Merrill pitches Falcons to a doubleheader sweep

— Hailey Merrill pitched a one-hit shutout Saturday as the Fitch High School softball team defeated Westerly 2-0. Then Merrill came back with a three-hit shutout in a 3-0 victory over Old Lyme to a complete a doubleheader sweep for the Falcons.

“She has come in this year and taken the ace spot by storm,” Fitch coach Jackie Lewis said of Merrill, a junior, who replaced Charlotte Cabral as the Falcons' go-to pitcher this season.

“Hailey is a gamer. She's not fazed by adversity. She came in this year ready to work and do whatever it takes to win.”

Against Westerly, Gabby Amaral and Marcella Rentas each went 2-for3 and Amaral and Zoe Cosmopoulos had RBI for the Falcons, while Merrill struck out five.

Grace Cosmopoulos was 2-for-3 with three RBI against Old Lyme, with Merrill striking out nine and the Falcons (6-6) getting what Lewis called a “great defensive performance” from third baseman Maerin Lyon.

• Reagan Reid's RBI single capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning as Bacon Academy defeated Wheeler 5-4. Jazlyn Small-Yu scored the winning run for the Bobcats (8-4) while Riley Stolzman had two hits. Isabella Deledda had two doubles and an RBI for Wheeler (6-4).

• Winning pitcher Autumn Hanks drove in four runs as Norwich Tech defeated Windham Tech 25-11 in five innings. Evelyn Brimmer had three hits and four RBI, Morgan Cook two hits and three runs scored and Khai Maldonado four RBI for Norwich Tech (7-7).

• Stonington left the bases loaded in the sixth inning and fell to Killingly 2-1. Sophia Dutra had two hits and an RBI for the Bears (11-3).

• Angelica Tompkins homered and drove in four runs as St. Bernard defeated Woodstock Academy 7-2. Winning pitcher Anabelle Wenzel allowed six hits for the Saints while Aubree Nygaard and Maddie Scribner had two hits apiece.

• Madison Waltke, Hailey Smith and Melainey Tackling each had two hits for NFA in a 6-1 victory Friday over Amity, ranked eighth in the most recent GameTimeCT Top 10 Poll. Smith, the winning pitcher, also had two RBI for the Wildcats (9-4).

Baseball

• Kiki Boyce pitched six shutout innings and Kade Rubino had two hits and scored three runs as Griswold blanked New London 9-0. Eddie Torres had three hits for the Whalers (3-9).

• Connor Tukey drove in three runs as East Lyme defeated South Kingstown (R.I.) 8-4. Liam Cochrane, AJ Montejano, Alex Dreyfus and Garrison Biggs had two hits apiece for the Vikings (9-4).

• Conner Gallagher pitched a one-hitter, striking out three as St. Bernard defeated Plainfield 10-0 in a game shortened to five innings. Bruce Morrissette, Colin O'Leary and Desmond Powers each had two hits for the Saints (8-4).

• Jared Russo pitched five scoreless innings for Lyman Memorial as the Bulldogs remained unbeaten in ECC Div. IV with a 12-0 win over Windham.