MANCHESTER, New Hampshire. – For their second night in New Hampshire, the University of New Haven Softball team made the short drive from Saint Anselm, over to Southern New Hampshire University for the regular season finale for the blue and gold as they looked to lock in the sport in the conference playoffs.
Selena Aponte (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) got the nod to start in game one and did a little bit of everything to lead New Haven to their win. Aponte gave up a run to the Penmen in the first inning before she settled right in and dominated the circle. The Chargers responded in the second inning scoring a pair of their own. Meg Anderson (Cranston, R.I./Cranston) led the inning off with a single before Sophia Piccirilli (Dover, N.H./Winnacunnet) came on to pinch run for Anderson. Piccirilli would steal second base before she would be out on a double play. With two outs in the inning, Ashley Veillette (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) singled before the bat of Selena Aponte (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) gave New Haven their first lead. Aponte got a pitch that she could drive and went deep to left field clearing the fence and giving New Haven a 2-1 lead. With the lead, Aponte went back to work in the circle and continued to dominate sitting the Penmen down and keeping them off of the scoreboard. Even when the Penmen threatened, Aponte worked out of the jam and kept New Haven out in front. In the fourth inning, the blue and gold added to their lead. Ashley Veisz (Robbinsville,N.J./Robbinsville) walked and advanced on Ashley Veillette's (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) ground ball. Selena Aponte (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) stepped into the box and kept her hot bat, hot singling to center driving in Aponte and giving New Haven a two-run lead, up 3-1. The Penmen closed the gap in the sixth, pushing a run across and making it a one-run game. That's as close as Aponte would allow the Penmen to get as she would get the last out of the sixth, and would shut down Southern New Hampshire in the bottom of the seventh securing the 3-2 win for the Chargers. In the win, Aponte threw seven innings of two-run, one earned, and six-hit softball, striking out three in the performance. The offense combined for six hits three runs with all three runs coming off the bat of Selena Aponte (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) who did everything for the Chargers.
In game two, New Haven turned to Mia Iodice (Rehoboth, Mass./Dighton-Rehoboth Regional) as the blue and gold looked to win the series. In the first, it was the Penmen that took the early lead scoring three runs in the first inning. They would then add another run in the second to go out to a four-run lead. In the fifth, New Haven plated their first run in the fifth inning. Aaliyah Amidon (Ledyard, Conn./Ledyard) led the fifth inning off with a single before advancing to second on a wild pitch. With the top of the order up to bat, Bella Chenet (Plantation, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy) singled to right field scoring Amidon and making it a 4-1 game. Unfortunately, it would be the Penmen that would extend their lead as the innings continued and would go on to take game two by a final of 9-1 in six. In the loss, Iodice took the loss throwing four and a third innings giving up six earned runs off eight hits walking two and striking out six. The offense was held to three hits drawing two walks and one stolen base by Bella Chenet (Plantation, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy).
With the regular season complete, the Chargers now wait for the final results of the rest of the conference to find out their final standing for the postseason. Finishing 17-30 and 12-12 in the conference in head coach Don Justus' second season at the helm. With six graduates, that played a key factor, and now it will be the underclassmen's team in the future and the future is bright for the Chargers. All postseason updates, schedules, and post-game recaps for the team will be available at Newhavenchargers.com.
