East Hampton Win Streak Ends in Extra Innings

It was a showdown between two of the top teams in the Shoreline Conference. You sensed it, and as the game unfolded, it certainly lived up to its expectations.

Lydia Walter beat the throw to the plate on Morgan Humble’s infield grounder to score the winning run as Hale-Ray edged East Hampton 5-4 in nine innings Thursday night in East Haddam.

Played under the lights and in front of a large and charged crowd, the Little Noises bolted out of the gate early, taking advantage of three first-inning errors by the Bellringers to take a 3-0 lead. Hale-Ray tacked on another run in the second, giving starting pitcher Katelyn Nichisti, with six wins on the season, a seemingly comfortable cushion, especially considering Hale-Ray had allowed a total of four runs in its previous six games.

“I just think we came out a little tight,” East Hampton coach Matt Warner said. “We came into this game knowing Hale-Ray was a tough team. Their program has prepared their team and their girls very well and we came in a little too anxious. Because of that our throws were a little off, our fielding was a little off, we were second guessing things we were doing and they were able to capitalize. That shows a good team that was able to do that.”

While Nichisti sailed through the first few innings, East Hampton had its own ace to fall back on. Emily Clausi, settled into a groove of her own, providing her team just enough of a window to mount a comeback.

They did just that, and it was Clausi who helped get it started.

The Bellringers broke through against Nichisti with one out in the fourth when Clausi tripled, sliding into third ahead of the throw. The senior then scored when Brittany Fiederlein had a triple of her own to make the score, 4-1.

Hale-Ray (10-2) nearly got the run back in the bottom half of the inning, but Maxie Murphy was cut down at home for the third out.

In the sixth, East Hampton (9-4) caught up to Nichisti, ending the junior’s night on the mound.

Clausi again got the rally started with a one-out double. Fiederlein had an RBI single, then took second on a passed ball. Madigan Flannery followed with an RBI single and later stole second. With two out, Katty Robinson brought in Fiederlein with a single and Madison Reinhard also singled to chase Nichisti. With two runners on, Rachel Pease came in to get the third out.

With the score tied at 4, the game headed to extra innings. Both teams wasted scoring chances in the eighth, failing to score with runners on second and third and one out.

Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Walter singled and with one out, Murphy singled moving Walter to third and setting up Humble to end East Hampton’s winning streak at seven games.

“I’m proud of their resiliency,” Warner said. “The fact that they were able to overcome some errors early in the game. Getting rattled, falling behind 4-0 after the second inning, and not giving up on themselves.”

Despite the loss, taking Hale-Ray’s best shot early and responding seemed to add another layer of confidence to East Hampton, which remains atop the league standings with one conference loss.

“Hale-Ray is a fantastic team,” Warner said. “They’re a solid team. To come back, and score one, then a few innings later put up three and tie the game … I’m absolutely pleased.

“We get them again. We get them on our Senior Night later on in May [May 16] and we will be ready for them over in East Hampton.”

First things first, however. Up next is Morgan (7-5) on Friday at home.

“They’re a team you don’t want to underestimate,” Warner said. “They’ve got a good pitcher in Kat Wilkinson and they also have a team that can hit. They will put pressure on you.”