ALJ – CONFORTI 10 K’S, YANNI 3-4; WF – PUGLISE 2-4

Effective pitching has guided the AL Johnson High School softball team on the right path recently. While visiting the Blue Devils in Westfield on April 16, a very strong seven-inning, 10 strikeout effort on the mound by Cassie Conforti, along with some key hits earned the Crusaders their third straight win with a 6-2 victory.

“ALJ came out and played really well. Specifically their pitcher did a nice job of moving the ball around, changing speeds and commanding the zone. She didn’t let us get very comfortable in the box and they deserve a lot of credit for that,” Blue Devil Head Coach Caitlin Cheddar explained.

The Crusaders began their streak with a 5-1 win over the Brearley Bears and Conforti recorded five strikeouts, while permitting just two walks. Next Conforti and Krista LaBianca combined for a one-hit performance in a 5-0 triumph over the Oak Knoll Royals. LaBianca pitched five innings and struck out five then Conforti pitched two innings and also sat down five Royals.

In the match-up with the 3-3 Blue Devils, LaBianca rapped a double, scored twice and had three RBI. Catcher Liz Yanni went 3-for-4 and scored twice. Liz Fitzharris went 2for-4 and scored twice. Conforti cracked an RBI double. Madden Puerari and Gianna Calleja each singled once and Shannon Lancellotti had an RBI and walked once.

Bella Scipioni went the distance for the Blue Devils and recorded two strikeouts. Gianna Puglise went 2for-4, stole a base and scored once. Quinlan Doherty doubled and scored once. Erin Doherty had an RBI single and walked once. Naomi Kamins had an RBI and was hit by a pitch. Natalie Ardente and Kayla Reyes each singled and walked once. Conforti recorded the majority of her strikeouts against the meat of the Westfield order.

Both teams went down in order in their respective first innings then the 4-4 Crusaders took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning thanks to a few errors. LaBianca’s grounder to short was mishandled. Conforti’s infield dribbler resulted in a throwing error. Addison Meyer laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners then Lancellotti lofted an RBI sacrifice fly to center as LaBianca scored.

Westfield knotted the score in the bottom of the inning. After Alex Laguna grounded out to first base, Puglise punched a single to right field then stole second base. Ardente drew a walk and Reyes was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Puglise scored on Kamins’ ground out to the second baseman.

The Crusaders jarred the Blue Devils with three runs in the third inning. Calleja hooked a single to leftfield then scooted to second on a pitch in the dirt. Fitzharris singled then after a rundown between second and third, Yanni singled. Puerari struck out, LaBianca crunched a two-run double to right-centerfield and Conforti rapped an RBI single to center.

Blue Devil third baseman Erin Doherty pulled off a great putout when she snagged Fitzharris’difficult popup behind home plate to keep the Crusaders off the board in the fourth then Westfield posed a threat in the bottom of the inning. Conforti struck out Laguna and got Puglisi to ground out to the second baseman then Ardente hacked a ground single over second and Reyes lined a single to center. Kamins tapped a grounder that was bobbled by the second baseman to load the bases. Annie Reilly stepped to the plate and hit a hard shot to centerfield that was hauled in by Fitzharris for the third out.

ALJ added a run in the fifth. Yanni drilled a leadoff single to left. Puerari grounded out back to the mound as Yanni headed toward third base. Heflin, the first baseman, fired to third but her throw sailed out of range, allowing Yanni to skip home. Conforti retired three of the four Blue Devils she faced in the fifth, yielding only a walk to Erin Doherty.

After a scoreless sixth inning, Fitzharris singled and scored in the seventh. Quinlan Doherty doubled and scored on Erin Doherty’s single in the bottom of the inning.

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