New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
North Branford thunders to win
NORTH BRANFORD — If not for a light rain in the top of the seventh inning, it was a nearly a perfect afternoon for North Branford.
The Thunderbirds performed well in four key categories — pitching, hitting, defense and baserunning — en route to a 9-0 victory in a Shoreline Conference softball game Monday afternoon.
“We had it from all ends today,” North Branford coach Nick DeLizio said. “We barreled up on the ball and made the big plays in the field. The girls were pumped up. We’ve told them they have a lot of talent and we want to get hot at the right time.”
The Thunderbirds certainly have been hot down the stretch. It was the 13th win in the last 15 games for North Branford, which opened the season last month with three consecutive losses.
“We were nervous about the top 10 stuff after last season, but I didn’t sweat at all,” DeLizio said. “I knew we’d get better. We just had to find our identity and who we are as a team.”
Sophomore righthander Kiley Mullins was superb on the mound as she changed speeds and confused the Coginchaug hitters, holding them to just three hits. Not one Blue Devil reached third base.
“We definitely threw a lot of spin pitches and got a lot of soft contact,” Mullins said. “That’s what our team is all about. We let them put ball in play and my team backs me up.”
On the other hand, it was just one of the days for the visiting Blue Devils.
“This is one of those games where they could do no wrong and we could do no right,” Coginchaug coach Steve DeMartino. “This was probably the worst game we played this year. We made a bunch of errors in key situations and couldn’t get the bat on the ball.”
North Branford scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the first inning. Lauren Ackerman doubled in the gap in leftcenter and scored later in the inning on a wild pitch by losing pitcher Mia Poturnicki. A run-scoring single by Adriana Hills made it 2-0.
Natalia Lucibello doubled and scored on a single by Gianna DePino to make it 3-0 in the third.
The Thunderbirds broke the game wide open in the fourth inning when Lucibello belted a three-run homer run that sailed over the fence in left center.
“I was a little nervous going into the game, but I turned it into a good thing,” Lucibello said. “I just wanted to do anything to help the team out.”
That gave Mullins a cushion on the mound.
“Security runs are nice,” Mullins said. “It was nice to see us come through with our bats.”
North Branford tacked on three more runs in the sixth. Triples by Falcioni and Lucibello sandwiched a double by Lindsey Onofrio that made it 8-0. Hills added a run-scoring single to close out the scoring.
Coginchaug fell to 12-5 with the loss.
“Despite this game, I think we’ve outperformed what I expected us to do,” DeMartino said. “It’s a younger team with all new pitchers.”