Seymour’s Makayla O’Hara connects for an run-scoring double in the third inning of the Wildcats’ 12-1 victory over Woodland on Friday.
Peter Casolino/Register
SEYMOUR >> Emma Crocamo broke out of a hitting slump and hit her first varsity home run in one at bat against Woodland.
The Seymour junior hit a three-run homer that highlighted a six-run fifth inning for the Wildcats, who went on to defeat the Hawks 12-1 in a NVL Brass Division contest Friday.
Crocamo later added a single and scored in the sixth.
“I’ve been struggling lately, so it felt very good to hit one,” Crocamo said. “This really helps get my confidence up because now I know I can hit it. I definitely can hit against any pitcher.”
Seymour coach Ken Pereiras said Crocamo hit the ball hard in a victory over Derby on Wednesday but noted that Crocamo had yet to really get into a rhythm at the plate.
“We’ve kind of just been waiting for her (to hit consistently),” Pereiras said. “We know she’s a good hitter, we know she has some power. Finally, today, she hit the ball hard at least three times. Maybe she’s out of her slump and ready to continue to do well.”
The Wildcats (8-1), ranked 10th in the Register Poll, were clinging to a 2-0 lead before the outburst in the fifth. Raeanne Geffert and Amanda Harkins had RBI singles, while Cassie Rossetti had a run-scoring double in the inning for Seymour, which collected 16 hits.
“I think it was a total team effort,” Pereiras said. “The middle of our order hit well today, and we got some hits at the bottom. It was a great team effort. If we can get this effort every game, we’re going to be in good shape.”
The Wildcats scored twice off the help of three Woodland errors in the third. The Hawks (6-2) committed six errors.
“We made early errors, which made our pitcher throw way too many pitches,” Woodland coach Loren Luddy said.
“When you throw that many pitches against Seymour, they’re going to hit it. It was just too many mistakes early on.”
Katie Petroski led off the third with a single and went to second when the ball was misplayed in left field. Petroski then scored on Shari Minalga’s single. Minalga went to second when the ball was again booted in left field and went to third on a throwing error. After Woodland pitcher Samantha Lee notched a strikeout for the second out, Makayla O’Hara doubled to plate Minalga.
Seymour padded its lead with four runs in the sixth. Harkins and Caitlyn O’Hara had run-scoring singles, while Petroski had a two-run double. Petroski finished with two hits, two runs and two RBIs, Rossetti had three hits and Geffert, Mikayla O’Hara, Harkins and Crocamo each had two.
“In past games we really hadn’t had good at-bats, and that’s what we were focusing on,” Petroski said. “We were telling everyone to have a quality at-bat; we were just focusing on having a quality at-bat.
“This was a huge game. We were really prepared, and we worked really hard in practice all week for this game.”
Rachel Starkey’s single scored Natalie Veneri in the sixth inning for the Hawks’ only run off Geffert, who allowed just five hits. She walked one and struck out nine.
“She’s been solid,” Pereiras said. “Every game she goes out and throws hard and spots the ball well. Most of her pitches work all the time, so she’s been good.”