Greyhounds get off to 2-1 start

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NAUGATUCK — With experienced and young players alike stepping up, the Greyhounds picked up wins over Pomperaug and Wilby to start the season, before falling in a tight contest to Holy Cross.

Naugy (2-1) grabbed a quick 6-0 lead over the Panthers in the second inning on April 1. It was a 6-5 game when the Greyhounds unleashed a four-run outburst in the fifth to carry them to a 10-6 victory.

Freshman Kendall Allen did the most damage at the plate. Allen had two hits, including a double, and drove in four runs. Freshman Samantha Mullin added three hits, two RBI and three runs scored.

Senior Alyssa Ulrich had a triple, two hits and a run scored. Senior Megan Schofield had two hits and two runs, and junior Jordyn Hunt added had two hits and two RBI. Alyssa Roberts went the distance in the circle for the win, giving up 10 hits

“Pomperaug is a very good team. They can put the bat on the ball,” Naugatuck head coach Kevin Wesche said. “I thought we played well defensively. We didn’t make any errors, and Alyssa did a good job pitching for us and was strong with runners on base.”

The Greyhounds followed up the Pomperaug game with a convincing 16-0 mercy-rule win over Wilby on April 2.

Allen again sparked the offense with three hits, a double and five RBI. Schofield added three hits and three runs scored. Freshman Felicia Salvati had three hits and three RBI. Nadia Cestari added three runs, Roberts had three RBI, and Hailey Deitelbaum contributed two runs and one RBI. Autumn Travis and Alyssa Hovey scored two runs each.

Roberts had nine strikeouts over three innings, and Kayshla Diaz pitched two innings with five strikeouts to combine on a no-hitter.

The Greyhounds finished out the first week of the season with a 4-3 loss to Holy Cross on April 4. The Crusaders struck for all four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to pull out the win. Nadia Cestari had a hit and scored two runs to lead the Naugy offense.

Early on in the season, Wesche said the team is seeing the results from playing a vigorous preseason slate.

“Our younger girls are doing a real good job. They are getting quality at bats and helping us to be successful at the start of the season,” Wesche said. “We had seven scrimmages, the most we’ve had in decades, and you can see how that has helped us to prepare for the season.”

Naugatuck is scheduled to play Seymour on Wednesday and Watertown on Friday. Next week, the Greyhounds will head to Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Florida where they will take on Woodland and Wolcott.