Molly Keshin heads into third base after a record-setting triple, the 11th of her career, as New Canaan defeated Trinity Catholic 12-3, April 18, 2016. Credit: Terry Dinan
Scenes from New Canaan's 12-3 win over Trinity Catholic. Credit: Terry Dinan
In what has been a tale of two seasons thus far for the New Canaan High School softball team, Monday’s game against Trinity Catholic was definitely the best of times for the Rams.
Led by junior Rachel Keshin’s hitting and sophomore Gillian Kane’s performance in the pitcher’s circle, New Canaan coasted past the Crusaders 12-3 at Waveny Park.
The Rams tagged Catholic pitching for 12 hits with five players having multi-hit games, helping the Rams overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Keshin was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two home runs and three RBI, leading a New Canaan hit parade that busted out with seven runs of their own in the first inning.
“I think this is how this team is going to go,” New Canaan head coach Danielle Simoneau told NewCanaanite.com. “They’re going to keep fighting and bouncing back and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It’s just a game and a ‘W’ in the book.”
The win ended a two-game losing streak for the 4-3 (3-1 FCIAC) Rams who are trying to find their identity in these early days of the 2016 season, having traded dominating wins with blowout losses. One constant for New Canaan in each victory has been a penchant for getting out to a fast start—something Rachel Keshin feels sets the tone for the rest of the game.
“We settle in when we get a lead,” Keshin said. “We feel more comfortable on defense when we have a lead so Gill is able to settle in and pitch her best stuff.”
Some of Kane’s best stuff was on display against Trinity, as the Rams hurler gave up just seven hits over the full seven innings, striking out a season-high 8 batters and allowing zero earned runs. She also went 2-for-5 at the plate with a double, triple and 4 RBI.
The game got off to an inauspicious defensive start for the Rams as Trinity’s Leah Zarrilli reached on a fielding error and scored on Alexis Melfi’s two-out triple. Alana Gianokos followed with a bloop single to left, scoring Melfi for an early 2-0 lead.
The Rams answered immediately, as freshman Kara Fahey walked ahead of Keshin’s first homer of the afternoon, a line-drive shot that split the left-centerfield gap and knotted the game at 2. After junior Molly Keshin reached on an error, junior Molly Rochlin laced a single to left that skipped past the Crusaders’ outfield, allowing Keshin to score the go-ahead run.
Two batters later, junior Gabriella Sulpizi lined a two-out RBI single to center to plate Rochlin and extend the Rams lead to 4-2. Walks to juniors Sophia Welch and Eliza Haney loaded the bases for Kane, who promptly unloaded them with a long, bases-clearing double to left, giving New Canaan a 7-2 advantage.
Keshin blasted home run No. 2 leading off the second inning to make it 8-2 Rams. New Canaan put the game away by adding three runs in the third and one in the fourth to for a 12-2 lead. Trinity mustered an unearned run in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 12-3, but that was as close as the Crusaders would get.
Molly Keshin continued her hot hitting with a 2-for-4 night with a triple—her 11th career three-bagger, an NCHS record—and two RBI. Gabriella Sulpizi was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Molly Rochlin was also 2-for-4 with a run scored and freshman Bridget Cleary was 1-for-3 for the Rams, who will look to find some consistency despite two tough road matchups later this week against perennial powerhouses Trumbull and Westhill.
“I think we just need to play our game,” Rachel Keshin said. “We know what we’re capable of. We can do anything if we put our minds to it.”
