Rubirosa leads West Haven to SCC semis

WEST HAVEN — West Haven pitcher Mia Rubirosa knows it is all about the will to win when it comes to postseason play. The sophomore certainly led the way against Cheshire.

Tossing a complete-game 3-hitter with seven strikeouts while reaching base twice and scoring a run, Rubirosa led fourth-seeded West Haven to a 4-1 victory over fifth-seeded Cheshire in the quarterfinals of the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament at Biondi Field at West Haven High Monday evening.

“This is very huge,” Rubirosa said. “I wanted it very bad. I am very proud of our defense. Gianna (Carrano) had two amazing dives and the outfielders were tracking the ball the right way, making it look easy. The early lead is very important. I am very happy Brianna (Miller) got the hit. The key is wanting it, wanting to win.”

West Haven will travel to play at top-seeded East Haven, a 2-0 winner over Shelton, in the semifinals Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

“East Haven is a good team,” West Haven coach Joe Morrell said after his team improved to 17-4. “They got the No. 1 seed in our league. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen them yet, but we are looking forward to the challenge.”

West Haven took a 1-0 lead in the first only to see Cheshire even the game in the third. The sign of a good team is how it responds, and West Haven did just that in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three times to take the lead for good.

Paige Beurer and Shyanne Raccio opened the inning with walks and both advanced on a ground out to second by Hannah Burrows. Carrano walked to load the bases before Brianna Miller singled to left to score Beurer for a 2-1 lead.

An error on the play allowed Raccio to score and put runners on second and third with one out. Sophomore Taylor Alfano followed with a sacrifice fly to right to score Carrano for a 4-1 advantage.

“It helps our pitcher when you are up three runs,” Morrell said. “You are not nail-biting every

thing. If you make a mistake, it is not the end of the world, so those three runs were really important for her as well.”

The rest was up to Rubirosa and the sophomore responded in style. She retired the final 12 batters after West Haven took the lead, and 14 straight overall.

“We are hitting the ball in the air,” Cheshire coach Kristine Drust said after her team fell to 15-6. “Pop ups, unless they are over the fence, they are going to be caught. They made the plays. We have to do a better job at getting the elevation of our balls down. We need to hit the balls on the ground or line drives. We made some decent contact. We just did not put the hits together.”

The Westies took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning as Rubirosa led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice, and scored on Beurer’s single to right.

After West Haven stranded a pair in the second, Cheshire scored its only run in the third as Charlee Nagle walked with one out and Grace Lurz followed with a bunt single. A double steal put the pair in scoring position, before Jordan Chymbor singled to score Nagle with the equalizer. The Rams put two more runners in scoring position in the inning, but Rubirosa escaped without further damage.

“A couple of clutch hits early on in the game would have turned the game around a little differently for us,” Drust said. “Towards the end of the game, we just could not put the hits back to back.”

Lurz led Cheshire with two hits.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Mia Rubirosa, West Haven: Sophomore pitched a complete-game 3-hitter, striking out seven and walking just one. Rubirosa also reached base twice and scored once.

QUOTABLE

“Our defense has been very good. We had a little hiccup against Law for the first time all year that we saw, but we talked about it. Our defense has to be a huge part of our game and it was in this one. Gianna (Carrano) made a couple of great plays at second base and the outfield tracked down balls and made them look routine. Brianna (Miller) is doing a great job behind the plate. Obviously, Mia (Rubirosa) on the mound is huge for us.”

— West Haven coach Joe Morrell