MILFORD—Maddy Bonanno was having the type of day every spin-based pitcher on a diamond dreams about. All she needed was that one run to get her team over the hump.
Jonathan Law’s Lily Stankevich delivered that run with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth, and Bonanno survived the top of the seventh as the Lawmen eked out a 1-0 win over North Branford in a non-league showdown on Saturday.
With the win, Law improved to 7-2 overall, while North Branford slipped to 9-1. The defeat also snapped the Thunderbirds’ 17-game winning streak, which dated back to a regular-season loss against Cheshire last season.
Once Stankevich gave Law the lead, the rest was up to Bonanno. The junior pitcher had gone 6.2 innings without giving up a hit and finished with a one-hitter while recording her first stand-alone shutout of the season. Bonanno had been part of two other combined shutouts earlier this year.
“She had an amazing game,” said Law catcher Chloe Capalbo. “As a catcher, there’s nothing I love more than when I can call anything and have complete confidence that she’s going to get it there, where she needs to.”
Bonanno has six different pitches to choose from; on this day, it was her curveball that was especially effective against the Thunderbirds.
“My curveball was really nice today,” said Bonanno, who finished with 10 strikeouts and no walks while throwing just 72 pitches. “Working, spinning right. I had a lot of spin today, but I really couldn’t have done it without my defense, too. They’re really important to me. I’m so grateful for my infield and my outfield; they made all the plays and just had an overall really good game.”
On Friday, North Branford, out of the Shoreline League, edged Hale-Ray and its Division I-bound pitcher Lilly Jahne (St. John’s). However, the Thunderbirds had trouble adjusting to Bonanno’s style of pitching, according to head coach Nick DeLizio.
“Their pitcher—she’s not going to blow it by you, but she kept it away,” said DeLizio. “We couldn’t make that adjustment from Lilly Jahne to her. Our approach? We were swinging at some balls we just normally don’t swing at. We didn’t make the adjustments like we should have.”
All the Lawmen needed was that one run, and they finally found it in the sixth. With one out, Stankevich ripped a line drive into left field. North Branford left fielder Samantha Johnson almost made a spectacular, all-out sprinting catch, but the ball deflected off her glove and rolled all the way to the fence. The effort allowed Stankevich to race 240 feet around the bases for an inside-the-park home run, giving her team a 1-0 lead.
“I just had to go back out there, get the job done, and get three more outs to win the game,” Bonanno said.
Two infield pop-ups put her within one out of a no-hitter, but North Branford’s Ava Ryzczyk ripped a single to left field to break up the bid. Unfazed, Bonanno got Lauren Vitarisi to ground out to first base to end the game.
Julia Scibek added a double for Law, while Marina Cosmas had a single for the Lawmen’s only other hits. Jonathan Law head coach Melanie Blude was not at the game, and none of the Lawmen assistant coaches wished to comment on the record.
Vitarisi pitched a gem in the loss for the Thunderbirds, striking out nine, walking two, and surrendering just three hits.
“I thought Lauren pitched fantastic,” DeLizio said. “She gave up just that one run. We just couldn’t get base runners on, and they made the plays.”
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