Softball Recap: North Branford Takes Down Old Lyme in a Playoff Battle

Thunderbirds

Margin (Wins)

05/07/25 vs Morgan	19
04/28/25 @ Hale Ray	19
04/23/25 @ Portland	19
04/24/25 vs Westbrook	18
04/09/25 @ Morgan	16

It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but North Branford had no problem doing just that on Wednesday. Their pitcher stepped up to hand the Old Lyme Wildcats an 8-0 shutout. The Thunderbirds might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 13 games by seven runs or more this season.

The result came thanks to Lauren Vitarisi's shutout, as she gave up just three hits and racked up 12 Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than ten strikeouts in eight consecutive appearances.

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Lexi Falcioni, who went 3-for-4 with one triple, one stolen base, and two RBI. The team also got some help courtesy of Ava Ryszczyk, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles.

The victory was the ninth in a row for North Branford, bringing their record up to 23-1. The wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.3 runs on average over those games. As for Old Lyme, their loss dropped their record down to 13-11.

Looking ahead, North Branford will square off against Immaculate at 4:00 p.m. on Friday. The Thunderbirds will need to watch out since the Mustangs have now posted at least ten runs in their last four matches. Old Lyme does not have any more games scheduled as of now.