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Two of the most explosive softball offenses in the state collided on Thursday afternoon and they did not disappoint. Darien and Stamford High School combined for 16 runs and 23 hits, and did it all in a game that took less than an hour-and-a-half.
Darien proved to be slightly more potent on offense, though. The Blue Wave sent 11 batters to the plate in the fifth inning, capped off by a three-run homer by Courtney Bell that glanced off the glove of Stamford left fielder Angela Altamura. Every Darien batter had a hit in the game and all but one scored as the Blue Wave pounded Stamford 11-5.
"You play a team like that you have to play top-notch everything. Every play you have to be ready, otherwise they take advantage of you," Stamford head coach Tony Esposito said. "They got the big hits and we didn't."
Stamford had a chance to escape the fifth without allowing any runs. With one out in the fifth and runners on first and second, Darien's Brittany Osborn hit a slow grounder between short and third.
Stamford's star shortstop Krista Robustelli ranged to her right and made a fantastic stab at the ball. Third baseman Courtney Kuzco seemed surprised her teammate got to the ball and was late covering third on Robustelli's throw.
With the bases now loaded, Blue Wave shortstop Nicole Buch ripped a two-run single to center, blowing the game wide open. Darien would score five more times thanks to Bell's homer, extending the Blue Wave lead to 11-2.
Robustelli hit an absolute bomb over the left field fence that reached the adjacent baseball field, cutting the lead to 11-5. It was too little too late, though, as Stamford could not catch a break after that. Kelly Fahey made a lunging grab in center to save extra bases in the sixth. Buch then made the play of the game on the very next batter, diving to her right and throwing out Altamura from her knees.
"Darien is a very, very good hitting team. To beat a team like that you can't make any errors," Stamford second baseman Chelsea Sciaretta said. "We all knew we needed to score as many runs as possible, but we it got going a little too late."
Stamford (10-3) will try to bounce back on Friday when it hosts Norwalk at 4 p.m.
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