On the Diamond: Pitching gems highlight big week in baseball, softball
Week 7 of the baseball and softball season featured a number of highlights and top performances.
In baseball, Landon Manzi (Killingly), Keyan Mayernik (Plainfield), and Ian Brais (Ellis Tech) each tossed pitching gems to lead their respective teams to wins.
On the softball diamond, Norwich Tech’s Autumn Hanks and Ellis Tech’s Rose Lopez tossed no-hitters, while the Killingly trio of Danielle Veillette, Samantha Baker, and Grace Deslaurier combined for a no-hitter over Plainfield.
And Norwich Tech’s Evelyn Brimmer hit for the cycle in the Warriors’ big win over Vinal Tech.
The Norwich Bulletin has you covered for what's happening this spring at Norwich Free Academy, Killingly High School, Plainfield High School, Griswold High School, Norwich Technical School, and Harvard Ellis Technical School.
Here are the highlights and top performances on the diamond from Week 7:
Baseball
Landon Manzi tossed a complete game shutout in lifting Killingly to a 6-0 win against New London. Manzi struck out 12 and scattered four hits.
Alex Murdock had two hits, Ashton Goodwin and Hayden Larrow each had two RBIs, and Brady Zadora added an RBI double for Killingly (8-9), which clinched its fifth consecutive state tournament berth.
Keyan Mayernik struck out 12 to lead Plainfield to a 3-2 victory over Bacon Academy. Gwilym Cook came on in relief with two outs in the seventh inning and notched a strikeout with the tying run on second base.
Keegan Hirst had a key RBI single for the Panthers (3-13).
Tony Navan had two hits, including a double, in Plainfield’s 7-0 loss against Montville.
Jack Duthrie had three hits and two RBIs and Colin Mitchell (4.2 innings, two earned runs) earned the pitching win as Griswold topped Bacon Academy, 12-6. Mitchell also added two RBIs at the plate.
Ian Brais struck out eight over five innings while scattering three hits as Ellis Tech (11-4) defeated Goodwin Tech, 11-0 (5). Brais also had two hits and an RBI at the plate.
Riley Wenzloff paced the Golden Eagles offense with three hits, including a double, and an RBI. Cam Fulone added two hits and an RBI, while Hayden Ferland had a double and three RBIs.
Logan Spillane hit a two-run home run but Norwich Tech fell to Bacon Academy, 12-5. The Warriors are 7-10.
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Softball
Madison Waltke went 4-for-4 with a double, home run and four RBIs to power Norwich Free Academy to an 11-2 victory over East Lyme.
Sophie Miner added two singles and winning pitcher Hailey Smith scattered six hits and also had a single and two RBIs for the Wildcats.
Danielle Veillette, Samantha Baker, and Grace Deslaurier combined for a seven inning no-hitter as Killingly topped Plainfield, 8-1. The three pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts, six walks, and one unearned run.
Jayden Durand paced Killingly’s offense with three hits, while Addison King and Grace Deslauriers each added two hits and two RBIs as Killingly improved to 8-9 overall, 3-2 in ECC DII.
Vellette had a single and scored the only run for Killingly in a 7-1 loss against Bacon Academy.
Rose Lopez tossed a five-inning no-hitter to lead Ellis Tech past Goodwin Tech, 14-0 (5). Lopez struck out nine and walked none. At the plate, Lopez had two hits, including a double, triple, and drove in three runs.
Hailey Haggett had two hits, including a double and two RBIs, while Liz Ploof and Gabriella Jimenez each had two hits and one RBI for Ellis Tech.
Lopez was also the winning pitcher in the Golden Eagles’ 19-6 (5) win over Tourtellotte. Lopez struck out seven and walked one. The sophomore also had three hits, including a double, and drove in six runs.
Ava Ethier added two hits and an RBI for Ellis Tech (11-4, 8-2 CTC).
Autumn Hanks tossed a no-hitter and Evelyn Brimmer hit for the cycle to lead Norwich Tech to a 22-1 five-inning mercy-rule win over Vinal Tech. Brimmer scored three runs and had two RBIs.
Morgan Cook (4-for-5, three RBIs) and Khai Maldonado (3-for-3, four runs) also homered for the Warriors, while Diana Kozerefski, Maya Stimson and Carden Stimson had two hits apiece and
Carden Stimson added a triple and four RBIs for Norwich Tech.
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Winning pitcher Maya Stimson struck out eight and scattered three hits in Norwich Tech’s 23-5 (5) win over Prince Tech. At the plate, Stimson had three hits, including a triple, and two RBIs.
Maldonado had three hits, including a home run, and four RBIs, while Brooke Ostrowski also collected three hits and drove in five runs for the Warriors.
Stimson also struck out eight in Norwich Tech’s 20-4 (5) win over Putnam. Nyomi Barboza (three RBIs) homered, Morgan Cook went 4-for-5 with a double, triple and six RBIs, and Carden Stimson had three hits, including a double, and two runs scored for the Warriors (11-7).
Abby Matheson tossed a four-hitter while striking out five to lift Griswold past Ledyard, 6-2. Arianna Pedraza (two RBIs) and Summer McLean each had two hits for the Wolverines (12-4).
Tied at 2 in the bottom of the sixth, McLean led off with a single and scored on a RBI triple from Kierra Neilson. Pedraza then laced an RBI single to make it 4-2. Naely Diaz walked, stole second and scored on a two-run double from freshman Bella Bruno.
McLean also had two hits in Griswold’s 5-1 loss against St. Bernard.
This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: On the Diamond: Pitching gems highlight ECC week in baseball, softball
