A challenging schedule early in the season resulted in a young Lauralton Hall softball team losing two of its first three games.

After winning the season opener against Trumbull, the Crusaders lost consecutive games to Westhill and Masuk.

But then Lauralton Hall won eight games in a row before losing again to Masuk last Wednesday.

For a team with just three seniors, Crusaders coach Theresa Napolitano has been pleased with her squad’s 10-3 record.

“We’ve done well,” Napolitano said. “We’re pretty happy where we are right now. I told them that we would probably take a few steps forward and a few steps back, but they’ve responded well.”

Part of the growing process was finding the right lineup. Once Napalitano made some positional changes, victories followed.

“Defensively, we made some changes,” Napolitano said. “We had a lot of holes to fill. We just had to figure out the best combination.”

Junior captain Maureen Connolly moved from first base to shortstop, junior captain Rachel Landock started the year at third base but is now in left field and sophomore Jackie Brewster moved from left field to first base.

Sophomore Lindsey Spitz, who played in right field last season, started the year at shortstop and is now at third base.

Senior captain Jessica Napolitano has been steady at second base, sophomore Alex Moleski has done consistently well behind the plate and senior Jenna Bump, a first-year varsity player, has contributed in right field.
The Crusaders have used two pitchers in the circle: sophomore Haley Congdon and freshman Kaitlyn Mingione.

“It gives us variety,” Theresa Napolitano said. “It gives us a different look, and we’re not stuck in the later innings with just one pitcher. It mixes it up a bit.”

During the eight-game winning streak, Lauralton Hall defeated a quality Brookfield team 9-2. Napolitano said Congdon pitched well, while the Crusaders offense collected 15 hits.

“It’s always a good win against them because Brookfield is a hitting team,” Napolitano said. “Haley pitched well, and we went in there and put the ball in play.”

This past Friday, Lauralton Hall emerged with a thrilling 2-1 win over then No. 6 Oxford 2-1.

The Crusaders scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning. Brewster knocked in the winning run.