First Inning Dooms Staples' Softball

After the first inning of its game against Danbury on Friday, things got better for the Staples High School softball team  - a lot better.

But the Wreckers couldn't overcome the first inning, when they allowed five runs, and lost, 5-1, to the Hatters.

Staples (4-3) actually outscored Danbury, 1-0, over the final six innings.

However, the Wreckers allowed the first five Danbury batters to reach safely, and they all scored, as Staples was hurt by bad luck and poor defense. 

Infield errors let the first two Hatters reach base, and the third batter walked, loading the bases.

The Hatters added a single and a sacrifice to a questionable call at third, piling up four quick runs. When the seventh Danbury batter struck out, the Wreckers miscounted the outs and trotted toward the bench. The alert Hatter on third dashed home.

"I turned to my assistant and I said, 'There's two out,' " Staples head coach Mark Giordano said. "It's a nightmare. Nothing could go right in that inning. Absolutely nothing."

For the rest of the game, Staples made all the right moves but met with frustration. Only two Danbury batters reached base after the first inning - one on a single and the other on a walk. 

Sam Saccomano led off the second inning with a hard single for Staples and Jenny Johnston followed with another hit, giving the Wreckers runners on first and second.

Johnson was forced at second,  when the Hatters made a play on Sabrina Friend's shot, and the alert Hatters' defense caught Saccomano stretching for home.

Jenn Frusciante led off the Wreckers'  fourth with a single up the middle. She advanced to third on Saccomano's single and Johnson's infield out, but was stranded there.

At the end of the fifth inning, Staples still trailed,  5-0, despite out-hitting Danbury, 4-2.

"I'm proud of them for battling back," Giordano said. "They didn't give up on it."

After Alex Masiello opened Staples'  sixth inning with a solid fly out to left field, the Wreckers scored by combining a fielder's choice, a Danbury misjudgment on an infield popup, and a hard single by Johnson, who pulled up at second after Cailley Kane beat the throw to home.

With Johnson on second and Saccomano on third, Friend made the best contact of the day. Her shot rocketed seven feet off the ground up the first-base line.

Add a foot,  and it would have been good for at least a double and two more Staples runs', but Danbury first baseman Jennie Flannery made a spectacular reflex catch, retiring the side.

"Can't hit it any harder," Giordano said. "Our leadoff hitter hits a super shot to left and it's just at the player. You never know what's going to happen. You hit the ball hard, and nothing. You hit the ball easy and you get a base hit in the middle of the field."

Neither team did anything in the seventh, and the Wreckers took a long bus ride home knowing that they could have added a victory to top off their 2-0 upset of Trumbull on Wednesday.

"I'm kind of a believer that things happen for a reason," Giordano said. "You can beat a team like Trumbull, but you gotta come out and play the next day. Now we've got to come back and battle Monday. New Canaan's no piece of cake, either."