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Yuknat also inflicted some damage at the plate with a two-run homer in her first at-bat and singles in the third and fifth to lead the Wildcats past Westbrook, 10-7, in a Shoreline Conference softball battle last Wednesday in Old Lyme
"This is a very nice win," said Old Lyme coach Bret Perry. "Sammy pitched another gem of a game. She got three hits, a nice home run."
"We saw another impressive freshman pitcher who's going to be dominating this league obviously for years to come," said Westbrook coach Sean Boardman. "We really didn't hit until he (Perry) took her out. They're a good, solid fielding team. We're just not hitting consistent enough."
The Wildcats built a 10-0 lead through six innings before surviving a seventh-inning scare as the Knights scored seven times against Old Lyme's "bullpen."
The 'Cats put up a six-spot in the last of the first inning. The first three runs came by way of errors and a wild pitch. Old Lyme's Mara Fischer knocked in Michelle Kane, who had tripled, to make it 4-0. Yuknat followed by socking Knights' pitcher Jenny Labbadia's first offering into right centerfield. By the time the ball was retrieved and thrown home, Yuknat had crossed the plate for a 6-0 advantage.
"Coaches always say, 'see it, hit it,'" said Yuknat. 'That was cool. I generally don't get home runs."
Old Lyme tacked on two more runs in the second when Tricia Berghoff singled in Alex Borsari, who had walked, and Maryn Lacey (infield hit) for an 8-0 advantage.
Cassie Algar's RBI triple in the third and Kirstin Bibbiani's run-scoring single to right in the fifth made it 10-0.
Yuknat's day was through after six innings. Perry then brought in freshman Barb Massa to get some experience on the mound and the floodgates opened for the Westbrook offense, which was aided also by Old Lyme's defense.
The Knights sent up 11 batters and registered seven runs and eight hits in the top of the seventh. Jenny Labbadia delivered a two-RBI double, Julie Labbadia, Christina Gamble, and Kirstin Merrimarahajara drove in a run each with singles. Amy Dean doubled home another before Massa got Meredith Guimond to line out to end the game.
"I can't take anything away from Westbrook," said Perry. "Westbrook did a good job that last inning. I wanted to get some substitutes in, wanted to give them some playing time. A couple of errors here and there and they came back on us. Barb didn't pitch bad."
Old Lyme improved to 5-5.
"We're looking to make some more noise in the Shorelines," added Perry. "We're poised to do well in the small division of the Shorelines, challenge East Hampton, and right now we're looking toward tomorrow against North Branford." (Old Lyme lost to North Branford, 8-0)."
Westbrook fell to 1-8.
"We had a good rally at the end," said Boardman. "We just can't hit top-flight pitching. Tomorrow we're on our way to Putnam and hopefully we'll take this inning and get momentum going for tomorrow (Westbrook defeated Putnam 15-3). We have a few winnable games coming up."
