Hotter Bats Give Bellringers Balance in Softball

East Hampton started slowly with the bats this season but has been getting good swings over the past five games. The improved hitting and already reliable pitching and defense have moved them to the top of the Shoreline Conference softball standings.

Coach Matt Warner and his players feel confident they can challenge for the conference championship, which they won in 2009, if the hitting can remain productive. There is little evidence to suggest the pitching and defense will falter.

The Bellringers, who started out 1-2 with the undependable hitting, have won three in a row and four of their last five for a 5-3 overall record and 5-0 record in the Shoreline Conference.

“A lot of it is our offense taking a greater role and putting pressure on the other teams,” Warner said. “Without having that – to give us the confidence we can put up the runs – it was putting more pressure on the girls. We have aggressiveness in the batters’ box now.”

East Hampton scored seven runs in its first three games in losing two non-conference games and beating Cromwell 5-2 in eight innings. Since then, the offense hasn’t been exactly showering base hits on the opposition, but the hitters have done more than their job in supplying 28 runs, or 5.6 a game. In the four wins in that stretch, the Bellringers scored 27 runs or 6.8 a game.

Captains Emily Clausi, the starting pitcher, and shortstop Katty Robinson agree the offensive revival has helped the team become stronger, but each believes that is secondary in importance to all players sharing in a positive attitude. Embracing the team concept and exhibiting an unselfish approach were missing last year, they said, when East Hampton was eliminated with a first-round loss in the Class M state tournament.

“Last year, we kind of had a rough patch, going 10-11, when the year before we won the Shoreline,” Clausi said. “We’d like to win it again.

“We’re just closer this year. Team is family. Last year, we kind of had drama – because it can happen. We’re a lot stronger physically and emotionally this year. We have a much better mental focus this year.”

The 2010 Bellringers were “too focused individually,” Robinson said.

“We definitely wanted a better sense of unity on the team this year," she said. "We’re doing a lot better job of connecting. Our communicating [on the field] is really coming through.”

East Hampton’s three-game winning streak has featured the balanced combination of fine pitching, timely hitting and steady defense. Following an 8-0 victory over Portland on April 18, the Bellringers enjoyed an emotional 4-2 victory April 20 in Durham when they beat Coginchaug, a team that has more than given them problems over the years. East Hampton was retired in order in the first inning, then the Blue Devils had a single and a double after a lead-off strikeout, then a two-run single.

“We just knew there was a lot of time left,” Warner said. “We tried to refocus them.” It worked. An error and a walk to start the top of the second gave East Hampton a threat but it appeared the rally might stall following back-to-back strikeouts. Madigan Flannery singled to load the bases before Morgan Langenfeld knocked in two runs with a double. The Bellringers rode that momentum for the win.

Clausi lost her bid for a no-hitter on Friday morning at Old Saybrook with one out in the seventh inning. She finished with 15 strikeouts and no walks in a 7-0 victory for the Bellringers. Ashley Chasse went 2-for-4 with a double and triple and three RBI. Brittany Fiederlein was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer.

“We have a club that can make the Shoreline tournament,” Warner said. “We feel we can make a good run in the Shoreline tournament and the state tournament.”