By Mike Pucci Register Staff
STRATFORD -- Patience was the operative word for the Lauralton Hall softball batters against Taylor Lane, Griswold's crafty left- handed pitcher.
Strikes were at a premium as Lane, a senior, attempted to paint the corners and not serve up a pitch down the heart of the plate.
Despite Lane's methodical pitching style, Marisa Dowling proved that patience does, indeed, pay off. The Crusaders' sophomore shortstop waited for a pitch she can drive, and Dowling did just that. The result was a two-run single in the second inning that proved to be all the runs eight-seeded Lauralton Hall needed.
The Crusaders added an insurance run in the fifth inning to emerge with a 3-1 Fake Franck Muller Watches victory over the No. 4 Wolverines in a semifinal game of the Class M state tournament Monday at DeLuca Field.
"It's always good to score first to set the tone," Dowling said. "I think we all got really excited, and we kept it going."
Lauralton Hall (21-4), the ninth-ranked team in the Register Top 10 poll, will play St. Joseph in the championship game either Friday or Saturday.
Rebecca Napolitano led off the second inning with a single for Lauralton Hall and then was sacrificed to second by her sister, Jessica Napolitano. Hayley Spragg was then hit by a pitch, and two batters later, Jessica Linden reached on an infield hit to load the bases.
That set up Dowling's single that gave the Crusaders a 2-0 lead. The Lauralton Hall batters did an effective job of working Lane into deep counts. The Crusaders' persistence continued throughout the game.
"That pitcher was very good," Dowling said. "She had a lot of good movement, but we just had to do our own thing. If we get into other people's style, and how they play, we get a little antsy. So, we just had to do our own thing."
Spragg, who allowed just four hits, walked three and struck out four, helped herself with two hits and an RBI. Her single in the fifth inning scored Mariel Schlaefer.
Gucci Ring"My performance was because of my whole entire team," Spragg said. "Everybody behind me backed me up every single time. We brought our game today."
replica tag heuer watchesJess Synott scored on Lane's groundout in the fourth inning for Griswold's only run. Lane allowed nine hits, walked two, hit two more and struck out five for the Wolverines (23-4).
"They put a lot of pressure on us (defensively)," Griswold coach Rick Arremony said. "That's probably the most pressure anyone's put on us all season. We rebounded a couple of times, and worked ourselves out of some jams, but they (Crusaders) did a nice job."
Despite just one senior, catcher Courtney Collins, Lauralton Hall will attempt to win its fourth state title. The last came in 2008.
"They've accomplished a lot, they're young," Lauralton Hall coach Theresa Napolitano said. "Behind the leadership of Courtney and the other players returning from the (2008 team) -- the juniors, they were freshman when we won the state championship -- there's experience there. But really the senior leadership, and to say it's one for all and all for one, that's pretty much how they play. One through nine, at any point, someone else comes up for the big play."
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