Jenna Schauder’s bunt hit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh scored Ava Roth, giving Old Lyme a 4-3 comeback victory over Coginchaug on Tuesday and a 4-0 start for the Wildcats.
Old Lyme’s Shoreline Conference win over the defending Class S champs sent Coginchaug to its first loss in three games.
“Personally, I felt it was a big win for our program,” Old Lyme coach Tim Gavin said. “We have battled Coginchaug in close games over the past four years but had not beaten them until today.”
The Blue Devils held a 2-0 lead through four innings before Old Lyme took the lead with a three-run fifth inning. Coginchaug tied the game at 3 with an unearned run in the top of the seventh.
In the bottom half, Roth led off with a bunt single and went to second on a hit by Victoria Gage before winning pitcher Emma Bayor was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting up Schauder’s winning at-bat.
“The kids did a great job of digging down deep and battling in the last three innings,” said Gavin. “Maddie Hubbard, our shortstop, made a great play in the top of the fifth. She ranged deep in the hole with two outs and runners on second and third and threw the batter out at first for the third out. That was huge.
“We carried that momentum into the bottom of the fifth with the three runs. We had a base running error in that inning that cost us a run, but the top of our order came through to produce a run when we needed it.”
Related Posts
Roth was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and Gage had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs for the Wildcats. Bayor walked 3 times and had a hit.
Gage started and put in 5 innings while allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3. Bayor pitched the sixth and seventh, yielding an unearned run on 1 hit and striking out 3.
Old Lyme visits Haddam-Killingworth on Wednesday in a battle of Shoreline unbeatens. The Cougars are off to a 5-0 start overall, 4-0 in the conference. Cromwell, also 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Shoreline, visits Coginchaug on Wednesday.