Amity Softball Comes From Behind for Sixth Win in a Row

Trailing 5-1 as it came to bat for the bottom of the third inning, the Amity softball team got itself back on track and went on to sting East Haven 8-5 Wednesday afternoon in Woodbridge. The Southern Connecticut Conference inter-divisional victory gave the Lady Spartans a 6-1 record and extended their consecutive game-winning streak to six in a row.

According to Coach Bob Purcell, “We got together and talked before we went to bat in the bottom of the third inning. I told everybody to take a deep breath, start over, and score one run at a time. We had been pressing, but after our chat, the girls seemed to relax and started to play with confidence.”

C.J. Semones led off the home half of the third inning by drilling a double to the base of the fence in center field. Alyssa Mirmina’s base hit put runners on the corners with no one out. After Mirmina swiped second base, Jessica Hoffer’s single into left center field drove in both teammates and made it a 5-3 contest. Later in the same session, Hoffer raced home on a wild pitch from Yellowjacket losing pitcher Amanda Bradley (now 0-3).

Still trailing by a run (5-4) when it came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, Amity went right back on the attack.  Jenn Post and Semones drew back-to-back, one-out, free passes and Mirmina’s single drove in Post with the game-tying run. Semones stole second and then came around to score on a two-base throwing error by Eastie catcher, Brianna Spadacenta.

Now leading by a run (6-5) the Lady Spartans tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jacqui Ferraiolo led off with a base hit up the middle. Dana Blydenberg followed with a two-strike, two-bagger over the head of Yellowjacket center fielder Jenna Gaudioso that brought Ferraiolo home. Heather Watt’s tapper back to Bradley enabled Blydenberg to move onto third base and she scored on Heather Ferrante’s fly ball to right field.

Purcell added, “We’re a good hitting team, especially the top of our batting order. Even when we were behind 5-1, I knew we would score more than one run. I think Monday’s 2-0 victory over Lyman Hall toughened us up for close games, but this was the first time we had to come from behind to win. We have one girl (Ferriaolo) hitting .667 and four more batting over .400. (Semones--.474, Ferrante--.444, Blydenberg--.438 and Watt--.400). On top of that our defense has been very strong. Our fielding percentage is .971. We’ve made only six errors in our first seven games.”

 Blydenberg was Amity’s starting pitcher and the Easties jumped right on her for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. With one out, Veronica Hribko ripped a double into the left-center field gap, advanced a base on Spadacenta’s infield out and was driven home by Miranda Baldassarre’s single into center field. Amy DePalma followed with an RBI double that staked East Haven hurler Amanda Palmiero to an early 2-0 lead.

Amity answered back with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Semones led off with a single to left field. Mirmina bunted her up a base and she scored on Hoffer’s base hit.

In the top of the second inning, Amanda Jessey walloped a lead-off triple into deep right-center field. Two outs later, she scored and gave the Easties a 3-1 lead when Carlee Brigante punched a base hit into left-center field. Things went from bad to worse for Blydenberg and the Lady Spartans in the top of the third. Spadacenta’s lead-off double and Gaudioso’s two-out singe extended the visitors’ lead to 4-1. Jessey’s base hit drove Blydenberg off the rubber and brought on Corinna Zdrowski. She loaded the bases with a walk to Julianna Maisano and then forced in a run by also walking Bradley.

Purcell added, “I’m happy for my girls. They did a nice job coming from behind today. Once we took a deep breath and regrouped in the third inning, we started playing with confidence. We have good dynamics on our team this year and we are becoming a very good team.  Corinna  (Zdrowski) did a great job in relief of Dana. (Blydenberg).
 Zdrowski blanked the Easties and allowed only two hits in her 4 1/3 inning relief stint as she improved her record to 6-0.”

Jesse led the 3-3 losers with her triple and single. She also scored a run.  Semones singled, doubled, scored three runs and stole a base for Amity. Mirmina added a pair of base hits, scored a run, stole a base, and drove in a run. Hoffer also stroked two singles and drove in three runs. Blydenberg chipped in with a double, a single, and also scored a run.