Ireland Miessau records a strikeout to leave a pair of runners stranded in second. Scoreless WH and Lauralton #ctsb pic.twitter.com/J0zs6l3RI6
— Mike Madera (@MikeMadera2) May 9, 2016
WEST HAVEN – As the innings passed with neither team scoring, Lauralton Hall pitcher Ireland Miessau knew she had to pick up her team. The senior answered the call in a big way.
Allowing just four hits and striking out 11, the senior held the Westies at bay long enough until the offense responded in the final two innings as Lauralton Hall posted a 5-0 victory over West Haven in a Southern Connecticut Conference contest at Biondi Field Monday evening.
Lauralton Hall, the ninth-ranked team in the Register/GameTimeCT top 10 poll, improved to 12-3 with its eight straight win. The streak, ironically enough, started with another win over the Westies.
“This win is very important for us,” Miessau said. “It sets the tone for the rest of the week.”
Miessau worked the edges, stifling the West Haven hitters throughout. Once she started getting the call on the outside corner, the veteran pitcher continued to work that way.
“In the beginning of the game, I was not getting the inside corner,” Miessau said. “That is hard for me because I try to jam hitters. I started working the outside and the more I got it, I worked it a little more.”
Miessau had only one potential jam to work out of as she struck out a pair of Westies with two on in the second to end the frame. With runners on the corners and one out after Sara Duprey walked and Makenna White singled to right, Miessau got out of further trouble by sitting down Kailey Carrano and Kasey Marron.
“We had not played and we knew we were going to need our pitching and defense tonight,” Lauralton coach Amanda Acampora said. “Tonight she (Miessau) stepped up and put the team on her back.”
While Miessau was setting down the Westies, West Haven pitcher Julia Bothwell more than held her own, blanking the Crusaders for five innings.
It was the sixth inning in which Lauralton finally got on the scoreboard. Christiana Cottrell led off with an infield single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when an errant throw on another steal went into the outfield. Emma Larke followed with a walk, stole second and scored on Kaitlyn Mingione’s single to right.
“We were perfect through five innings,” West Haven coach Joe Morrell said after his team fell to 8-6 with its third loss in four games. “But, one little glitch and they get a couple of runs. I thought Julia (Bothwell) pitched an unbelievable game. That is what we have been asking of her all year long. Their pitcher is a great pitcher and she worked out of a jam when she had to. She came up big for them.”
The Crusaders added three insurance runs in the seventh as West Haven made a pair of errors. Alexa Furnari scored on an error with one out, Larke singled to score Maura Keary and a wild pitch scored the third run of the inning for the Crusaders.
Bothwell went the distance for the Westies, allowing five runs on six hits while walking three and striking out six.
“We have a tough week coming up,” Acampora said. “This is a good start for us. We had a big week last week as we were able to get three games in. With the rain, we were not able to hit real balls. It was either playing or rain. We have not practiced outside. She (Miessau) was big for us tonight.”
Larke led the Lauralton offense with a pair of hits and a run batted in.
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