Simsbury’s Lily Cournoyer (14) slides into second base with a stolen base before the ball can get to Canton shortstop Katelyn Horvath in Saturday’s softball game in Canton. Danielle Nichols (15) backs up the play.
CANTON, April 10, 2021 – Two freshmen were outstanding for Simsbury with five hits and three stolen bases to help lead the Simsbury High softball team to a 9-5 victory over Canton in a non-league contest on opening day of the 2021 spring athletic season Saturday afternoon.
Simsbury freshman Zia Sirianni was 3-for-4 while freshman Lily Cournoyer was 2-for-2 with a single, double and three stolen bases. Trojan hurler Mikaela Martinez allowed 11 hits but she struck out 12 and just two to earn the victory.
Canton rapped out 11 hits, led by Katelyn Horvath, who was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Emily Garcia, who was 3-for-4 with one RBI. Olivia Daigneault was 2-for-4 with a double for the Warriors.
“We have a young team.” Canton’s third-year head coach Kristi Benjamin said. “We have nine freshmen, we have a good crop of sophomores. We have one junior and four seniors so it is a young group.
“In some sense there is a lot of learning to do but I was really impressed today with their knowledge of the game,” she said. “I think we’ll be in a good position to give some teams a good challenge.”
Mossey gave up 11 hits but she did strike out 10 Simsbury hitters.
Canton returns to action on Tuesday when they travel to Plainville for a road game beginning at 3:45 p.m. Simsbury travels to Bristol Central on Wednesday.
Simsbury 9, Canton 5
At Canton
Simsbury (1-0) 310 203 0 — 9-11-1
Canton (0-1) 100 002 2 — 5-11-1
Mikaela Martinez and Jenna Gomez-Nieto; Loren Mossey and Joy Schand; WP: Martinez (1-0); LP: Mossey (0-1); 2B: Olivia Daigneault (Ca), Rachel Jano (S), Lily Cournoyer (S)
