Ledyard’s Rivers goes back-to-back

Pitches second straight no-hitter as Colonels spoil Vikings’ opener

Ledyard — The Ledyard softball team waited a year to show what it is capable of after a promising 2019 season and last season's cancellation due to the pandemic.

So far, so really good.

Senior Sara Rivers pitched her second no-hitter in as many games with 12 strikeouts as the

Colonels beat East

Lyme 3-0 on Tuesday in an Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I game.

"It's been crazy," Rivers said. "I took that pandemic offseason to really strengthen myself and work harder than I ever have before."

Ledyard head coach Brittany Robinson said of Rivers, "She's got something to prove."

That goes for all the Colonels (20, 2-0). They were oh, so young two years ago with Rivers being elevated to starting pitcher along with three freshmen in the lineup. They finished 17-7 and won the ECC Division II tournament.

Ledyard had hoped for bigger things last year until COVID-19 wiped out the entire spring season.

"I knew we were going to take that (missed season) as a whole team and prove ourselves and come out even stronger," Rivers said. "I was definitely anxious because we had a lot of high expectations this year. We're just trying to practice hard and own up to those expectations that we have."

Rivers was perfect through the first

first four innings until her no-hitter was broken up by an error to lead off the fifth. She pitched a no-hitter in Saturday's 13-0 win over New London.

"I worked on strength and conditioning, which brought up a lot of speed to my fastball," Rivers said about offseason training. "I worked a lot on my change-up and a lot on my drop ball. They're working well and I'm relying on my team a lot behind me. It's just working out well so far."

Freshman Madison Miller hit a two-run single and junior Aaliyah Amidon added two hits, including a triple, and scored. Junior Paige Perkins and sophomore Layla Lasisomphone also both singled and scored.

"I looked at their lineup and I said, 'Jeez, this was the same lineup they had two years ago," Vikings head coach Judy Deeb said. "(Robinson) has done a great job with her team. I'm impressed with their pitching and their defense especially."

It was East Lyme's season opener because Saturday's game against Stonington was postponed due to the Bears being in quarantine. The Vikings were without a few players, too, due to spring vacation this week.

"I have a lot of new kids playing in different positions," Deeb said. "They had to make some adjustments, but I was happy. Once they got the jitters out after the first couple of innings they did well . .... I'm very happy with their progress because this is the youngest group I think I've ever had."

Freshman Abigail Robinson pitched a five-hitter for East Lyme.

"I see the progress every day in practice," Deeb said. "I was very concerned because they were nervous. It was their first game and everything like that. I'm very happy with the results. (Robinson) did awesome today. She did very, very well."