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Continuing to challenge themselves, East Granby loses first game to Torrington

Torrington’s Lauren Jamieson gets her bat on the ball against East Granby hurler Genna Hartman in Saturday’s non-league game in Torrington. (Photo courtesy Tim Gaffney, Litchfield County Sports.com)

TORRINGTON, April 29 – Two years ago, the East Granby girls softball team won a North Central Connecticut Conference championship with a perfect 16-0 record. It was the first league title at the school in nearly 20 years. A year ago, the Crusaders won their first NCCC Tournament crown.

However, each of the last two seasons has ended with a loss to Holy Cross in the Class S semifinals.

So the Crusaders continue to seek out challenging non-league opponents to prepare for the state tournament. That brought East Granby to Torrington on Saturday morning to face the Raiders, ranked No. 16 in the latest New Haven Register sportswriters poll. East Granby beat South Windsor earlier in April, 1-0. They rolled over Rocky Hill, 12-0 on Thursday.

However, Torrington hurler Ali Dubois kept the Crusaders off balance throughout the contest. Dubois allowed just three hits and struck out 16 as Torrington handed No. 18 East Granby their first loss of the season with a 4-1 victory.

East Granby hurler Genna Hartman struck out 10 and didn’t allow a walk. But the Raiders (6-3) were able to get seven hits off the senior hurler and that was enough.

The Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a RBI double from Amanda Thiel but the Crusaders were able to tie the game in the fourth inning. Hartman singled to right field and scored on Lily McCarthy’s RBI double to center field.

But Torrington responded in the bottom of the fourth with a run on a sacrifice fly from Thiel. Lauren Jamieson doubled and moved to third on a successful sacrifice bunt from Taylor Rogers before scoring on Thiel’s sacrifice.

Torrington extended their lead with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. Read more about the game and how the Raiders prevailed from our friends at Litchfield County Sports.com.

Meanwhile, East Granby (10-1, 7-0 NCCC) has nine NCCC contests remaining as they continue their quest for another league championship. McCarthy had a two-run double in the sixth inning to help the Crusaders remain in first place in the NCCC with a 3-2 win over Ellington on Friday. The Crusaders conclude the regular season with a game against Canton in East Granby on May 16.

Torrington 4, East Granby 1
At Torrington
East Granby (10-1)              000  100  0 – 1-3-2
Torrington (6-3)                    010  120  x – 4-7-2
Genna Hartman and Kaelyn Ludwig; Ali Dubois and unknown; WP: Dubois; LP: Hartman; 2B: Lily McCarthy (EG), Amanda Thiel (T), Lauren Jamieson (T)

Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 30 years.

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