What a difference a day makes.
24 hours after Tuesday’s potentially devastating 7-5 loss to a sub-.500 Trinity Catholic squad, the New Canaan Rams softball team came back and stunned the FCIAC world Wednesday afternoon at Waveny’s Orchard Field with a dramatic 2-1 upset win over #2 ranked Darien.
“That’s softball,” New Canaan head coach Danielle Simoneau told NewCanaanite.com. “That’s why it’s so frustrating when you make careless mistakes because you know you’re better at the game than what we showed. But they came back today and proved we are better than what we showed.”
Senior captain Ali Reilly.
The game featured two of the best pitchers in the FCIAC and more than lived up to its billing. Senior captain Ali Reilly–performing in front of her future college coaches from Babson University–came out on top in a classic pitcher’s duel with Darien ace Erika Osherow, giving up only four hits and striking out five Blue Wave batters over seven innings to earn the complete game victory. Osherow was just as good, racking up 13 K’s while surrendering just one earned run in a losing effort.
“It really feels great, I haven’t even wrapped my head around it yet,” Reilly said. “It almost felt like we won the FCIAC championship again. It was almost a little embarrassing – we’re screaming, hugging, so excited – I had so much adrenaline.”
New Canaan jumped out to an early lead. Senior captain Colette Pellegrini led off the bottom of the 1st with a line drive single up the middle and promptly stole second base. With one out, freshman Molly Keshin grounded the ball back to Osherow who overthrew first base. Pellegrini came around to score, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead.
Darien would answer immediately. With one out in the top of the 2nd, Cassidy Schiff reached base on an error and moved to second on a fielder’s choice. Lexi Lopiano then drove a two-out base hit to LF, scoring Schiff with the tying run.
Darien threatened to break the tie in the top of the 3rd. With one out, Osherow reached on an error and moved to second on Kelly Vodola’s bunt single. Julia Domiziano walked to load the bases, but Reilly was able to strike out Rebecca DeMaio for the second out. Schiff then ripped a hard grounder down the third base line, but New Canaan sophomore Claire Conley made a terrific diving backhand stop, and was able to get the force at third to end the inning.
“Claire played flawless defense today,” Simoneau said. “That could have been two runs right there.”
Rachel and Molly Keshin take some practice cuts as they await their turn at the plate.
Both pitchers settled in from that point, with Osherow retiring 12 New Canaan hitters in a row until Molly Rochlin lined a single to center in the bottom the 5th. Reilly allowed only two more base runners to reach in the 4th through the 6th inning, as the 1-1 deadlock stretched into the bottom of the 6th.
With two outs, Molly Keshin ripped a double down the LF line. Junior Jamie Schlim followed with a single to SS, and when the throw went to first, Keshin scooted home with the go-ahead run.
“It was far enough where someone with speed like Molly Keshin can explode right away with two outs,” Simoneau said. “She knew she was going, and was able to score.”
Darien would not go down without a fight. Kelly Reyes lead off the 7th with a single. But Reilly was up to the task, getting Christina Charriott to pop up to Pellegrini in CF and inducing a force at 2B from the dangerous Osherow for out number two. Vodola then grounded out to freshman SS Rachel Keshin, and the Rams had the victory.
Ali Reilly congratulates Molly Keshin after Keshin scores a run for New Canaan.
With the win the Rams improved to 10-6 overall and 10-4 in the FCIAC, solidifying their chances of making the FCIAC playoffs. This was the 7th win in the last eight games for New Canaan, who remain tied with Trumbull for 7th place in the division and one game behind Westhill who currently hold the tiebreaker against the Rams and Golden Eagles. New Canaan is also currently three games ahead of Fairfield Warde and Danbury and own the tiebreaker against both teams – something that could come in handy when looking at the upcoming schedule. New Canaan has an extremely tough road ahead in their final four games, all against some of the top teams in the FCIAC, starting this Saturday against division leader St. Joe’s. They then take on Stamford, Trumbull and Ludlowe to finish out the regular season.
That said, Simoneau and the Rams are not looking ahead…or behind, for that matter. As was the case both Tuesday and Wednesday, anything can happen between the lines.
“They questioned what happened yesterday, but yesterday we buried it,” Simoneau said. “The focus today was just to stay relaxed. Enjoy the game that you’re playing, and whatever the outcome will be, it will be. But enjoy it. This is why we play, so we tried to keep it upbeat and smooth and keep the stress away from the field.”
“I think it’s a huge morale boost for the team,” Reilly said. “We are starting to understand that we’re capable of beating teams like this. We beat a team like Darien, Darien beat St. Joe’s, we can beat St. Joe’s. That’s what we’re starting to think and figure out. We need to play our very best in order to beat these teams, but I think it can happen.”