With the weather finally cooperating, the West Haven baseball team finally got on the field to open the regular season. Behind the two-hit pitching of Connor Hume, and two hits apiece from Evan Jones and Justin Wilson, West Haven rolled to an 11-1 victory at East Haven in the season opener for the Westies.
Hume tossed a complete game, allowing one earned run, striking out eight and walking two. Jones and Jose Padilla also scored twice and drove in a pair, while Colin Murray had one hit, scored a run, and drove in two.
Trailing 1-0, West Haven took control of the game with six runs in the second inning. With one out, Wilson was hit by a pitch, Josh Osbourne and Jeremiah Douglas walked to load the bases, before Jones singled to center to score a pair.
After Murray walked, Douglas scored on a passed ball, and Padilla reached on an error to score two more runs. Brady Price lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Padilla with the sixth run of the inning.
West Haven increased its lead to 8-1 in the sixth when Murray reached on an error to score Jones, who had doubled. Murray singled to score Jacob Fowler in the seventh, and Zach Boutellier and Aydan Vizcaya each scored on a wild pitch.
After opening the season with an offensive outburst, West Haven saw the bats get silenced one day later. Managing just five hits, the Westies fell 3-1 at Branford to drop to 1-1 on the season.
Padilla took the loss for the Westies, pitching four solid innings. The West Haven junior allowed three runs, one earned, on two hits, while striking out four and walking four.
Senior Lucas Forgette pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Wilson led the West Haven offense with three hits and a run scored.
Trailing 2-0, West Haven cut the deficit in half in the third. Wilson led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a two-out single by Jones, and scored on a wild pitch.
The Westies had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the fifth as Wilson and Cam Lipford singled, and Jones walked to load the bases with two outs, but the rally ended there.
West Haven stranded a runner at third in the sixth inning, and had another runner thrown out at second in the seventh.
The softball team opened the season in impressive fashion with a 16-7 victory over Stratford at Biondi Field in West Haven.
Natalie Gallo led the way in the pitching circle as she tossed a complete game, allowing six hits and five earned runs, while striking out 16 and walking three.
Abigail Wynus led the way with three hits, four runs scored, and two runs batted in, including a homerun. Gallo, Sarah Davey, Isabella Petruzziello, and Maddy Kaczmerek each had a pair of hits.
Davey and Aniah Glover each scored three times, while Gallo, and London Ryan each scored twice. Kaczmerek led the way with four runs batted in.
Trailing 1-0, West Haven scored twice in the first and five times in each of the second and third innings for a 12-2 lead.
With two outs in the first, Wynus walked and scored on a triple by Davey, who then scored when Glover reached on an error.
The Westies had another two-out rally in the second as Ryan singled, and Gallo and Ryan each scored on an error. Wynus homered to center, and Pettruzziello singled to score Davey for a 6-1 lead. Kaczmerek’s double to left scored Glover for a 7-1 advantage.
Wynus doubled to score Gallo in the third, Ryan scored on a sacrifice fly by Davey, Wynus scored on an error, and Kaczmerek doubled to center to score Petruzziello and Glover for a 12-2 lead.
After an opening day victory, the script was flipped for the Westies. A late-arriving Guilford team set the tone early with three runs in the first inning and rolled to a 21-3 victory over West Haven in a game shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule.
Guilford had 16 hits and also took advantage of five West Haven errors. The Grizzlies scored 12 unearned runs, and held leads of 3-0, 4-1, 9-2, and 16-3 as the Westies could never get close.
Davey led West Haven with three hits, one run scored, and one run batted in, and Glover had two hits and drove in a run.
West Haven got on the board in the second when Davey doubled and scored on a single by Glover. Trailing 9-1 in the third, Davey singled to score Ryan, who had walked, and Gallo singled in the fourth to score Petruzziello, who had opened with a single.
West Haven improved to 3-1 with a 2-0 victory over Sacred Heart Academy. Gallo pitched a gem, tossing a complete-game one-hitter, walking two and striking out eight.
Wynus led the West Haven offense with two of the team’s four hits.
The Westies jumped on the board in the first inning as Ryan walked with one out, moved to second on a single by Wynus, third on a single by Davey, and scored on Glover’s ground out.
West Haven took a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Petruzziello led off with a walk, moved to third on a pair of wild pitches, and scored on another wild pitch.
The boys lacrosse team opened the season in style, defeating Meriden, 15-3, at Ken Strong Stadium.
The Westies jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after one quarter, then increased the margin to 9-0 at the half. West Haven led 12-2 after three quarters of play.
Thomas Porto led the West Haven offense with five goals and two assists. A.J. Iannotti added three goals and two assists, Anthony DiMeglio and Cole Hill each had two goals and an assist, while Tyler McColgan scored twice.
Brandon Doody scored once, and Sebastian Oceguera added an assist. Hill led West Haven with 18 faceoff wins.
West Haven held a 36-9 shot advantage in the win. Freshman Xavier Nogue made three saves to pick up the victory for the Westies.
The girls lacrosse team opened the season with a 19-3 loss against Branford. Delaney Johnston led the offense with two goals, while Chloe Whelan scored once.
West Haven fell to 0-2 with a 10-5 loss at Mercy. Whelan and Johnston led the way again as Whelan scored three times and Johnston scored twice.
After a 7-0 defeat against Xavier, the West Haven boys tennis team picked up its first victory of the season with a 4-3 victory at Shelton, sweeping the four singles matches. West Haven improved to 1-1.
In singles action, Brandon Sihaphong topped Nikhil Dager, 7-5, 6-2 in the top slot, Ali Hamza defeated Joey Elias, 6-2, 6-1 in the second seed, Daniel Davis posted a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Prem Shah, and Dhruva Garani completed the sweep with a 6-3, 6-1 win in the fourth slot.
In doubles play, Sufyan Sayed and Ahmed Osman dropped a 6-4, 6-1 decision in the top slot, Mustafa Osman and Isiah Carrero fell 6-2, 6-1 in the second spot, and the third-seeded team of Russel Cris Basaen and Raihan Mirwais also fell short.