East Hampton Wins Fourth Straight Game

It was business as usual for the East Hampton softball team.

Undeterred following a tough 5-4 extra-inning loss at Shoreline Conference rival Hale-Ray on May 5, the Bellringers have since won four straight, the latest a 7-1 victory over visiting Old Lyme on Friday.

East Hampton (13-4) used a four-run first inning to take control early, then rode the arm of Emily Clausi to win for the 11^th time in 12 games.

Clausi allowed two hits and struck out 10.

“I’m feeling really good, this is probably our best season so far and I’m really excited,” said Clausi, who will attend Southern Connecticut State University later this year.

So, does the season's end fast approaching and Senior Night on Monday come with mixed emotions?

“I never really thought this was going to happen, it always seemed so far away. I think it will really hit me on Senior Night.”

East Hampton coach Matt Warner had only praise for Clausi, who he has relied on as a pitcher each of the three years he's been in charge of the Bellringers.

“She has great command of every single one of her pitches. She throws them all very well at any point,” he said. “She’ll throw a drop ball with a full count because she knows she can throw it for a strike. She doesn’t show any signs of fatigue. Her own practice this offseason – pitching coaches, travel leagues – really shows on the mound.”

East Hampton jumped out to a 4-0 first-inning lead after the first four batters reached base and scored. Clausi, Shannon Law and Katty Robinson all singled in the inning as the Bellringers sent nine batters to the plate. East Hampton made it 5-0 in the second when Brittany Fiederlein (2-for-2, walk) doubled home Ashley Chasse.

The Bellringers coasted from there, using several stellar plays on defense to help keep Old Lyme from threatening.

In the fifth, Law made a diving catch in left-center to take away an extra-base hit. Fiederlein made two nice plays at third, one a backhand, on hard hit ground balls in the sixth and catcher Kim Muscat ended the game with a nice grab of a foul pop up before banging into the fence behind home plate.

Defense has at times been the Bellringers Achilles’ this season, but on Friday they showed it could be a strength as the postseason nears.

“The defense has come around a lot more,” Warner said. “In the earlier parts of the season we had a few extra errors per game but we were able to fight through them.

“They’re working so well as a team right now. They’re encouraging each other when were up to bat. When we’re on defense, even if somebody makes a mistake they know they have the rest of the team there for them. There is nothing else I can ask.”

As for diving for balls and running into fences, Warner thinks that part of the makeup of his team, and that kind of play can be infectious.

“Any one of these players will go all out,” he said. “It’s going to help us. It’s going to make us less hesitant to try those things that we would most likely not want to do.

“Everything is firing right now. Everyone is ready to go. It’s exciting to watch them play.”

Good news since Hale-Ray (15-2) comes to town on Monday (4 p.m.) not only for Senior Night, but for a game that will probably decide first place. Turns out the Little Noises also haven’t done too badly since these two teams last met, winning five games by a combined score of 68-3. Hale-Ray defeated Westbrook on Friday, 13-0.

“We’re going to prepare to play as if it’s just another game.” Warner said. “We know Hale-Ray is tough. We know that last time it was an emotional loss. Even though we lost, they weren’t down. We learned so much from that game and we’re excited to play them. We’ve been waiting for that game more than any other one that we’ve had. Now we have a chance to take one from them on our own field.”