McDonnell singled with one out, before the Westies continued with a two-out rally.
Melanie Jimenez singled to center, Miller singled to left to score McDonnell, and Raccio singled to right to score Jimenez for a 4-1 lead. After Alfano walked, Petruzziello doubled to left to score Miller and Raccio, but a line drive off the bat of Gianna Carrano was snared in center to leave a pair on.
With the game even at six to start the third, West Haven took its last lead of the game when Rubirosa’s one-out single scored Hannah Burrows who had walked.
West Haven had only three hits the rest of the way and just one more scoring opportunity in the fifth as Carrano led off with a double, but one-out later was out at the plate on a close play after a grounder to short by McDonnell.
After such a solid start to the season, the West Haven boys tennis team finished the regular season in a bit of a slump. Losing its sixth straight match to close the season, the Westies finished the regular season with a 10-10 record.
The regular season finale saw the Westies travel to Hamden and come away with a 7-0 loss against the Green Dragons at Hamden High.
In singles play, Hamden’s top seed Quinn Northrop defeated Miguel Torres, 6-0, 6-0, second-seeded Nolan Jermain topped West Haven’s Brandon Sihaphong ,6-3, 6-1, third-seeded Paras Dodd defeated Eshwar Balakumar, 6-2, 6-2, and Hamden fourth seed Anshul Druel topped Johnny Chen, 4-6, 6-2, 10-7.
In doubles play, Hamden’s top seed of Kauslar Mohaly and Keshan Menon defeated Valentin Diaz and Caden Mateo, 4-6, 6-3, 10-2, second-seeded Argon Sigla and Lucian Gaedan topped West Haven’s Ali Hamza and Javon Huang, 6-2, 6-3, and third-seeded Lance Mandoza and Sean Dunhley topped Mehmet Aciker and Yousaf Khan, 6-2, 9-7.
The season has come to an end for West Haven. Despite losing six matches in a row to close the regular season, the Westies entered the Class LL state tournament qualifying round as the 15th seed and hosted No. 18 East Hartford.
West Haven could not get back on track as East Hartford posted a 5-2 victory at West Haven High Friday afternoon.
West Haven’s only victories came in doubles play as second-seeded David Guadarrama and Huang topped Shahaan Siddigy and Jovick, 6-0, 6-0, and third-seeded Mehmet Aciker and Ali Hamza defeated Thierry Ofori and Jeremia Ortiz, 5-7, 7-6, 10-8. Top-seeded Diaz and Mateo fell to Seb Mardales and Azaan Siddigy, 6-0, 6-0.
In singles action, Dan Shemonsky topped West Haven’s Torres, 6-2, 6-2, second-seeded Zach Perkoski defeated Sihaphong of West Haven, 7-5, 7-6, third-seeded Bauer Larkin defeated West Haven’s Chen, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, and fourth-seeded Ben Boland topped Muhammad Tahir, 6-1, 6-3.
For all your West Haven sporting news throughout the year, including game articles by Mike Madera, highlights, photos and more, visit www.westieblue.com.