Granby Memorial Softball Stifles East Granby 6-1

No one said it would be easy for the softball team.

The Bears continued their march through the North Central Connecticut Conference with a 6-1 victory over a very good squad on Monday.

But the Bears had to overcome a sluggish start and an possible season-ending injury to one of their infielders to earn their 12th victory against no defeats.

“We were a little flat today,” Granby Memorial head coach Vicki Malone said. “I gave them the weekend off and they came out a little bit sluggish. Not taking anything away from East Granby at all. …

“When [our player] got hurt [in the top of the third], everyone was concerned. She’s a key player for us. Everybody was upset. That’s the way girls are. They got a little concerned for her. The kids picked each other up.”

Bears’ pitcher Neve Stearns was her usual stellar self, giving up just three hits and one earned run, while striking out 10 to earn the victory.

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On offense, the Bears took advantage of an East Granby throwing error to score three runs in the third. RBI singles by Morgan Malone (2-for-4, run) and Erin Walsh (2-for-4, run) bookended a Haley Makuch (2-for-2, RBI) sacrifice fly to give Granby Memorial a 3-0 lead.

The lead could have been even greater but for East Granby right fielder Dana Kilby’s terrific running grab (Ed. note: my vote for defensive play of the year) of Makuch’s fly ball to limit the damage to one runs scored on the sacrifice fly.

Granby Memorial’s Emily Martel (1-for-4, 2 RBIs) broke open the game in the sixth with a two-out, two-run triple that drove in Jamie Kidd and Sara Boardman to give the Bears a 5-0 lead.

The Bears tacked on its final run in the seventh when Amy Bilodeau (1-for-3) singled home Walsh.

Vicki Malone credited East Granby pitcher Michaela Gothers for limiting the Bears to just nine hits.

“She was good,” Vicki Malone said. “She worked inside, outside. She worked the corners inside and outside and I think they scouted us well. They knew our hitters’ weaknesses and she executed well for a while.”

The Crusaders scored their only run in the bottom of the seventh when Jessica Grabinsky tripled home Anna Glassman, who reached on a single.

“We didn’t give up,” Crusaders head coach Carl Ferrara said. “They came out swinging the bat in the last inning, scored a run when they could have laid down and said, ‘That’s it.’ But they don’t. That’s a good plus for us."

Nicole Garcia was the only other East Granby player to get a hit, a single in the bottom of the second, but Ferrara said that he was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We played a good game against the No. 1 team in the conference,” Ferrara said. “We made some silly mistakes we’ve got to stop, but we’ve been playing good all year. Today, if we didn’t make two or three errors, close to anything could happen.”

Vicki Malone said that she is a little surprised that that her team has started the season with 12 straight victories.

“Our schedule was so tough, we had four games in one week, we’re getting ready for another four games next week,” Malone said. “I really honestly thought we were going to be flat and tired along the way by this point. I’ll take it. We’ve got a couple of injuries I’m concerned about. … We’re 12-0, but we have some issues going on right now.”

Granby Memorial is scheduled to face Windsor Locks at home at 3:45 p.m., while East Granby High (6-3) travels to Avon on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.