Griswold softball joins Medium Division race with win over Stonington
Griswold — It was quickly going from a three-team race in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Medium Division to two, as the Griswold High School softball team lost to Waterford earlier in the week and trailed Stonington 3-0 by 11:02 a.m. Saturday in an 11 o'clock start.
But Griswold, one of three champions in the division last season along with Waterford and Stonington, rejoined the party with not one but two significant comebacks.
Shay Sauvageau singled home Meghan Davis with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and Griswold edged Stonington 7-6. Davis, the No. 9 hitter, came through with a two-run single to right field one batter earlier, a hit coach Rick Arremony called the most significant of Davis' career.
Stonington (4-1, 1-1), which took a 6-4 lead in the top of the eighth on a two-run single by Abby Blanchard, made seven errors, two in the decisive eighth.
"We've been struggling defensively. We've been working hard, but struggling," Stonington coach Ann-Marie Houle said. "We're better than that. That's a lot of errors, a lot of unearned runs. That has to drive you as a player."
Three of Stonington's first four hitters scored in the first, as Mallory Kane led off with a double, followed by an RBI single from Blanchard, a groundout by Cameron Dreher, an RBI triple to the gap in right-center field that was hammered by Brooke Arruda and an RBI single by Rhianna Maynard.
"It was all about location," said Arremony, who took that opportunity to walk out to the mound for a talk with pitcher Shyla Krick. "She was leaving the ball way up in the zone. That's what people set their tee work up on. ... She got herself to compete."
Griswold (4-1, 1-1) took a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Stonington made three errors and Stonington tied it in the top of the sixth on another RBI single by Blanchard, making it 4-4. After Blanchard's two-run single in the eighth, the Bears led 6-4.
Griswold struck quickly in the bottom of the inning, though, getting a leadoff single by Brooke Rainville, an error and a sacrifice bunt to push the runners to second and third. Madison LaBossiere popped up to Emma Miller at second base, her second leaping stab of the game, for the second out.
After that, Davis, a sophomore, singled in two runs, took second on a passed ball and went to third on an errant pickoff throw. That set up Sauvageau, who already had two hits and two long fly balls to her credit by the time she came to the plate in extra innings.
Sauvageau, the Wolverines' sophomore shortstop, delivered.
"It was great to get this win," Sauvageau said. "We just knew we can't hang our heads (despite trailing 3-0); we can't get negative about it."
Arremony admits to thinking in the preseason that finishing third in the division and reaching the state tournament would be a palatable goal, having graduated seven seniors, including pitcher Kirsten Drobiak. He calls this the youngest team of his coaching career.
Griswold will play both Medium Division rivals a second time later in the season. Meanwhile, Waterford and Stonington don't play for the first time until May 4.
"We've come a long way in the last three weeks. Our goals just got a little higher," Arremony said. "They're sponges and they want to learn. They're so spirited."
Blanchard was 3-for-5 with four RBI for Stonington and Miller had a double and two singles in addition to her pair of leaping catches to back freshman pitcher Trinity Lennon (eight hits, one earned run).
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