NEW BRITAIN—Two struggling in-state Division 1 softball teams who are seeking to find an identity during the early portion of this season met up in a mid-week clash on Wednesday.
When all was said done it was host Central Connecticut holding on for a 5-4 win over Fairfield at the CCSU Softball Field.
Alina Varga threw 6.2 innings from the circle and didn’t give up a single earned run, but the Blue Devils had to withstand a late surge by the Stags as Adrianna Green earned her second save of the season.
“We are just trying to figure out who we are right now,” said Central Connecticut coach Breanna Gleason. “We’re trying to find chemistry on the field. I think even though we only won one game last weekend (at Yale’s Bulldog Invitational), I think we figured out a lot about ourselves and I think that came out today still. We got to clean up our defense a little bit, but I think that overall, I think we pitched better our last two games than we have all season. And I think that if we can pitch like that, I think we’re going to be fine.”
Varga (4 runs, none earned, five hits, 6 strikeouts, 5 walks) was spotted five runs in the bottom of the first inning against Fairfield starter Peyton Shields, a sophomore.
Ashlyn Desaulniers (Southington) opened the bottom of the first inning with a walk. After Joslyn Teal flied out to center field, KC Machado ripped a double to left center as Desaulniers advanced to third. Sophia LoPiccolo was then hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
Skylar Warn delivered a two-run single to center to put the Blue Devils on the board first.
“That was very key to our win today,” Warn said. “I think we’ve had a slow start to the season and slow start to hitting in our games. So, coming out in the first inning and scoring five runs was very, very big for us.”
Reagan Vunak delivered a double to score LoPiccolo to make it a 3-0 game and Ava Cino reached on a fielder’s choice, plating Warn to make it 4-0, Blue Devils.
After Grace Lawton walked, Abby Meehan singled to center field, scoring Vunak, to give CCSU a five-run lead to open the game.
“That first inning was great for us,” Gleason said.
Meehan’s base knock chased Shields from the game as the Stags brought in their ace, Alyssa Weinberg, to quash CCSU’s momentum.
“I still think we were a little off, for whatever reason; a little slow, little movement, who knows?” Fairfield coach Julie Brzezinski said. “But we talked about having passion every single time you step on the field and it’s not a want! But sometimes I could see in warmups that they’re moving slow, and things aren’t sharp and you can address it, but it’s up to them to bring it out. So, it was just a little disappointing.”
Weinberg’s entrance into the game did what it was supposed to do as the Stags shut down the Blue Devils the rest of the way. She pitched 5.2 innings, giving up just three hits while striking out 12 and walking just one.
That allowed the Stags to start to chip away at the lead and almost pull out an improbable win.
In the fourth inning, Fairfield loaded the bases, but Varga was able to escape the inning without giving up a run.
“We just didn’t come up with the big hit,” Brzezinski said.
The Stags did get one run back in the fifth.
Anna Paravati singled to right field and a throwing error allowed her to race all the way to third base with nobody out. Faith Camilleri immediately plated Paravati with a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-1 game.
In the top of the seventh, the Stags really put some pressure on the Blue Devils.
Charli Warren led off the inning by lofting a fly ball to center field. The ball may (or may not) have been lost in the sun, but the official scorer ruled an error and Warren raced all the way to third base. She scored when Morgan Sylvestre grounded out to Warn at second, making it the score 5-2.
(Photo by John Nash)
The Stags loaded the bases when Paravati was hit by a pitch and, after Camilleri flied out for the second out, Delaney Whiledon walked.
“I just think towards the end I just kind of got in my head a little bit,” Varga said. “I’ve been struggling so much with walks that I didn’t want to end up doing that. And I think I was just kind of overdoing it in my head instead of just relaxing the last couple of innings.”
Gleason opted to go with Green, her hardest thrower, to get the final out.
“With this just being a single game, we’ve got to put kids in situations that they feel pressure so that they can perform when we get to conference play,” the CCSU coach said. “So midweeks are for figuring some stuff out. Alina had been struggling with walks and we really wanted her to figure out how to throw more strikes, which she did today. And (Green) is our hardest thrower. And if somebody’s going to come in and close a game, it’s going to be her. So, we want her to know what it feels like to have that pressure and be able to perform under that pressure.”
Green battled, but did unleash a pair of wild pitches that allowed two more runs to score, allowing Fairfield to get to within a run at 5-4.
In the end, Green did get Christina Minor to strike out to end the game, s Central improved to 4-13 on the season with its second straight win.
KC Machado went 3-for-4 with two doubles for the Blue Devils while Vunak had two hits.
Machado knows her team has talent and it’s just finding its way as it heads into the Northeast Conference portion of its schedule. The Blue Devils were picked to win the NEC, according the coaches preseason poll.
“I think we’re just figuring out what’s going to work for us because we know that we’re a good team,” Machado said. “Just figuring out the right puzzle pieces and the right way to feel good. I think a lot of people are just kind of like they want to do (well).”
Fairfield slipped to 4-12 on the season. The Stags have lost four of their last five.
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